Women's Leadership and Progressive Islam: A Systematic Review of 'Aisyiyah's Contributions

Abstract

This article systematically reviews the contribution of 'Aisyiyah to women's leadership and the development of Progressive Islam in Indonesia. Rather than treating leadership only as the occupation of formal office, the review conceptualizes it as the organized production of religious authority, social capability, institutional responsibility, and public voice. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute approach to qualitative and textual evidence synthesis, with PRISMA 2020 used as a reporting framework, the study analyzes eighteen academic and institutional sources published up to December 2020. The synthesis identifies six interrelated contributions: establishing women as autonomous religious and organizational actors; expanding education and cadre formation; institutionalizing health and social-welfare leadership; transforming family discourse into a platform for justice and resilience; cultivating female religious authority and gender-responsive interpretation; and connecting nonpartisan organizational independence with civic and political participation. The findings show that 'Aisyiyah's distinctive contribution lies less in adopting a single feminist label than in building durable institutions through which women interpret Islam, manage services, mobilize communities, and represent public interests. The article develops the concept of institutionalized progressive womanhood to describe this combination of faith-grounded agency, professional organization, and socially transformative practice. It also identifies persistent tensions involving maternalist language, uneven gender interpretation, organizational dependence, leadership succession, and the gap between service delivery and structural advocacy. The review concludes that 'Aisyiyah demonstrates how Progressive Islam becomes socially credible when normative claims are translated into women-led institutions, knowledge production, and accountable civic action.