JEDDAH, 10 October 2004 — King Abdul Aziz University has started organizing a number of sports tournaments for female students and staff at the women’s campus and dormitory, according to Dr. Saleh Al-Keriam, dean of student affairs at KAAU.

Reporting this, Al-Madinah newspaper said the competitions will be in basketball, volleyball, swimming and other sports. “The sports and games that will be provided will be based on the request of students for these events,” Al-Keriam was quoted as saying.

They will have the same games as boys except football. According to Al-Keriam, the women’s dormitory already has the facilities for basketball, volleyball and swimming and a fitness center will be made available soon. He said that there is no participation by other universities and that the “club” will be located inside the university campus and the events will be held based on the request of students and in consideration to women’s privacy.

Several faculty members and students confirmed to Arab News that the facilities had been there for years.

“There is nothing new in this,” said Omaima Mahmoud, a student. “These facilities are available for students and staff and we use them all the time and our team competes with teams from other colleges in Jeddah and many attend to watch the games,” she said.

Another student mentioned having a swimming pool and a gym within the dormitory campus. “For sports and games, there are university teams and dormitory teams and we hold competitions throughout the year among us and with teams from other colleges,” said Sharifah Al-Thibiani. There is a female sports supervisor at the campus who organizes these events, and announcements are placed on bulletin boards.

Sports for female students have received wide media attention recently after it was debated in the Shoura Council. Back in January, the education minister was quoted as saying that physical education will be introduced in girls’ schools in compliance with Islamic regulations. “If we find that physical education is good for the health of female students and does not contain anything that violates the Shariah ... we’ll go ahead with the program,” he told Al-Eqtisadiah.

The Shoura Council had voted for the program 75-29 the previous month and passed it to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd for final approval. “We want to have a decisive Shariah ruling to introduce PE in girls schools,” the minister said. There will be no mixing of men and women, he said, adding only women will be hired as PE instructors.

Dr. Hussein Al-Alawi, chairman of the education affairs and scientific research committee and a Shoura Council member, confirmed that the proposal has been sent to King Fahd for approval.

“It is not definite that PE will be introduced to the girls’ curriculum, but the wording of our recommendation emphasized its benefits to their health and the importance of it being within Islamic law and our traditions,” another Shoura member told Arab News.

However, a few days later, the president of the Shoura Council, Sheikh Saleh ibn Humaid, stated to the press that physical education would not be taught in government schools for girls next year, thus contradicting previous reports in the media.

Some Shoura members who voted in favor of introducing PE in girls’ schools argued that Islamic teachings do not bar women from taking part in sports.

They cited the example of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who according to a Hadith challenged the Prophet to a foot race. The members said that if this activity had been prohibited, the Prophet would not have allowed this to take place.

The members also said that introducing PE could help create awareness among female students about improving their diet and health. The girls, they pointed out, would always be in a protected environment since only women instructors would teach them.

Those voted against the recommendation argued that introducing physical education into girls’ schools would be pointless, citing that PE has done nothing to reduce the obesity level among boys.