King Abdullah Starts a New Era for Saudi Women

I was extremely happy to arrive back to Saudi from our Turkey trip. Why? Because it is a historical moment for Saudi women. King Abdullah has announced in his speech that women will be allowed to vote and participate in the Shoura council.


I was so happy that upon hearing this I just wanted to go give him a big bear hug!

Ok maybe that wouldn't be the greatest idea. But you get the idea of how excited I am. This is big news. Saudi women are soon going to participate in decision making in Saudi Arabia. This also gives hope for the future for more decrees like this from the King. (ahem women driving..) Not only the Saudi women but the whole country will benefit from this change.

I guess it's no secret I'm a big fan of the King. He is doing a great job considering the circumstances he has to work under. He has to deal with the heavy pressure from the religious clerics breathing on his back, the mixed public opinions he hears all around, his brothers and other family members on the other side whispering their opinions and demands, his advisors with their own agendas and also his conscious to be the just ruler that is ultimately responsible only to Allah.

It looks like most of the time his ultimate choice has been listening to the heart. That is what makes him so loved by the Saudi people.

The King, estimated to be a staggering 92 years old said in his speech:
 "Because we refuse to marginalize women in society in all roles that comply with Shariah, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulema and others to involve women in the Shoura Council as members, starting from the next term"

Well it sure took a long time for them to realize they'd been marginalizing women but better late than never I guess.
Personally I think this is great news and indicates that the country is ready to move forward to this millennium. Some others have been more skeptical. People are saying this is not really going to mean anything concrete will happen for improvement of womens rights. Women are not actually going to have any power in the Shoura, but will only be like puppets and all this was done solely for statistics and looks. The Shoura council and municipal election themselves are said to have little or no actual influence on how the country is ruled.

Western media has perhaps deliberately left unsaid that before 2005 Saudis, regardless of gender were in fact not allowed to vote at all. Or in other words, there was nothing to vote for. When they held the municipal elections for the first time it was most likely due to the resource problems (gender segregation) that women weren't included. For the next round in 2015 women will be able to vote as well as run as candidates. That will be very interesting to see.

The King also said in his speech:
"Muslim women in our Islamic history have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice" 


King Abdullah then gave examples from the times of Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. During the era of the Prophet some women acted as lawyers and people would go to them with complex legal issues, there were female scholars and in general women participated in the society as equals.


It's ironic that the rights given to women by the Prophet over a millenia ago were later taken away by so called religious men and then it took this long for Saudi-Arabia, the birthplace and "model-country" of Islam, to restore some of those rights from times some people refer to as "the Dark Ages". Yet it seems like modern day Arabia is living in a new era of the Dark Age because of how they marginalize women in their societies.


That leads me to think how come major rulings like this can be made, but the problem of women driving still exists? How will the women chosen for Shoura show up for the meetings? Isn't it humiliating if she cannot have the most SIMPLE right of driving, but on the other hand she is able to participate in such an important council?

Is women driving really more momentous than women voting?

What do you think readers? Are the Kings rulings just a way of getting the focus OFF women driving or a prerequisite TO women driving?


As the eternal optimist, I say it's the latter.

More about King Abdullah's mission to improve women's status in the Kingdom: http://blueabaya.blogspot.com/2010/08/king-abdullah-emissary-of-saudi-women.html

Read more on the news:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/world/middleeast/women-to-vote-in-saudi-arabia-king-says.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3
 http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/25/saudi-king-lets-women-vote-in-local-elections-for-first-time/?test=latestnews#ixzz1Z1qLVXeH
From other blogs:Sabrias bloghttp://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/09/saudi-women-demonstrate-they-are.html
Crossorads Arabia:
http://xrdarabia.org/2011/09/25/saudi-women-gain-political-rights/

Saudi women's long journey from back seat to front seat

 June 17^th is here and Saudi women will start driving their cars!

The last time Saudi women sat in the drivers seat was in a protest back in 1990.

I'm so excited about this and wish I could participate but this is a cause for the Saudi women to fight themselves. They don't need help from foreigners; they can do it their selves! And they need to show the men in this country that it can and will be done. Women in Saudi-Arabia will sit in the driver's seat. No more suffering from nasty drivers and running after taxis!

The main reason why Saudi women haven't driven so far is fear. Fear from the women's side that something awful will happen to them and fear of going against the law. But after Manal Alsherif's example women have become more confident and determined that now is the time to end the ban on women driving. Manal was not arrested for driving but they charged her for other reasons. Saudi men on the other hand fear giving their women rights equal to theirs. They are literally afraid of setting their women free.

But why are some Saudi men so afraid of their women? Because they have all reasons to! Saudi women are intelligent, creative, determined, educated and ambitious. If given equal opportunities in the labor market, the women might be better at some jobs that men now hold, or even become their bosses! Some insecure Saudi men could not handle that.

Why was there a ban in the first place? Women driving cars is not haram (forbidden). There is no proof of this from Quran or Hadith, it's actually quite the contrary. However the late sheikh Bin Baz said it is haram and even went and issued a fatwa(religious ruling) on it. On a side note, this is the same sheikh that issued a fatwa saying Saudi men studying abroad can marry a western woman with the intention of divorcing her when he leaves back to KSA. I think this says enough of this dudes respect for women and all humanity and how seriously his rulings should or should not be taken.

Saudi women have started driving as we speak. Some poor insecure Saudi men must be peeing their pants. They can no longer control the women's movements like before! Some loosers even started a campaign on Facebook calling for the beating of women who dare to start driving! What weaklings. Really I feel sorry for men like this who don't even have the balls to let their womenfolk drive cars. Seriously I even feel a bit sorry for them.. No wait-I don't!

Some spineless men try to desperately convince themselves that women driving is "not important" or "insignificant to women's rights" etc nonsense, saying that there are other much more important issues that need to be solved. Well here's a newsflash for you men out there: By saying women driving is such a small insignificant thing, you are actually making it a big deal. Because if you really thought it's so unimportant then why do you even care if women started driving? Since you think women driving in KSA is secondary to other causes why not solve it then and get it out of the way of the more important issues like the unjustice justice system, slavery mahrem system, or unemployment issues.

Can you answer that? I didn’t think so.

The Shoura council has dismissed the issue of women driving as irrelevant, despite that they have been approached with two petitions they refused to discuss the issue.

I wish all the brave Saudi women out there all the best of luck! Remember to buckle up and keep driving until a royal decree on the matter is ordered!

The Return of the Naughty Little Elves

You have probably heard and read about Manal al Sharif and the ongoing heated debate on women driving ban. I haven't wanted to write about it after this post because the whole issue just seems to be so worn out. Of course I remain hopeful that Manal's example of courage would trigger some real results this time.
The way the Saudi media just beats around the bush on the issue is just so frustrating to me. I'm tired of reading their crappy coverage and outright lies. And its just incomprehensible to me how religious clerics continue to come up with the most ridiculous excuses as to why women shouldn't drive. And yet again they have gone and blamed it all on the Shiia and other scapegoats. And people actually believe them!
I'm so bored of reading all the crap the media feeds us! They might have just as well written a fairytale about it and not even bothered to write anything else. It might have gone something like this:

A fairytale from the Magic Kingdom..

Starring: Manal Al Sharif as "Princess Lionheart "
             Shiias, Jews and Westerners as "the Elves"
             Religious clerics and Hai'a as "The Evil Wizards"
             Saudis as "The Fools"

Once upon a time in the Magic Kingdom there lived a Princess named Lionheart, she was known for being very couragous and smart.
One morning the Princess woke up full of enthusiasm: "Today I shall ride my carriage outside the walls of my castle, why do they have to make life for women such a hassle?" 
"I can rein my horses inside where its hidden, but why when I venture out is it forbidden?"
The more the Princess thought about this nonsense, she became convinced now was the time to make the women driving ban past tense.
She knew quite well that the Evil Wizards would say "woman, how do you dare!" But the Princess thought of all the poor women that suffered and did not care.
So on she went, with her brother in tow. The children were seated in the backrow.
She rode her golden carriage, and showed all the people her tremendous courage.
But all hope was lost when the guards came, she was stopped and put to shame.
Why, she asked do you stop me, have the Evil Wizards cast a spell on thee?

Back at the palace in the dark of the night, the guards of the Evil Wizards had heard of her fight.
They dragged the Princess into jail, and her plees for freedom were of no avail.
She was asked to confess to the Evil Wizards, but she couragously replied  "I would rather eat lizards!"
For five days she lay on the dungeon floor, only food was brought to her door.
The Wizards were worried and dreaded, could their spell on the Magic Kingdom be beheaded?
They had cast the spell of darkness over the Kingdom long ago, now they were in danger to be exposed by this foe!
"We must again blame the elves, those naughty little elves, it's the only way to save ourselves!"
"They will believe it again those fools, look how we already fiddled with their schools!"

So the Evil Wizards told the people of the Magic Kingdom:
The elves only want to cause chaos and turmoil! Thank us that we keep them away from our soil!

They have done it again. Those sneaky, naughty little elves!
They managed to creep into the castle of the Princess! Hear her now how she will confess!
"The elves tiptoed at night into my room, because I am a poor woman without a groom."
"They whispered into my ears when I slept, this is a secret best to be kept: Go and ride your carriage outside the palace walls! Do it on June 17th and drive to malls! Tell others to follow you! Do this and no harm will come to you! You will enjoy riding in your carriage outside in the freedom! What a perfect magical Kingdom!"
"I had no understanding of my actions, I am but a foolish woman that wanted male attraction."


So the fools believed the lies of the Wizards and all was well in the Magic Kingdom, but Princess Lionheart remained locked up in the dungeon.
To this day her voice can be heard in the tower, "You will never break my spirit and women will one day take power!"
And the Evil Wizards laughed into their beards, we rule the Magic Kingdom by creating these fears!

Read about the story from Saudiwomans blog http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/second-update-on-manal-al-sherif/

 or Susies blog: http://susiesbigadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/manal-gets-another-10-days-for-her.html

Western woman in Riyadh? Make the best of it!

This is a playful post for all the ladies currently living in Riyadh. It might be a harsh environment and many things irritate us from time to time..But what can we do? Other than getting frustrated and anxious, try to look at it in a positive way and make your life a bit easier. I say, make the best of it! Don't spend your time complaining and moaning. It will only make you feel worse. Here's a couple suggestions how to make the most out of your time here..

Wearing abaya: Ok this is probably one of the most annoying things for most western women, you gotta wear it, so I say...make the best of it!
-get an abaya made of good quality material, not polyester which will make you a cooked vegetable in no time in the +50 heat. Best quality abayas you will find upstairs in Faisaliah and Hayat malls. They can also make abayas to order.
-abayas come in so many different styles, show your personality with a pretty or individual abaya. Go to Dirah souq and find the Waleed store where you can custom make good quality abayas. Design and personalize it! It's what you wear out all the time anyways. Try also the abaya shops in Royal mall and Hayat mall, most offer custom made abayas and if you can afford it, Kingdom center third floor has some amazing exquisite collection of abayas.
-go shopping in your pyjamas, under the abaya :D


Not being able to drive: Very frustrating sometimes especially for women who enjoy driving and are used to doing it alot.
- while you're being driven around by your driver, make the most of your time! Read a good book, a newspaper, call a friend, or your mother! Do your makeup on the way (ok depends on your driver's skills and how stable your hand is).
- if you have a jeep or husband /friend that can rent one go out to the desert to drive! It's fun but be careful don't venture too far. Bedouin women drive around all the time, once you've passed the checkpoints you will be fine. Check out the book "Desert treks from Riyadh" available in Jarir book stores.
- go to the Reem race track!they have carting and women can drive too!Exit 11.
- rent quadbikes or beach buggies to get rid of the extra "driving withdrawal symptoms". Available at red Sands area Mecca highaway and the Thumamah area.

Extreme heat: When temperatures start topping 45c everyday, it's not very pleasant to be outside anymore.
-make sure your abaya is made from natural materials. Some abayas are so thin you won't even feel like you're wearing one.
-make the best out of the dry heat and dry your laundry outside! In minutes you will have wrinkle free dry laundry.
-take all your bedding and mattresses out, cook well on both sides..and wa'la you have gotten rid of all possible living things such as bedbugs or dustmites!
- to create curls in no time, after showering apply some moisturizing leave in conditioner and/or heat activated styler. Apply hair rolls or tie your hair in couple small braids. Optionally cover your hair with a scarf to protect from sun. Go out for about 15 min to half an hour depending on your hair length and desired result (preferably in yard or pool area, can't recommend venturing out in public). While waiting for hair to dry apply nail polish if you like, it will dry by the time your hair is done. Can also be done in the evenings but needs more time.

Hard water: Many women have noticed that after a while their hair seems to fall out more and it becomes thinner. This is due to the water that is mostly desalinized and therefore lacks some essential minerals.
- buy some zinc and selenium supplements from any pharmacy.
- after rinsing your hair with tap water, follow by small amount bottled water to make hair softer.
-get Sodium Laurel Sulfate free shampoo available at GNC!

Boredom: Very common symptom of living in Riyadh. However treatment options are numerous to begin therapy start here with Riyadh to do guide.
- start a new hobby, keep yourself active. Try golf, salsa dancing, horse polo, or scuba-diving!
- since you have the rare opportunity to live in the Saudi-Arabia and are surrounded by Islam, why not find out a little more about the religion? I guarantee you won't be bored anymore! The WAMY centre opposite Owais souq is a great place to visit to learn more.
-Check out Dar Adh-Dhikr, an Islamic center for women and children (boys up to the age of 6) to learn Arabic and Qur'an in the Ma'athar area

Surrounded by desert: For some its a blessing, others..not. But why not take advantage of the lack of tourism in Saudi-Arabia, you will have most places to yourself and the nature is mostly untouched.
-explore historical sites just outside Riyadh, get the Desert Treks book I mentioned before.
-visit Madain Saleh the other capital city of the ancient nabatean people. You will most likely be the only people there. Although smaller in size than Petra, I enjoyed the atmosphere more here. It seems like stepping into the past.
-Take weekend trips to the seaside, don't miss Jeddah which is a city with quite a different vibe and atmosphere than Riyadh!

-join the Riyadh Hash Harriers who organize desert walks every weekend and camping in cooler months, ask around from westerners for contact details!

-explore the mostly untouched Saudi side of the Red sea coast. Want to start start scuba-diving? Blue Reef divers 014644134 (in my opinion the best operator in KSA) has courses running all year round. The lectures and pool training are in Riyadh, and open water training will take a weekend in Jeddah. The Red Sea is full of amazing underwater life! If you have a chance, go to the Farasan Islands, one of Jacque Cousteau's favorite places! A wonderland for divers, there is virtually no other humans (except for the odd fisherman). Currently only two hotels on the main island (reachable by ferry from Jizan) The Farasan Hotel: +96673161166

Gender segregation: Most public places will be separate for men and women, it might get frustrating to always find the right place but there can be some advantages to this too!
- you won't have to que in banks when you go to the ladies section it's hardly ever crowded
- shopping at Kingdom center ladies only floor with own entrance. Good place to watch the World Cup from big screen without hoards of men is the Supermodel Cafe.
-shopping at the ladies only shopping mall exit 14 called Bushra ladies Mall
-Panorama mall ladies only section
- as a woman you should be served first if there'so clear mens/ladies que, but of course this is not always the case. A polite smile might get you in front of the line.
-always take advantage of the ladies sections of Saudi airlines offices and get things done in 5 min compared to 5hours on the men's side.
- on Saudi airlines (and most other national airlines) flights you can always change seats if you happen to be sitting next to a man, just request for another seat. They will give you a window seat if available, and if you're lucky an upgrade to business class.
- at the airport pass the men in the baggage security check line, they don't usually mind if you put your bag first, then pass through the ladies security check and you will be done in no time.

It all comes down to attitudes. We can't change these things but we can change our outlook on them. It's mostly up to ourselves how we handle it and a positive open mind will never do you harm!

Women driving in saudi soon? Inshallah!

Driving instructor

Saudi-Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving. There is in fact nothing in the saudi law that literally prohibits women from driving, nor does it come from Islam. Recently on Saudiwomans weblog, she translated an article about how to start implementing women driving in KSA from Alriyadh newspaper.

http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/women-driving-cars%e2%80%a6how-do-we-start-its-implementation/

In the article various men have been interviewed regarding why are women prohibited to drive, and what would be in their opinion the best way to start allowing females to drive. They asked a Legal Counsel, Bandar bin Ibrahim Al Muhrij who had this to say: article thirty-two of the traffic laws states that “any person is prohibited from driving a vehicle before obtaining a driver’s license as is required in accordance with the provisions of this law”, and based on this text, the word “person” contained therein is not limited to the male without the female, indicating that the fact that driving licenses are issued exclusively to males is not supported by any document from the traffic system and its laws.

So banning women from driving is purely acultural issue. Actually, women were allowed to drive in Saudi some decades ago before the scholars suddenly realized its another way to control women haram and banned it. So it hasn't always been forbidden.Why are the scholars so insecure, do they think the women would run away if they could drive?

Commonly used excuses (mostly by saudi men but EVEN some women!) for justifying the ban on women driving:

-Women have other things to do like cooking, cleaning and taking care of kids.

Well I wonder how ALL the women in the rest of the world who are allowed to drive have time to do both !?

Actually if women could drive here they would have MORE time to spend with kids and at home. Now their time is consumed by waiting for their drivers or fighting with taxi drivers or getting lost with foreign drivers who barely speak a word of Arabic or English.

- Allowing women to drive will increase traffic jams because all women of the family would want their own cars and would want to drive.

Now this is just plain stupid. Just think about it. At the moment there are hundreds of thousands women who have to be taken to school, university or work every morning. To hobbies, shopping, friends houses etc in the evenings.. The driver takes them, drives back home, goes to get them again and returns home. Now isnt that always 4 trips, versus the 2 that woman by herself would take? Would the woman perhaps drive two cars at a time? Where is the logic? That's LESS traffic and cars. The woman could also take her sister, mother or whoever in the same trip. Also from what I've heard from Saudi women, not everyone would want to start start driving in the very beginning or possibly ever, or would want their own car. They are just too afraid, and no wonder because the traffic here is horrible!But lifting the ban would ease the traffic jams despite that. That takes us to the next excuse:

-The traffic in Saudi is so bad and dangerous women couldn't handle it

But why is the traffic so bad? Because its all men! Men are to blame for majority of accidents in all studies conducted around the world, plus have most speeding tickets and violations. If women were allowed to drive the traffic would be better for sure, women abide to laws more and are more cautious. This is a well known fact and supported by statistics from around the world. Many of the employed drivers in KSA are foreigners who don't care about abiding to Saudi laws. Also it's not rare to see 10-15 year old boys driving around with their fathers or brothers. So even they are seen as more competent than adult women.

If she was a boy, she'd be driving daddys jeep!

-its not safe for women to drive because men will start harassing them and chasing them with their cars

                                                                                                

Well is this the womens fault?!Why cant the police handle the harassers? Thats a new job for the muttawa then, protect women dont harass them!They could even make a squad that specifically targets crazy young male drivers. Muttawas like to point the finger at the woman, she is at fault, she is being a temptress behind the wheel! The poor saudi men are at their mercy! Men simply cannot handle themselves, therefore, ban the women from driving is the solution.

-females cant drive because they must wear face cover, which prohibits them from seeing well enough to drive, hence subjecting them to dangerous situations

First of all women can see perfectly well with the facecover (niqab). There are niqab wearing driving instructors even in U.S. And if these scholars really think women cant see well enough with niqab and it subjects them to danger, then why are women supposed to wear it in the first place? How can they see well enough to cross the street, or which GMC or jeep they should hop in thinking its their husband or driver (a mistake would lead to haram mixing!!). How do women even go about their daily lives shopping, studying and working with it? How is a female surgeon supposed to see what she's doing, if the niqab blocks her view? Isn't that a more serious issue then? This is a very lame excuse.

Inshallah the ban on women driving will be lifted soon, it really effects negatively the whole Saudi society. Men suffer from it too, brothers, husbands and fathers have to constantly drive their female relatives around or worry about them being driven around by strange men. Women have to be in a small space with a strange man which is viewed as haram in all other situations in KSA. Only that should be enough to stop the ban. The drivers are usually from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, they speak poor english/arabic, can have violent driving style, might even harass the woman, make all kind suggestions, they might be chain smokers, wear way too much cologne, most often don't know where you want to go, and are usually late themselves yet get upset if the woman is 2min late..This is everyday reality for women in KSA.

The article however gives hope, because it has now moved the discussion from WHY cant women drive to HOW can we stop this madness..many good suggestions and I remain hopeful.

My suggestion is, lift the ban in phases. First let the women with international driving licenses drive, saudi or non saudi. They will be the most confident and can handle the road hooligans. Increase traffic control policemen in busy street areas (employ muttawas to chase after the men who disturb the women).

When the worst is over, allow married women to drive. Phase three everyone else who wishes to.

That way when the young saudi girls take to the streets the worst hooligans are already used to seeing women driving.

What do you think, how should it be implemented?