A book is being distributed for free in one university’s girls’ section in Saudi Arabia. The deanship of women’s affairs in the university wants the book to be part of a cultural contest that is assigned to students and staff of the university. A cassette as well as a little notebook is attached to the book. Students are required to write down their answers and return them to the deanship office after reading the book and listening to the tape.
The lucky girl who answers the questions correctly is entitled to receive some of the prizes — which range from 10 laptops, 500 pieces of pure gold to hundreds of home appliances and more than 500 luxuriously designed items of women’s clothing and free subscriptions to several Islamic magazines.
The cassette contains a lecture by Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Owaish entitled “Remaining Firm In Changing Times.” As for the book itself, its title is “The Protectors of Virtue” and its author Sheikh Bakr Abu Zaid, a member of the Religious Edicts Committee in Saudi Arabia. Five hundred thousand copies of the book have been printed. The book’s contents revolve around the idea of the virtuous Muslim woman and the dangers surrounding her. It discusses such issues as hijab “the Muslim woman’s dress code”, the mixing of sexes, marriage, equality, male superiority and so on.
According to the book, the essential thing that leads to virtue is for us to believe the differences between male and female, which are “physical, psychological, religious, fixed and pre-destined according to religion, destiny and ideology (the concept of understanding by humans).” The book goes on to say that “manhood” (being male) is a perfection of creation and equates with natural strength. Females, on the other hand, are weaker by creation and in nature because of menses, pregnancy, delivering children, breast-feeding an infant, taking care of the baby and bringing up the next generation. Those are the reasons why Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs. She is part of him and his processions.
A man is given the responsibility of seeing to her needs, protecting her and providing food for them and any children they have. As a result of the differences in creation, there are differences in power: Physical capabilities, mental capabilities, thought processes, emotions, work performance as well as the amazing results that modern medical science has discovered in the difference between them as a direct result of the difference in creation. The contest which all this is part of expects female students to memorize the book and listen to the tape so they can answer such questions as: Give three reasons why wearing the abaya on your shoulders rather than on the top of your head is forbidden in Islam.
I would like to note here that I have nothing to say about the introduction to the book. Whoever wishes to comment on the introduction is free to do so. My aim was to give an example of what our female students are being taught and the ideas they are being fed. And this book, let me emphasize, has actually been approved by the board of one of our universities.
The reality of the matter is that Saudi Arabia is now witnessing numerous calls for reform, particularly social and economic. These calls for reform have come from the highest levels. We heard it in the speech given by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd to the Shoura Council. We have also heard it in several speeches of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard. The call for reform regarding the status of women in Saudi Arabia remains, however, a difficult one in both the private and public fields. Several groups representing different ideologies appear every time the sensitive issue is brought up and every group stands for the ideology it follows.
In general, women usually react to these honest reform calls either in their social gatherings or in their writings in local newspapers, whether the columns written are their own or not. Their voices can also be heard in the gatherings called for by newspapers, such as the recent one at which female writers told Prince Abdul Majeed, governor of Makkah, the concerns of Saudi women. Not to mention of course, women’s participation in several dialogues or debates that have taken place in several of our Arabic newspapers. In such cases, women give their perspective about the reforms and changes they want. The matter has become so common that the word “reform” is on every one’s lips.
What I want to say is, that as a true believer in reform, the problem cannot be solved by one compensating on behalf of the other. We must first identify the problem. Then we have to present solutions, bearing in mind that some issues need to be discussed and debated — such as the contents in the book mentioned above and what our women are being taught in our universities. The problem in my opinion is that the voice of the “educated” female is not heard in our country. Its presence is not felt and it is absent at all levels. That is why decisions are always made on her behalf. In other words, she is a citizen who does not enjoy full citizenry or full legal, social, and financial rights.
Another group of people analyze women’s status by saying that she is mentally and psychologically incomplete, therefore she needs someone to represent her. This analysis comes from social ideas that originate from social systems and traditions. And that is also part of the problem regarding reforms. So what is the solution? I think there is a genuine interest in improving our society. But we must be aware that half of our society — women — is not functioning to its maximum efficiency and that same half is ruled, regulated and dominated by the other half — men. The solutions given by officials — who decide on behalf of women — focus on fixing the problems of labor and education. Both areas need to be broadened and both represent a good part of the call for reforms such as was mentioned in the speech of King Fahd who stressed the importance of women playing a larger role in the work force. But before that, I think it is important that women participate in making decisions in the country, not only decisions that are related to women alone but that concern the entire society, whether those decisions are political, social, economic or financial. Women’s participation would come as a plus to guarantee their rights and organize their responsibilities. This is a demand of any civilized country as is the case in an Islamic state in which citizens — both male and female — participate in making decisions.
A political mandate is also important and would further support this initiative. I hope that the country’s rulers will bring the progress of women into their official speeches to show their support for reforms by an appropriate political mandate.
Opening more job opportunities for Saudi women is extremely important; at present they are mainly in education, health and social services. A very small group of Saudi women work in the private sector and the percentage of Saudi women working there is only 3.7 percent of the total number of women in the work force.
The problem of women working in Saudi Arabia is linked to many things — motivations as well as obstructions. And because there are certain people who believe that they are solely responsible for what women should or should not do, the need for a political mandate — laws — to implement things is an absolute necessity. Increasing the subjects available for women to study is also a necessary demand related to the workforce and its aims.
Currently many fields of study are closed to Saudi women; these include engineering, law, media, astronomy, physical education, agriculture, tourism as well as computer science studies and business administration. One of the reasons is technical but the overwhelming one is Saudi Arabia’s customs and traditions that are invariable linked closely to religion — whether they should be or not. Thus reform cannot take place without a political decision — a mandate or law — as happened in 1960 when girls’ education became legal. In the end, we are all citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who are partners in building our country and developing a future for our children and grandchildren. We must strive to do what is best for our country and its people, following closely what our religion calls for and allows.
— Dr. Hatoon Al-Fassi is a Saudi historian and writer. —
- Arab News Opinion 19 June 2003
