Al-Watan published a news item last week that seems to have caught people’s attention. It told the story of women university students running off to shopping malls and hotel lobbies in Makkah, neglecting their lectures. They sit in coffee shops and gossip, breaking away from the university’s daily routine. When I asked a girl I observed ditching campus for a local cafe, she replied that what she was doing was innocent. She said that they go shopping centers, go to lunch, and enjoy a little personal freedom.

As I continued to question these young ladies there was a common strain to their answers. They also mentioned the lack of decent on-campus cafeterias and sports facilities for women. Perhaps, they suggested, if universities treated them like they were boys — and simply offered them facilities that are found on university campuses worldwide — to pass time between classes they wouldn’t be encouraged to head off somewhere else.

No mature person would agree with students heading off campus for playtime. Students, especially undergraduates, should be as close to campus as possible, encouraged to study and be close by so as to reduce the chances of skipping class. But can we lay the blame completely on these young women? Do they not have as much of a right to university gyms and eating facilities as men?

Saja is a medicine student who cooperated with some hospital owners in Jeddah to construct a gymnasium in Makkah. She told us how thrilled and excited her colleagues were when they realized that finally they would be able to learn karate. It would also help her in losing few pounds before it is too late.

Saja is one of my patients who constantly visits me because of her rheumatism. She has been suffering since she was 16. She developed this illness because of lack of sports and physical activity.

When Saja first came to visit, she was on a wheelchair and I remember her sister saying that teachers in their schools forbade them from running saying that running is only for boys.

Who allowed boys to run and not girls? And don’t you think that girls like Saja need our support and help to prevent such cases from happening?

On March 8, we celebrated International Women’s Day. The title for this year was “Women’s Rights in Decision Making.” And here in the Kingdom women are still searching for the simple right to engage in athletic activities. And let us set aside the religious justifications for this, because there aren’t any: There is no Qur’anic injunction that forbids women from working out. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) even raced with Aisha. And she won! This story alone indicates the importance of encouraging physical activity among women, and that nothing in Islam forbids it.

Last year, Iran opened the door for females to participate in sports activities around the world. They banned men from attending these activities yet they allowed some of the games to be transmitted through television channels. There are no rules against women practicing sports as long as these games adhere to society’s cultures and traditions.

All we have to do is differentiate between ancient cultural traditions and religion. These are two different things. Working hard to implement change must be supported with new facts that convey current changes everywhere. Saudi society is a religious society by nature; therefore, any voice that doesn’t address this nature is rejected.

It is wrong to force people to change their traditions and habits without preparing them first. Preparation comes through special mechanism and techniques used to serve the religious group in society and not clash with them using for example awareness lectures, media symposiums and constructional dialogues.

Nevertheless, however we decide to implement changes within our proper cultural context, these changes should occur. And one of them should be providing women with the perfectly legitimate right to sports facilities.