من ربك؟ Muslim Nationalism, Patriarchy, and Political Theology

If there’s no coloniser where you live and you are a Muslim nationalist or you know someone who’s a self-proclaimed Muslim nationalist,

من ربك؟

What have you done to intervene in the oppression that’s going on around you?

من ربك؟

When the ulema council releases a fatwa to hate certain groups of people in the name of Islam, while there is no active colonialism where you live, where your dignity and self-determination aren’t threatened by colonial power, the transgressors are that very ulema council and the state government. [1]

من ربك؟

The story of Prophet Luth عليه السلام being understood collectively as warning against homosexuals by scholars in the past and present can also be understood as اللّٰه showing you what makes gang rape normalised, victim blaming in rape is normalised, even one of normalised psychological weapons in wars, to rape women and men alike, and that it’s man-made, not revelation. [2][3][4] But you deny it. Because how dare you make it about holding men accountable for participating as active agents in society’s moral decay!

من ربك؟

When there’s poverty in sovereign nation-states, and yet the rich keep getting richer and richer, and you are told that the poor are those who are lazy and stupid, instead of holding the state government accountable to maintain that condition, instead of seeing poverty and stupidity as structural violence, as political choice and consequences—you make it about the poor’s morality and spirituality, because holding your nation-state government accountable requires you to interrogate your own privileges and complicity in state violence. [5]

من ربك؟

Ustadz raping his students is sins you must not broadcast publicly because we must cover each other’s sins, but the students are to blame for dressing provocatively publicly, and make them believe that marrying the ustadz is the solution in a nation-state where women’s rights are understood as a western concept and poverty is understood and accepted collectively as a moral failure. [6][7]

من ربك؟

A father regularly raping his own daughter, the daughter’s uncle does the same to her, and her mother said, “It’s fine, so long she’s not pregnant.” [8] The public outrage is on the mother’s comment. Not on the father or uncle’s sexual assaults. Not on the material conditions producing and enabling that normalised gender-based violence.

من ربك؟

When there’s poverty and normalised violence against women in sovereign nation-states, and the ulema council releases a fatwa to condemn homosexuals instead, that is the actual representation of what اللّٰه warns through the story of Prophet Luth عليه السلام, but you prefer to make it about warning against homosexuals, about protecting the children, about the future of the nation, not your humanity, not your community, not the Ummah. But the future of the nation. [1][6][9]

من ربك؟

What children? What future? The ones the government has been poisoning through the so-called Free Lunch Program? Those children? [10] You care about those children? You care about those children by dehumanising homosexuals through male-centric scripture interpretation and ulema-approved state violence, while letting the government poison your children with expired meals until 2029? [9][10][11][12]

من ربك؟

What future are you protecting? Is it the one where you expect to answer “من ربك؟” correctly in the grave after allowing this to happen throughout your life?

من ربك؟

And what is wrong with you that you do not fight in the cause of Allah and for the oppressed among men, women, and children? [13]

من ربك؟

This is already clear enough. There’s no need for subtleties. So tell us,

من ربك؟

Sources

[1] Majelis Ulama Indonesia. “Di Balik Fatwa MUI No 57 Tahun 2014 tentang LGBT, Agenda Besar Bentengi Bangsa dan Selamatkan Fitrah Manusia.” 7 June 2026. https://mui.or.id/public/index.php/baca/bimbingan/di-balik-fatwa-mui-no-57-tahun-2014-tentang-lgbt-agenda-besar-bentengi-bangsa-dan-selamatkan-fitrah-manusia-6a25138012db1

[2] The Qur’an, 7:80–84; 11:77–83; 15:61–77; 26:160–175; 27:54–58; 29:28–35.

[3] Kugle, Scott Siraj al-Haqq. Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims. Oneworld Publications, 2010.

[4] United Nations. “Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War.” https://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/wps/StopRapeNow_Brochure.pdf

[5] World Inequality Lab. World Inequality Report 2026. https://wir2026.wid.world/www-site/uploads/2026/01/World_Inequality_Report_2026.pdf

[6] Komnas Perempuan. “Siaran Pers Komnas Perempuan Darurat Kekerasan Seksual di Pesantren.” 9 May 2026. https://komnasperempuan.go.id/siaran-pers-detail/siaran-pers-komnas-perempuan-darurat-kekerasan-seksual-di-pesantren

[7] Komnas Perempuan. “Klarifikasi atas Penyebutan Data Komnas Perempuan untuk Mendukung Iklan yang Disampaikan oleh Rabbani.” 9 January 2023. https://komnasperempuan.go.id/siaran-pers-detail/klarifikasi-atas-penyebutan-data-komnas-perempuan-untuk-mendukung-iklan-yang-disampaikan-oleh-rabbani

[8] Kumparan. “Anak di Bekasi Diperkosa Ayah dan Paman, Ibunya Bilang ‘Tak Apa Asal Tak Hamil’.” 16 July 2026. https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/anak-di-bekasi-diperkosa-ayah-dan-paman-ibunya-bilang-tak-apa-asal-tak-hamil-27nWbe68Y70

[9] Human Rights Watch. “Indonesia: Surge in Abuse Against LGBT Students.” 7 July 2026. https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/07/07/indonesia-surge-in-abuse-against-lgbt-students

[10] The Jakarta Post. “Negligence blamed for free meal poisoning that sickened 350 students.” 18 August 2026. https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2026/08/18/negligence-blamed-for-free-meal-poisoning-that-sickened-350-students

[11] The Jakarta Post. “Hundreds fall ill after consuming govt’s free meals despite BGN overhaul.” 31 July 2026. https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2026/07/31/hundreds-fall-ill-after-consuming-govts-free-meals-despite-bgn-overhaul

[12] Satu Data Indonesia. Data Prioritas Jangka Menengah 2025–2029, RPJMN 2025–2029: Makan Bergizi Gratis target 100% coverage by 2029. https://perencanaan.data.go.id/renduk?page=30&per-page=50

[13] The Qur’an, Surah An-Nisā’ 4:75. https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=4&verse=75

Author’s note:

These are the questions awaiting us in the grave:

من ربك؟ من نبيك؟ ما دينك؟
Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? What is your religion?

These are also the questions I encourage any journalist to ask leaders who claim to believe in God during live interviews. If they invoke God as part of their political legitimacy, answering such questions should be easy; don’t wait until death, tell them to answer now. I want to see them answer in real time; let them show us a glimpse of what it would be like for us all.

This has nothing to do with the nationwide protests yesterday, btw; this has been sitting in my drafts since July.

I have become so fluent in communism, having read so much postcolonial and decolonial scholarship, that I circled back to political theology, where I started; didn’t I tell you I used to be a political dawah activist in Uni? I digress. Maybe. But men are so helpless and useless that I don’t even have the energy to curse them anymore. One of these days, I should probably show people that code-switching is a skill you can easily master if you’ve been living with contradictions long enough; it extends beyond linguistics into epistemological registers as well.

I will argue with you in materialist language, with a sprinkle of explicit Hisab threat, to ensure you feel my intergenerational rage in this world and the Hereafter.

I am quite aware that this part sounds like an afterthought and is a bit chaotic; it is an afterthought. But that’s beside the point. It doesn’t make my overall arguments and sources any less coherent or any less deserving of attention.