Saudi Arabia: Has tide turned on women’s rights?

Source: Gulf News

  Has the tide turned on the Saudi government’s stand on the issue of women driving? As the only country in the world I know of that denies women the right to drive, has the thinking that governs the powers to be moved towards the lifting of an age-old embargo?

It would seem so, considering that one major hurdle has been lifted by recent statements from none other than the president of the Saudi religious police, who recently stated publicly that “the ban on women driving is not mandated by any text in the Sharia”.

Shaikh Abdul Latif Al Shaikh, President of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (the religious police) said that Sharia, the Islamic legal code which is the basis for much of the kingdom’s laws, “does not have a text forbidding women driving”.

This is good news for many Saudis and residents alike, frustrated by the ban on women driving. The religious police has long been considered one of the staunchest bastions of opposition when it comes to women’s issues and female empowerment, and many of its members have claimed that driving is a “path to vice and social degradation”.

Hardliners took it upon themselves to flash the religion card without any authenticated backing to their dismissive claims against progressive initiatives. With the Al Shaikh stating that it is not for his organisation to mandate the law, but simply to uphold it, the ball is back in the government’s court.

In the kingdom, an unnatural culture of dependency coupled with built-in frustration has evolved as a result of the influx of millions of expatriate male drivers, many who get behind the wheel for the first time in their host country.

Add to that the social and cultural disparity as a result of this large group of unskilled expatriates that reside in practically every home, and social development takes a back seat.

In the same week, the Saudi Ministry of Education rejected calls by religious men to call off sports classes in private girls’ schools. This contentious issue was something that ran along the same lines as the driving ban, as hardliners had asserted on many occasions in the past that sports for girls would be detrimental to their honour, their virginity, and would contribute to their moral decadence.

In this latest instance, a vigilante force of some 30 men claiming to uphold and spread virtue and prevent vice, marched to the ministry and demanded from officials to cancel sports classes in the schools based on their arguments. In their view, any activity that demanded that girls participate in sports was totally un-Islamic.

Education Minister Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah had earlier taken a different view. He was firm in his directive that all education authorities in the kingdom initiate the steps necessary “that would enable girls to practice sports in their schools in a manner that would conform to Islamic teachings while improving their physical fitness”.

Moderate Saudis see a significant shift behind such actions. Many could not understand why driving or indulging in sports by women was considered a sin. But to go against the religion card is not a frivolous matter. And the dread of being accused of apostasy kept many voices muzzled.

Whereas in the past, the demands of hardliners was almost considered a law into itself, in recent years there has been a dramatic shift towards a more tolerant position of acceptance of all things obviously not detrimental or conflicting with the teachings of Islam. Such a shift also signals a separation of the often veiled cultural traditions that were deeply intertwined with Islam, making it difficult to separate one from the other.

Urban-dwellers who had long advocated a more accepting approach towards the empowerment of women had in recent decades been deluged into submission by the cultural traditions of the rural populace, who as they made their shift towards urban centres in search of jobs also began to force upon the rest of society their own traditions and beliefs. Many of them had even joined the various branches of government service including the ministry of education and resisted changes from within.

But in recent times, the forces for progress have begun to grab back the initiative. In drafting law after law, the kingdom is making itself transparent in that it is no longer content to be held back by the whims of hardliners who would like nothing better than to subjugate women and push us all back into the stone age.

A few years ago, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz had said: “I believe strongly in the rights of women ... my mother is a woman, my sister is a woman, my daughter is a woman, and my wife is a woman. I believe the day will come when women drive. In fact, if you look at the areas in Saudi Arabia, the deserts and in the rural areas, you will find that women do drive. The issue will require patience. In time, I believe it will be possible. Yes, I believe we can. But it will require a little bit of time ... Our people are just now beginning to open up to the world, and I believe that with the passing of days in the future everything is possible.”

Many Saudis would say today that the time has finally arrived.

Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@talmaeena

"In the Land of Invisible Women"

Dr. Qanta Ahmed, the author of In the Land of Invisible Women wrote about the plight of women in Saudi, describing it as a case of abject sexism. Though most people are wont to believe that it has much to do with Islam, it truly isn’t. Islam as a religion does NOT advocate disrespect or discrimination of women – it is its interpretation by certain segments of society that leads to the continued prevalence of discrimination. Warlords and tribal communities embraced Islam in some of the earlier centuries. Despite embracing their religion, they allowed their culture to prevail in some sort of a bridled confluence with religion.

For instance, The Quran does not encourage Polygamy. It reads thus: "If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice." This verse is said to have been revealed in the aftermath of a war, when there were too many widows and orphaned children that needed support and protection. But look at how this is being interpreted by those who don’t look at the Quran in the right way.

Among the many countries in the Islamic realm, Saudi Arabia stands tall as the country with the most hardliner stance that prevails in the society and political milieu against women. The country banned driving rights for women which was a move that was protested against in a great show of strength and courage, by Manal al-Sharif. What’s more, Saudi Arabia by law mandates that women are required to have a male guardian. They cannot vote, or stand for elections, though it appears that there is hope for change, in that King Abdullah has promised voting rights in the 2015 elections. Coupled with this are mandatory veiling and employment restrictions, educational restrictions and plenty of issues concerning marriage and rights over children and property. Though a dissected rendition of the legal system as it stands might be the right way to study the system, a cursory perusal itself is enough to reveal the overarching theme: that women are not given equal rights before the law. 

A Saudi Woman Speaks....

To the outsider, reading about life in Saudi Arabia is hardly window enough into the difficult life of women in the country. Be it the pages of a book such as Dr. Qanta Ahmed’s In the Land of Invisible Women, or in the twitter stream of brave girls, once we’re done reading, life moves on. To the girl on Saudi terrain, life is exactly what we read about, and continues to be so, well after their story may be forgotten in our daily lives. A girl, who goes by the twitter id @Saudi_Woman, spoke to DeltaWomen on the situation in Saudi Arabia, challenging women. No part of her identity shall be revealed in view of safeguarding her security.

You are a vociferous tweeter from Saudi Arabia. What keeps you going? What gives you the courage?

I don't think I am courageous- it is the opposite actually. I was raised with the belief that a courageous woman is rude and immoral and it goes on and on. Not to sound melodramatic, but, what really keeps me going is the simple fact that I have no other choice. We live once, and even the most peaceful human being will come to a point where she/he realizes that enough is enough and they have to do something. 

What are your biggest threats? Do you fear anything?

My family. I love them and they love me but things are different here. Last time when I my twitter account was traced back to me, the authority called for me and my father. They gave him a hard time, telling him that he wasn't man enough to "leash" his daughter. And "leash" he did. Out of fear and love, of course. But it was the hardest thing. 

Dr. Qanta Ahmed, the author of In the Land of Invisible Women wrote about the plight of women in Saudi, describing it as a case of abject sexism. What are your thoughts on that?

I am a big fan of Dr. Qanta and what she wrote is true, but I start seeing a different picture now, probably even worse, and one that reflects a much deeper problem than what Dr. Qanta had described. I recently read a novel by I.M. Hussaini titled The Detour, The Legendary book of Fatim. In his book, Hussaini linked between how early Muslims treated Mohammed's daughter, Fatima, and the way Saudis are treating women now. Between the critical role Fatima played and the way she died, one can reach to some sound conclusions. Although it is a novel, the facts the author had unearthed were really scary and I think Hussaini meant it as a wakeup call that in order to end women rights violations in Saudi (and other Islamic countries) we need to know the problem well or else we will just keep curing some symptoms. 

When Islam does not prohibit the equality of women at all, why is it so harsh for women in reality?

There is a difference between the Islamic teachings and Muslims. The Arabic culture was (and still is) very biased against women. Maybe the best example to this was the introduction of a novel I recently read: “She grows up to be either someone’s slave or a whore. She dies, and the family's honor remains intact.” With these words, Arabs used to bury their girls before they reached puberty. Islam came in and stopped this habit. As for the mind-set… well, that's another story.

Your twitter profile says: "If you think you know about our suffering, think again." Tell us about some of these instances, please, let us be your voice to the world.

I will give you an example, but please do not take it out of context. As I said, in our family we have normal relations. Both my parents loved my brother and me fairly. But because my father considered anything he hears from the Sheikh in the mosque (the religious scholars or the religious guides) as an Islamic non-disputable order, our life became a living hell. Two months ago, the Sheikh told my father that neither he nor my brother can sit in the same room with me alone. And even if my mother is there, I had still better wear a Hijab at home in front of them. When you read this for the first time you might chuckle and laugh, thinking of how stupid this Sheikh was and how my father could do what he said. But maybe if you really think about the implication of the day-to-day hell that I am supposed to live in now, you would only pity us. If I am watching a TV show and my brother comes in to watch the same show I am watching, I have to leave the living room until my mother joins us. I am thirty for crying out loud! And because my brother is so caring, he spends most of the time out of house just to avoid "breaking the law" with me. Of course this is not what all Muslim sects believe in. Actually it is a "proprietary" of the Saudi interpretation. 

Your neighbouring countries have lit and shared the spark of revolution. Will it ever be so in Saudi?

We had a tiny spark. But it died out so fast. I really don't know. I think they caught us so fast and we were not even organized. There is anger. But aside from the social media groups there is nothing solid. Maybe we need a leadership with a vision and people to unite behind it. I really don't know, but I just don't see it happening the same way it did in Egypt of Tunisia. And Islamic extremists are way out-numbering those with a brain of their own. 

Manal Shariff fought back a ridiculous law that decided that women could not drive. Is it safe to conclude that women in Saudi are fighting back?

Manal is a hero. But how can we fight back? When our families (fathers and brothers and husbands and even our mothers) will be the first to stone us (metaphorically-speaking, at least for now) once we start demanding something out of the ordinary. Couple of days ago, I went to my school (where I work as a teacher and it's a girls-only school) with a new Burka where my eyes are visibile. Just a tiny little opening for my eyes as I needed to wear glasses and it was so annoying wearing the glasses under Burka. (Try it and you will know!) Imagine, my mother scowled at me once she lay her eyes on me! "You are bringing the family honor to the dirt." WTF?, I think to myself. I am a good Muslim and a good girl (so far) but God help me, one day I just wish I could go out wearing Bikini. How is that for the family honour? 

There were talks of a new legal rule that women should keep their eyes covered, to avoid "seductive" looks. Is it just us, or is it that the government seems to find newer means to basically keep women underfoot?

Not only the government. I have mentioned this before. The problem is deeper. You can refer to a novel by Yusif Al-Mohaimed "Pigeons Don't Fly in Taba" or “The Detour” by I.M.Hussaini to have more insight into the situation. Both books are talking about another dimension of the organized oppression in Saudi. I have the first one as a paperback and it was one of the things that was considered as “evidence" against me a year ago. The Detour was the first novel I read on my KindleFire and I love my little device as it's perfect to hide such books.

One of your tweets, dated 14th Jan, speaks of a probable incident where your family might have caught you. Is this the harsh reality? Girls cannot trust their own families to get their back?

They are just afraid from the society and the government. They love me and they think this is for my best. Many other girls suffer from the same "love".

A recent headline says that "Princess Basma bint Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud Describes a Treatment of Women in Saudi Arabia as ‘Slavery’ and Says: Nobody Is Immune to a Winds of Change Sweeping a Arab Nation; ‘We Must Grant Freedoms Before They Become Challenges’". Is the government so blind to the plight of women, even when the Princess herself speaks so? If this is the princess' plight... it hurts to imagine what the real girl in Saudi would be going through...

Ah, you don't know Saudi Arabia. There are probably over 10,000 royal family members, 2,000 of them in power. All goes under the title prince and princess. Let them talk. The real influential people are the long-bearded Salafi scholars and they treat us (women) as if we were the devil himself, sometimes even worse. 

Is the empowerment of Saudi Women even a possibility? What can we do to help?

I am not sure. But I think the most important thing is that you have to understand what the real problem is. With all due respect, applying the Western-culture or the free-world values on our society won't work. I wish I can live in the United States or Europe or that I was born there. But since I am not, and since I was born for a Saudi and Muslim family I think I have to play within the society's rules. There is a lot of baggage and a lot of bad heritage that we need to clear. You can help us by learning more about us, about our problems and the root of our problems. It's not easy, I know, but understanding the problem is the first step to solve them, right? Another colleague and I had bought an old copier machine and started copying books by Dr. Qanta Ahmed, I.M Hussaini and Al-Mohaimed to give them to some of our enthusiastic students. They need to realize what they are up against before signing in. 

By Kirthi Gita Jayakumar