JEDDAH: The Ministry of Islamic Affairs is to look into the possibility of establishing a ladies’ dawa department in which women would be employed as preachers to address women issues that cannot be handled by men.

According to Saudi writer Amira Kashgary, the concept of dawa, which in its original sense meant guiding non-Muslims, has now been confused with all types of guidance. “Dawa, I believe, should target non-Muslims,” she said, adding that people have also confused dawa with the issuing of fatwas or religious injunctions.

Kashgary said people who give dawa “should be open to others, have adequate knowledge about different cultures and religions, and be aware of different schools of Islamic jurisprudence.”

Kashgary also voiced concern about a new phenomenon among Saudi women in which they preach to guests visiting their homes. She added that not all women who do this have adequate religious knowledge and that they sometimes make stories up to convince people of their arguments. She said this could also lead to people falling prey to deviant ideologies. “I call this ideological terrorism,” she said.

Kashgary said such women target poorly educated women who easily fall into their trap. “People who give dawa should be obliged to carry IDs and not abuse their positions,” she said, adding that this would prevent the spread of certain ideologies threatening the Kingdom’s security.

Amal Nusair, a dawa activist and a manager of the women’s section of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) in Makkah province, said 20 years ago dawa work was unorganized. She said WAMY now has specialist departments for non-Arabic speaking communities. She added that in the past WAMY was only capable of holding basic lectures delivered by women who knew foreign languages.

Asked about dawa in homes, Nusair said WAMY often receives calls from people asking for women preachers to deliver lectures at their homes.

Asked about monitoring such lectures, she said that this could be achieved by providing robust training to preachers. “In the end, women preachers would only teach what they have been taught in terms of religious ideas,” Nusair said.

She added that women dawa workers still need training to be able to address their audiences rather than drive them to dislike religion.

“It is inappropriate, for example, for a preacher to come to a wedding and talk about death,” said Nusair, adding that some families ask for preachers to come to weddings. She often advises them against this and suggests they hold quizzes instead.

Asked how popular dawa women are, she said, “As far as I can see, thanks to Allah, demand exceeds the supply. We cannot meet demand.”

Speaking about the mixing of dawa and fatwa, she said that not every dawa woman is capable of issuing fatwas.

“Some women dawa workers are not Shariah specialists. They might specialize in other fields, including medicine or education, but they link religion to their field of study when they lecture. There are, however, other women who are capable of issuing fiqh rulings and also knowledgeable in other fields, such as the economy and women issues,” she said.

Tawfeeq Al-Sudairi, deputy minister for Islamic affairs, the body in charge of dawa, guidance and mosques affairs, said the ministry is looking forward to benefit from women who are qualified in Shariah.

He added it is hard to determine the number of dawa workers needed in the Kingdom. “In fact, every Muslim is a dawa worker,” he said.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported in 2007 that up to 200 female dawa workers were registered at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

Al-Sudairi said though the ministry is responsible for selecting suitable places where religion can be taught and dawa given “this does not mean that it is necessary to specify places where dawa can take place.”

Asked if the ministry is responsible for women who give dawa at home, he said, “The ministry is responsible for what falls under its remit. Everything else comes under the responsibility of other (government) bodies.”

Asked if women in the dawa field would be sent abroad as men are, he said, “This is ahead of time.”