The power of social laws over civil laws
I THINK NEARLY everybody in Saudi Arabia have asked themselves at one time or another why Saudis tend to behave differently while traveling abroad. They adhere more to traffic laws and regulations, they are more aware of how to act in public places, and even their social conduct with other nationalities is of a higher standard. But as soon as they fly back home and settle down, they return to their old social behavioral patterns.
It seems as if they are bound by very particular social patterns that govern their behavior within their community, but as soon as they are free of the influence of those constraints, they adapt to different, more moderate and more tolerant social conduct.
Social laws tend to have a binding and constricting nature that keeps members of society under continuous pressure to adhere to social norms. A defined social order protects dated customs that a community identifies with.
Yet when social norms transcend their acceptable boundaries and start to take on a more generic role, they become a source of social of disorder that results from the confusion between social laws and civil laws.
While it is the norm in any developed society that civil laws transcend social laws and not the other way around, it becomes apparent for any observer that comes into contact with government and civil regulations in Saudi Arabia, that common social laws become the dominant force in running the day-to-day business.
It becomes more problematic when the state adapts one social law that is culturally specific to a social group and tries to implement it on a national level. This strategy only leads to freezing society’s mobility and its development, and hinders the changing mechanisms of social living.
The state should only enact civil laws, which take into account clarity, precision and balance for all segments of its society. It should consider what would be in the best interest of the people and keep up with the variables and dynamics of local and global social conditions.
Today, we are witnessing many changes to the traditional Saudi social arena, especially in larger cities and urban areas. Economic development and social progress can be enhanced further if accompanied with stronger civil laws through discouraging social laws from interfering in decisions on a state level.
A tweet: “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” — John F. Kennedy
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