Women, it seems if we follow the news in Saudi Arabia, are always in the way. They are always, or so we are told, causing problems of one sort or another. Even in the holy city of Makkah, they have to be pushed to the side, preferably in a space that has definite limits so that their presence does not irritate, annoy or distract. You might well ask, “Irritate, annoy or distract whom?” Men of course! Everything must be done to protect them from even the barest hint of irritation, annoyance or distraction. This all came from my recently reading of yet another plan to minimize the presence of women in the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The plan calls for women to pray in areas away from the Kaaba — in two designated areas within the mosque. The news has generated responses from both men and women in the Kingdom and outside as well. Some have approved it and others have very strongly disapproved.

Since the dawn of Islam, women have prayed near the Kaaba and now, after more than fourteen hundred years, they are suddenly found to be blocking men’s way and so have to be moved. How strange it is that we, as a society which constantly talks of traditions and how we value them, seem about to cast aside one of the oldest traditions of our blessed religion. The claim that the change needs to be made in order to protect women’s “privacy” is simply unfair and illogical.

Defenders of the proposal — which will most likely be implemented very soon — say that the number of people who pray in the Haram is increasing and that women are subjected to harassment as might occur in any crowd.

Well, who is doing the harassing? Why not move the harassers inside and let the women pray as they have always done? It has also been said that moving women inside would make the area “appropriate” for TV images. Why couldn’t the TV cameras be moved? It seems that “Women are a source of trouble and embarrassment” is the main reason behind these plans.

Women in the Kingdom have always been treated as second-rate citizens; it is always men who come first, and women are obliged to be happy with whatever scraps they get. But for those who know what it feels like to be a woman who wants to perform tawaf or pray inside the Holy Mosque, the plan is the equivalent of rubbing salt into an open wound.

There are thousands of stories about how women have been shouted at by guards, ordered to cover their faces (though there is no Islamic rule that tells them to), to move out of the way and sometimes even being hit or pushed to make them move. I heard one story in which a woman went to the mosque alone and wanted to perform tawaf. She wanted a guide, approached one and asked him to guide her through the ritual. The guide — a man — looked at her and asked, “Are you alone?” When she replied that she was, he shook his head and told her that according to the rules, he was not allowed to guide single women. The woman was surprised, especially since women used to use guides all the time in Makkah and Madinah. When she insisted on knowing why, he told her that it would be considered “kulua” — a situation in which a man and a woman are in a place together and there are fears they will be tempted. The guide did tell her, however, that the rules were new and that he was as frustrated by them as she was. Now do we really need to discuss the concept of kulua in a crowded holy area? I think not; the implications of such a line of thought are very unpleasant to consider.

Another story involves a young woman who was performing tawaf and a guard told her to cover her face. He followed her throughout her seven circuits, and fed up, the woman went to the phone connected to the Mosque Administration and complained about the guard. There is no point in discussing the response she got; I will just say it was no better than the treatment she received from the guard.

One could go on and on about how guards have interrupted women’s prayers, telling them to move out of the way of men and telling them not to get too near the Kaaba. Men are of course never told to move out of women’s ways nor are they told not to come too near the Kaaba.

In Madinah women have prayed in the Prophet’s Mosque for generations. A decision was recently made that men required the space which was being used by women and so women have been banished from the area. They pray outside and when they want to visit the Prophet’s grave, they are treated as dangerous people. Barriers prevent them from approaching too closely and guards of course shout at them and treat them rudely. The area is open to women only 3-4 hours a day, the rest of the time being reserved for men. During that short time, women who have come from all over the world are allowed to visit the Prophet’s grave. Why, I wonder, if there must be separation of men and women is the separation not equal? The same number of hours for women as for men? The answer of course is that women are trouble and so they come second. A very distant second, I must say.

In a newspaper column, Hatoon Al-Fassi, a Saudi historian, said that throughout Islamic history, there had never been a time in which women were excluded from the area of circumambulation (mataf) and from actually seeing the Kaaba. The restrictions, she says, are all modern ones; the tradition is that there were no restrictions. From the earliest days of Islam, women were permitted to come near the Kaaba, to pray next to it and to touch it — all without any loss of privacy or dignity.

In defense of the suggested plan, the dean of the King Fahd Institute for Haj and Umrah Research said that the changes would solve the problem of overcrowding in the mataf area and, as he said to Arab News, “We have to take into consideration that the mataf is a limited area and it would be very difficult to expand it further.” So the numbers are increasing and what is to be done? Make new plans for ways to accommodate all worshippers? No, not at all; there is another easier solution. Keep women out because they are a burden and are not equal to men who deserve to be there more than women. And here in a nutshell is our problem — equality. We women will never be treated as equals.

Though God created us equal and treated us with justice, some people continue to deny us what the Almighty has given us.