JEDDAH, 15 June 2004 — The Third National Dialogue Forum wrapped up three days of session yesterday in Madinah amid heated arguments about previously taboo topics.

Some 70 participants, including 35 women, from all parts of the Kingdom took part in the discussion on women’s issues.

While the forum concluded, according to the Saudi Press Agency, with participants stressing “the importance of granting women their rights guaranteed by Islam,” and recognizing “the ability of women to participate, beside men, in the building of society and in safeguarding the family unit,” some of the forum’s sessions were tumultuous.

On Sunday participants also called for more subjects for women to study. One delegate, writer Yahya Al-Amir, brandished a copy of a textbook on Islamic culture for second-year secondary school students saying the text spoke of women as weak creatures who need a guardian to lead them to the right path, because if allowed to act without guidance they may end up being corrupted and corrupting others. He asked the curriculum could allow children to view women as a potential source for corruption.

In yesterday’s session on women and employment, Dr. Muhammad Al-Arifi, who earlier nearly brought about the collapse of the forum, again fell foul of another participant, this time Dr. Walid Fitaihi.

Fitaihi, a physician and writer, presented a paper titled “Women Are the Partners of Men” — a saying by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) — which was met with applause from the women.

Al-Arifi objected to Fitaihi’s suggestions that women should be allowed to work as nurses, air hostesses and in other jobs and said Fitaihi was basing his arguments on the opinions of scholars from “outside the region.”

Fitaihi replied many prominent and respected Muslim scholars throughout the centuries had come from outside this region, and all of them based their opinions on the Qur’an and Sunnah.

The discussions were lively as issues such as opening more college departments for women and broadening women’s participation in the work force were raised.

Delegates were concerned with improving the quality and standard of women’s education and for women to hold higher administrative positions and participate in the decision-making process.

In the sessions on women’s employment, delegates addressed some of the obstacles facing women in entering the work force and establishing a business such as the need for a male guardian or agent.

Nadia Al-Hazaa, an engineer at Saudi Aramco, said it was a denial of women’s full rights to offer them an identity card but require the signature of a man for the application and limit its use.

Reactions to the forum have been mixed. Many felt that it was a small step in the right direction but recommendations must be followed by concrete action.

Others were disheartened by some comments and the tone of the discussions. “I was discouraged that some were trying to lobby for restricting women,” said Dr. Amira Kashgary, a university professor.

She said traditions and customs have become more important than religion. “We should get rid of this idea that women are to be banned from participating in society. Women are energetic, capable and qualified,” she asserted.

Dr. Suhaila Hammad, a member of the National Human Rights Association, criticized the lack of balance in the representation as the participants seemed to have been selected with a slant toward the conservative, even though she believes moderates are in the majority in the Kingdom at large.

“The most important thing is to correct the misconceptions about women’s rights in Islam, which are confused with traditions and customs,” she said.

The degrading opinion of women, the misinterpretation of Qur’an verses and Hadiths and the domination of tradition is what is preventing women from the rights Islam gave her. She finds that the most important changes should be in the curriculum, the judicial system and in the labor laws.

She also felt a number of practical issues should have been given greater prominence. “We should abolish this legal guardian thing in legal matters and give women their independence whether in pursuing their rights or in being punished for breaking the law,” she said.

Many presentations at the forum were good, she said, but some were vague and impractical. For example, to insist on preventing women from driving and at the same time warn them not to ride with strangers, as one presenter did, was to leave women with no options, especially when there is no dependable public transport.

But Hammad also criticized Fawziah Abu Khalid’s paper on the interaction between customs and traditions in forming awareness. “She did not clarify what those traditions and customs that are contradictory to Islam are,” she said. “We should be more transparent and bolder in presenting our issues.”