BACK on March 23 in Arab News I published a column titled, “The time has come for women’s membership in the Shoura Council.” This column commented on the views of Abdul Aziz Hussein Al-Sowayyegh, a Shoura Council member, and what he wrote on how to improve the council’s role in solving various issues and problems in the Kingdom. That same day I also discussed a series of articles by Dr. Abdul Qader Tash, the editor in chief of Al-Bilad newspaper.
I was pleased to note that Al-Sowayyegh supported women’s active participation in the Shoura Council as a way to make the functioning of the committee more meaningful. He also supported radical changes in the formation of the council by introducing elections side by side with the current system of nominations. He believed that the public’s misconception of council meetings could be changed by the live transmission of the proceedings.
Al-Sowayyegh wrote that, “Women’s role in public life cannot be underestimated if we are serious about social progress and meeting the challenges of the modern world. Those who strive to deny women their rights ignore the fact that Muslim women have, since the early days of Islam, been allowed to play a leading role in society.” He also observed that the participation of women in the council was a matter dictated by necessity and by the fact that they are citizens of this country. Their participation is vital given that the council is often in need of women’s views especially in matters relating to women.
Dr. Tash greatly supported Al-Sowayyegh’s ideas. One of Dr. Tash’s articles was devoted exclusively to emphasizing the need of the council to benefit from the wisdom and experience of women. Dr. Tash argued that this could be done within the parameters of Islamic teachings and values. He reasoned that if consulting women on important issues was against the principles of Shariah, how could Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, have consulted Umm Sulaim, a woman, during the Battle of Hunayn, and Umm Salmah, another woman, on the day of Hudaybiyah, the day of a decisive treaty between Muslims and their enemies in Makkah?
Based on the excellent thoughts of these two eminent gentlemen concerning the Shoura Council’s role in general and women’s right to participate in the council’s activities in particular, I was pleased to extend my support to their ideas. Sadly, not everyone agreed with such a respectable point of view.
I received a very negative letter from Khaled Abdullah Al-Amri of Madinah on the subject and I would like to reply to him here.
I know very well that Islam honors women highly. We demand only those rights which were granted to women by our religion. We demand nothing else whether you and others like you understand this or not. How can you quote profusely from the Holy Qur’an in your letter and believe that you are perfectly in the right and at the same time call any other Muslims who disagree with you “so-called Muslims?”
You continue to cast aspersions on women. You have transgressed all limits by claiming to know what is in our hearts. Is it fitting for a man such as you claiming to have adopted Islam as your light and guiding principle, to describe everyone who demands justice for women as “croaking,” because they do not agree with your viewpoint? Have your readings, learning and culture fallen to such a low level that you call writers who support me as ignorant pen-carriers and pseudo-intellectuals and judge our ideas as Western-inspired thoughts which would destroy the culture and values of this nation and its people?
I am afraid, Brother, that you will be raised a pauper on the Day of Judgment. If you consider that you are a frontline defender of Islam you should read more of the Holy Prophet’s Traditions instead of verbose compositions of faulty style and substance. If you had read the Traditions you would not have ridiculed me with your demands for evidence for my convictions. The evidence is in our Holy Prophet’s words and actions. I advise you if you read nothing else to ponder on the words in the most authoritative book of Traditions, the Saheeh Al-Bukhari. There you will find the answers that you seek. May Allah reward me on the Day of Judgment for my patience in leading you to the truth.