While most agreed with my call for Saudi women to fight for their rights, (Don’t Cry Wafa, Fight, June 13), some disagreed. Though, I understand the phobia toward Western reforms, I must insist that learning from others doesn’t necessary mean imitating them.
People blessed with privileges and authority won’t give them up without a fight. Rights are taken, rarely given. Islam gave our women their dues but some men managed to deny them in the name of religion and scared traditions.
Most of our women are not demanding irresponsible freedom, only their Islamic sanctioned rights and identity. Man-made traditions are not always compatible, and in many cases contradict Islamic laws.
Still, I whole-heartedly agree that we shouldn’t blindly copy others as Lisa Ottoborgo argues in her protest letter.
She writes: “I’m an American Muslim that has lived in the Kingdom for 13 years. I was born and raised in the States and lived a ‘Western life’ until I became Muslim at 26. I have some concerns when I read articles such as yours that push for Western reforms without a deep understanding for what’s at stake.
In my opinion, Western women won the battle but lost the war. Yes, they can vote, drive, work, get educated, but they work harder than men, get paid less even with the same degree, and without going into every detail, the most detrimental loss is the break-up of the family. What more can one lose?
Perhaps some of the things Dr. Al-Arifi said were not correct, but he is right when he said teachers should dress modestly, and who says that dressing conservatively can’t look nice and fashionable?
Indeed, girls do look to their teachers as models. I even looked at what Muslim women wore when I was a new Muslim. I educated myself on Islamic dress, but took many cues from watching other women. Little girls are at times more impressionable.
I’ve traveled to other Gulf countries (UAE, Qatar and Bahrain). With the exception of Qatar, I’m not impressed. I feel the Western powers like to use the issue of women in the Middle East like a whip.
It is psychological warfare at best, and Muslims such as you, need not succumb to it. If Muslim women face problems, we need to see where we as an Ummah have fallen from our religion.
The Western lifestyle cannot be used as a standard because it has failed. The social problems Western women and men face far outweigh any advantages they may have. Please be careful before you jump on the ‘Western band wagon’.”
Yes, Ma’am!
