Our preoccupation with political news over the past few weeks, whether it was the Iraqi turmoil, the Palestinian anguish from recurring Israeli incursions, the demolition resulting from the Lebanese-Israeli war or the Iranian nuclear program, should not disengage us from vital issues of concern on our domestic front.

Although we seem to have energized our economy by deploying new projects for the advance of our infrastructure developing power and water plants, railroads, ports, airports; building exquisite economic cities; constructing new universities and institutes of technology; endorsing privatization of services and encouraging foreign investment we have not yet paid enough attention to efforts to develop our Saudi culture in a way that would serve the interests of our society. Citizens do enjoy the merits of economic growth and development but they also find happiness and tranquility in resolving their everyday issues such as family conflicts, controversial social conduct and differential cultural norms that can only be determined through the advancement of education and the enhancement of the application of the rule of law.

The basis of the Saudi culture is confined within the Islamic doctrine. Its principles, rulings and traditions are derived from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) preachings, Hadith. Any development of the culture should be in accordance with Islamic values but should also be consistent with today’s needs. At the present time, family problems, such as domestic violence, and controversial social issues like prejudices against women, violate human rights. Such problems can’t be resolved with the traditional way of thinking or indistinct rulings. They can only be determined by upgrading the people’s perception of reciprocal individual rights irrespective of gender, age or sect and by instituting statutory laws derived from correct interpretation of the Shariah. Such new laws should be exemplified as adequate judicial laws applicable to all social status cases and carried out in a systemized fashion equally applicable to men and women without bias or discrimination.

A developed culture is one that incorporates the rule of law and enriches its people with education to have an open-minded view in order to modify the traditional social and cultural patterns of conduct with a view to ending prejudices and customary practices based on the idea of superiority of men. Just as it is not right to forbid women from praying in certain areas in the Grand Mosque, a matter that was not dictated to us by our Prophet, it is also not right to forbid young boys from going to malls on the weekends.

Saudi social problems are not embedded in women’s driving of cars or having gowns on top of their head or on the shoulder or even in having women stay at home or go to work as they are meant to be displayed on Saudi TV channels or in the print media. They are rather confined to areas that affect women’s lives and the lives of their siblings for many generations to come.

Domestic violence is at an increase in the Saudi society accounting for 40 percent of the crimes in the Kingdom. Divorced women are being left out and neglected without safeguarding their legal rights by the Shariah courts. Although inheritance laws are crystal clear in the Shariah, they are being violated by legal practices that privilege men over women. Cases have been evident where women are being subjected to the masculine view of courts having been forced out of corporations and denied their Shariah rights in ownership of corporate shares. Such inheritance cases are piling up in our courts in endless deliberations taking from ten to twenty years in order to be resolved simply because Shariah laws are not being fully and righteously interpreted.

Masculine gender preferential rulings are continuously noted on false pretences to save family corporations in order to maintain the economy.

A demeaning view of women in Saudi Arabia is evident within families who have been misled by the traditional way of life that looks down on woman and deprives her of her right to choose even when she is educated, mature and capable. Women face discrimination in the job market. They have no say in determining their own future and their own self.

In contemplation of a resolution to these social and cultural issues, it is not helpful to present two extreme views to develop our culture, a traditional one and a liberal one. It is time to give equal attention to moderate views to be publicly deliberated.

A road map is needed to start on a process. Legal matters pertaining to personal status that use Shariah as the basis for decisions should be resolved according to clear-cut laws derived from Shariah that present unambiguous and adequate rulings as compared to rulings of different judges with personal views.

We do have a unique Saudi culture that we are proud of but we must make it neither rigid nor ambivalent. We are an Islamic country with well-contained Islamic values but our values are not any different from those in other Islamic countries who adhere to gender equality and man-made laws. Gender equality is a trait of today’s world, a world that has moderate views on solving common problems that touch on our lives every day.

— Dr. Mariam Al-Oraifi is a Saudi academic. She holds a doctorate from Canberra University in Australia. E-mail to: [email protected]