Unlike other Arab nations, Saudi Arabia still forbids women to drive a car. The reason? As the home of both the Prophet Mohammad (570-632) and the religion of Islam, conservative religious and political leaders from Mecca to Riyadh (all men) decry any departure from their construction of Sharia law - law reputedly based on the two main religious texts of Islam - The Quran and The Hadith (the reputed sayings of Muhammad). Of course, neither work contains a statement on driving. However, the Saudi religious elite has long prohibited women from getting behind the wheel for fear that they will violate purdah - which calls for the separation of men and women. Even by the standards of conservative Islam, however, this line of argument is specious at best. If Muslim women can drive freely in Jordan, for example, without compromising purdah or their namus (honor), why should Saudi women be denied the opportunity to drive?.
In 2009, Saudi Princess Amira al-Taweel, an independent young woman, echoed the sentiments of her royal predecessor, Princess Lolwah al-Faisal, by publicly stating, "Certainly I'm ready to drive a car. I have an international driver's license, and I drive a car in all the countries I travel to." When her husband, a member of the House of Saud (the royal family), subsequently spoke in support of his wife and Saudi women on the subject, it served as a catalyst for action.
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Recently, a 32 year-old Saudi female computer consultant, Manal al-Sharif, had herself filmed criticizing the prohibition while driving a car - and she did not literally or figuratively stop there. She also called on all Saudi women to drive en masse on 17 June through Facebook and Twitter in a show of defiance against a nonsensical law. For her courageous stand, the Saudi government responded by breaking into and altering the content of her social media accounts and threw her in jail for ten days.
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A few days ago, Manal was released and awaits court judgment. According to reports, she apparently backtracked a bit and told Saudi authorities that she was not attempting to start a revolution. Rather, she was just trying to make the case that women ought to be allowed to drive in emergencies. If true, Manal will not be able to put the genie back in the bottle. Her cry to make 17 June a day of feminist liberation has been welcomed by young Saudi women from Jeddah on the Red Sea to Dammam on the Persian Gulf. Consider their plight under one of the most patriarchal societies in the world:
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1) Although they account for more than 2/3 of all university graduates (due to their preponderant numbers), Saudi women compose less than 10% of the workforce. If they do manage to gain entrance into a profession, they are expected to quit (through social coercion) within a few years.
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2) Saudi men still have the right to take as many as four wives at a time. This cruel practice upon women, especially the first wife, stands upon a few vague references to polygamy in the Quran and other writings deemed sacred to Islam.
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3) Saudi women are required to be chaperoned or at least receive permission from a male guardian to travel outside the house. Upon the death of a male spouse, a Saudi widow must ask her son for permission to travel. This custom has rankled Saudi women for centuries.
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4) Men may marry outside their faith, but a woman cannot marry a non-Muslim.
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These aspects of Saudi society are inconsistent with Islam and the principles of universal justice known by mankind and womankind around the world.
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When Saudi women start their engines in protest on 17 June to claim their right to drive, it may very well be the ignition of a longtime-coming feminist revolution. Any law or custom that denies mankind or womankind their fundamental right to lead a dignified life cannot be allowed to stand - anywhere.
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The road to freedom for Saudi women may be long and hard, but their drive for equality must finally begin.
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(Photo: Manal al-Sharif and imagery for the Women2Drive movement that calls on all Saudi women to drive on 17 June in defiance of the Saudi prohibition)
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To watch a short television report on Manal and the quest of Saudi women to drive, please click on the following link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT-3I5jg1xg
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J Roquen