Changes!
When you read the local newspapers here in Saudi Arabia you will obviously see that a battle is going on. It is a social battle where there is much push and shove.
The interesting thing of course is that this social battle is allowed to be witnessed by the public, the reader.
A few years back you would not read in the local newspapers articles advocating women to drive in the Kingdom or another criticizing the religious police in public for instance, although there is a strong opposition to such thoughts and articles from society’s majority.
How about the fact that King Abdullah who has initiated the concept of unity, peace and tolerance between different faiths, religions and sects in Madrid these days is a king of a country that is or was convicted of giving birth to terrorist extremists!
I believe there is a plan for this country to reform but it seems like it will take forever if we wait for rigid mindsets that are inherited from one generation to the next to change! And how is it supposed to change if there is no implementation of change from within the country?
It is interesting though to note that king Abdullah is spending much more on education and sending Saudi students from both genders on scholarships than ever in the kingdom’s past years for the sake of bringing back a young hard working generation, with fresh minds that might open the doors to a more tolerant country.
In 2003, Saudi Arabia had only 8 universities that catered for about 22 million people but several universities and colleges opened since king Abdullah was handed the throne only three years ago. There is a plan to open one of the strongest universities in the region in the western province of the kingdom. It is said that it will be detached and free from any of society’s rigid ideologies!
I read a few days ago that new traffic laws have been released here in Saudi Arabia advocating for more strict laws and regulations, but what I found interesting is the removal of the gender male from these laws as Al-Bishr director general of Saudi traffic department stated in a press conference ” The new law speaks only about driver of the vehicle, and there is no specification of either man or woman. As far as driving of women are concerned, we are not bothering about it,” he said.
And here is an article about it.
Some say that stricter rules pave the way for women driving in the near future. This came at a time when three women drove separately in the kingdom in the last week.
A young twenty something year old girl in Riyadh who passed away due to an accident early last week and another lady from Jeddah who was arrested and a 69 year old lady from Hail who passed away yesterday due to an accident that took place with a 14 year old boy !
Another interesting piece of news is that there is a new law that will omit tribe names from passports and identification cards and that is to lessen tribalism between people.
I don’t believe that this alone will ever work on a tribal based society where such beliefs are engraved in people’s minds, knowing that it defies Islam’s ideologies and teachings in the first place.
Islam clearly stated that there is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab and the only difference between people is righteousness. Not forgetting that Islam was first introduced to a tribal/Arabic society. But we decided to carry pre-Islamic ignorant beliefs instead!
On that subject, let me remind you of the judge “a man of God” who divorced a married couple from each other by force after years of marriage and having children for tribal issues a short while ago.
On a happier note, for the first time in the history of Taif which is a city located on the mountains of the western province of Saudi Arabia, women will be allowed into king Fahad’s football stadium to attend the summer festival there (women will be seated in the ladies section so as not to mix with men of course! But at least it is a step).
But on the other hand, the ministry of health stated that women working in hospitals are working amongst men so they must wear proper hijab and should not apply any makeup at work. It also stated that women are only allowed to wear white long skirts or white trousers underneath their closed white coats!
There has been an acceptance for Saudi women working in hospitals which is a mixed environment (where men and women work together) in the last ten years or so and this statement treats women like school girls and takes us a couple of steps back.
By such a statement, they were able to reduce all these female doctors, scientists, nurses and technicians to a piece of flesh!
This has been an eventful week but the changes I see are more like a yoyo. I try to balance my self on this shaky ground. I worry one day that this surface might just collapse.. I would like to see my self and other women standing stable on solid grounds but we must hang on and be patient, what else can we do?!
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Very interesting post, Rasha.
At times you see change moving in the right direction, and then whatever progress is made, seems to be pulled back just a bit. Two steps forward, one step back.
It is not easy to get rid of deep seated beliefs and traditions. Like you said, tribal culture is an entrenched reality in some parts of the world. And the treatment of women has often failed to live up to the standards set by no other than the Prophet Muhammad himself, who married a woman, Khadijah, 15 years his senior, a wealthy woman who ran a number of thriving businesses, and who proposed marriage to the young Muhammad.
I would like to believe, that sooner or later, all things will move closer toward what makes sense. It may take quite a while to get there, but inevitably, people will be forced to make sense of their lives, and to confom their thinking to universal principles of common sense.
It does not make sense to put women down. As the natural givers of life, and as the natural caretakers of life, women are uniquely qualified to reconstitute their societies consistent with a Vision of Hope.
Saudi Arabia, in many respects, is a very special place, a very symbolic place, and therefore, a very important place with regard to change. It is true that the country is strongly influenced by tribal culture, culture which does not always treat women as the Prophet Muhammad intended. It is also true, that there are influences in the Kingdom which tend toward ideological extremism. And yet, their are as well hints of possible change.
If Saudi Arabia decides to embrace the possibility of change, it could very well mean a transformation of the entire region, a transformation which could very well lead to a restoration of Arab pride, and which could eventually result in the realization of a vision of peace, prosperity, and freedom, a Vision of Hope.
I believe that Saudi Arabia should become a “Mecca” for green technology and renewable energy. A change of this sort will create good paying jobs, will help to neutralize extremist thinking, will restore Arab pride, will protect the environment, and may pave the way toward peace. Saudi Arabia, at a time when the world cries out for a solution, should find the courage to convert oil profits into green profits. And with this bold change, will come a reassessment of many of the deep seated customs and beliefs which you so rightly question.