Ever since a member of the Shoura Council proposed that his colleagues initiate a discussion about whether Saudi women should be allowed to drive, our media has been flooded with articles by both supporters and opponents of the proposal. It is interesting to note that the two rival camps continue to repeat the same justifications, having used the same arguments each time the issue has been raised.
Last week, Interior Minister Prince Naif said the issue was a social one and should thus be decided by Saudi society. The prince has made similar statements in the past. The only thing that can be concluded from the non-stop discussion that drags on and on — regardless of the newspaper articles or Prince Naif’s comment — is that Islam does not ban women driving. In other words, women driving is not religiously forbidden (haram) and the government has no objection to women driving if society in general is in favor of it. Now since neither religion nor the state objects to the matter and since it is the people who should decide, the best way to settle the matter once and for all is to consult the public to find out how people really feel.
But how can we discover the real position of the people in order to arrive at a conclusion that will put the matter to rest and spare us this seemingly endless debate? There are of course supporters and opponents but up to now, we don’t know how the scale will tilt, how many are for or how many are against.
To settle the matter, I want to suggest that the Shoura Council begin discussions of the proposal made by Dr. Muhammad Al-Zulfa. The council may lay down whatever guidelines and mechanisms are needed and then put the matter to a national referendum whereby both males and females older than 18 are allowed to participate.
The referendum should of course be supervised by the government. If the result is “No,” we tell the supporters that this was the verdict passed by society and they must accept and respect it. If the result is “Yes,” we tell the opponents what the late King Faisal told those who opposed education for women and objected to schools for girls: “Those who want their daughters educated will find the schools open to them; those who want to deny their daughters education are free to do so.” What happened after those words from a farsighted ruler who was also a good reader of the future is now history. A referendum would certainly enable us to get a better insight into our past and our present.
