If you can understand Saudi society then you must be an expert in sociology. If you can also share your findings with the world then you must be very bold. There is a very thin line between the permissible and the prohibited that sometimes manifest in an individual’s opinion. These types of complications are what reinforce the Saudi type of conservatism that allows us to boldly and confidently discuss our social problems on all Arab TV channels except Saudi ones.
We have obvious symptoms of social schizophrenia that is sometimes apparent to everyone and is sometimes concealed. We admit it at times and then we are ashamed to confess that it exists at other times.
Some of us talk about life in the Kingdom while traveling abroad as if they are speaking about a group of people from a foreign country. The problem is worsening, since some of our women have developed symptoms of social schizophrenia that change according to different situations and not according to the demands of life.
It all started when our society, which is generally based on culture, began to think that the permissible and the impermissible are related to gender and not according to Shariah. The culture of connecting women to wrongdoings and flaws has dominated the thinking of our society. Men, on the other hand, are given the freedom to do as they please without any sort of condemnation. The freedom he has been given has not just influenced his personal life, but has also extended to other aspects of life. Men are able to compete in car races and ride horses while the Shoura Council refuses to allow girls and women to practice sports not because this is something forbidden, but because Saudi society prefers things this way.
Some address the issue of women working in light of the Shariah. The question is: Do you believe there is a Saudi woman who would want to accept a job that takes her outside the circle of her religion? If you do not know the answer, then I advise you to go to a charity institute and see what Saudi women are actually doing.
The contradictions inside our society attract huge interest to our religion, our habits and our traditions. If our inherited cultural traits do not meet the ethos of Islam, then they should be avoided.
Women are only a few centimeters away from their drivers inside their cars. No one condemns or questions that. In fact, this is something that has become part of our way of life. The same people accepting this are the ones that oppose the idea of women working without their legal guardian’s consent.
Our system relies more on customs than religion. For women to work is not against Islam as long as she follows the Shariah and not social customs.
