Last month, in a piece on stagnating reforms in Saudi Arabia, McClatchy wrote about Wajeha Al-Huwaider, one of the kingdom's leading feminist activists.
Wajeha has a new piece in The Washington Post about her latest campaign against Saudi laws that prevent women from traveling without permission from a male guardian.
"Everyone knows that women are denied rights in Saudi Arabia," she writes. "And you may think that our fate is the same one that women in some other developing countries face, only a little worse. In truth, we endure a status that most Americans can scarcely imagine.
"The guardianship rules are only part of a bigger system of subjugating women. Even with the permission of a guardian, a woman may not drive a car (except in some isolated rural areas and within the compounds that are home to many workers from Western countries). Obviously, there is nothing in the Koran that forbids driving. No, the reason we are not allowed to drive is that the power to transport ourselves would give men much less control over us.
The piece delves into the many challenges in Saudi, from fathers selling prepubescent girls to 70-year-old suitors to bans on women playing sports.
"While women are forced to be entirely dependent on men, men are allowed to follow their whims," she writes. "A woman can get a divorce, but only by going through a laborious legal procedure in religious court. However, a man can divorce his wife merely by saying 'I divorce you' three times. Although this is an ancient practice, these days the clerical authorities are debating whether the man has to say this in person, or if a text message will suffice. Already a judge in Jiddah has approved the first case of text-message divorce. The man was in Iraq to participate in jihad."
So much of that is based on Wahabi and culture, not on Islam as interpreted and practiced by the majority of Muslims around the world.
For instance, Mohammad directed that girls should be educated and he supported athletics. He use to race one of his wives in foot races and encouraged horseback riding as excellent exercise.
When I lived in Saudi Arabia and our oldest daughter was ready to start school, my husband had to go down to the Ministry of Education and give 'his permission' for her to go to school. Shame.
Some of the most respected scholars in Islamic jurisprudence were women.
Americans need to remember in our outrage that the Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia (or Somalia or Afganistan for that matter) doesn't reflect Islam as practiced by millions of others, but reflects more the culture and traditions of the area.
Posted by: Edie | August 20, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Edie - Amen. I always wonder why Christianity isn't held responsible for pro-life terrorists and the KKK in the same way Islam is for the lunatic fringe and culture of its repressive followers.
Posted by: Samayavajra | August 22, 2009 at 08:46 AM
Why don't we let this delusional woman alone. She thinks Saudi men want her for something more than domestic help and sex on demand by the husband. If she had any sense she would say "Hasta La Vista" and move to the west.
Posted by: mfellion | August 26, 2009 at 09:55 PM