- No matter how civilized a Saudi woman is and whatever position she holds or job she does, she needs a legal guardian to run a business enterprise — whether it is small or big.
- No other country in the world requires this.
Even though a government order to revoke the provision of a legal guardian had been issued, only the Ministry of Commerce implemented it. All other ministries and departments stick to the condition of a legal guardian, which, of course, should be a male.
This local guardian may be less cultured or inferior to her in position or job; that does not make any difference.
The only condition is that the legal guardian should be a man. Being a man is purely the will of God and cannot be earned through education or becoming civilized. Allah created the individual as a man, and as long as he is a man, he continues to represent women at all government departments and agencies.
This is OK if women were negligent in doing their business or fulfilling their requirements through contacting the concerned ministries and various departments.
However, you would be astonished if you knew the fact that Saudi women possess about 20,000 small-, medium- and large-scale companies and firms with a total capital of about SR80 billion. This figure is based on a report from Khadeeja bint Khowailid Center at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Noted woman economist Aaliya Banaja, who is in the vanguard of a campaign launched by a group of businesswomen, said that the campaign was aimed at convincing various ministries and government departments to follow the example of the Ministry of Commerce in implementing the decision to revoke the provision of a legal guardian.
These departments, which are still adamant that women have a guardian to run their own business, are in a way admitting that they are backward in realizing the needs of the age and that they are stuck to certain outdated set of conditions and beliefs. It is quite strange that this happens during the period of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is a visionary and enlightened ruler.
I have one question to those who stick to the condition of the legal guardian. What is wrong with a businesswoman running her business by herself? Is being a woman really her problem?
