Blog 10: Saudi Women Urgently Need Equal Rights

In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive a vehicle, women cannot travel without a male guardian, and men are allowed to beat their wives simply for being a woman, these are a few examples based on the Qur'an stated by Alnowaiser. In a recent article on arabnews.com, Dr Kahlid Alnowaiser addresses a serious topic in Saudi Arabia, Saudi women are desperate for a speedy equal rights movement. Alnowaiser's has sufficient reasoning for this statement. One reason being that women are essential in influencing and affecting our lives, whether it be through a mother, daughter, wife, sister, or friend. Women also make up more than half of Saudi Arabia's population, and Alnowaiser believes that no real social development can be accomplished without women. He also addresses the fact that Islam causes others to send a repressive attitude towards women by denying their basic civil rights. Alnowaiser's reasoning as to why the large population count of women doesn't show in Saudi Arabia is because of men that hold positions of power in religion and government. He states that because of these men being placed in certain groups, they have a plan to dominate society and control all aspects of a woman's life, so she has no way to achieve the position that they hold. Making a connection with the reasoning of women being a high influence in everyone's lives, Alnowaiser believes that the male method of control "makes no sense" because of the influence and responsibility that women have to teach and influence generations with certain values and beliefs.
Alnowaiser also believes that the religious authorities restrict women's lives through a "management by fear" style, preaching that anyone that disobeys Allah, the Prophet, or any religious authority, becomes a sinner and will be punished for the rest of their life and on the "Day of Judgement." Alnowaiser states some of the restrictions that are not respective of personal freedoms for Islam women.  He makes a few suggestions, specifically gearing them towards men and stating "Saudi men must step in and embrace these reforms to guarantee our country a bright and prosperous future where all citizens are valued and treated equally."
In this article, Alnowaiser approaches the topic with a very logical viewpoint and has great reasoning as to why things are the way they are for Saudi women. The main point I want to address is using religion as a form of social control. Alnowaiser, as well as myself, can agree that the views of Islam and the way they are portrayed by male leaders control all Saudi women in every day life. The Qur'an states that personal freedoms must always be respected if everyone is permitted to make his or her own decisions. The faulty area that arises is the fact that women are not allowed to make their own decisions in Saudi Arabia, leading to social control of all Saudi women. Men in power are constantly using Islam as a form of gender control and gender inequality within Saudi Arabia, while few other Islamic nations do otherwise and let their women have civil rights. Knowing that women must basically have a guardian over them never lets them have their own personal freedom with no interference. I highly agree with the fact that Saudi men need to take a stand with their fellow Saudi women to guarantee their country a higher GDP and a prosperous future. Making a connection with our class studies, if Saudi women had the same civil rights and freedoms that men did in their country, they would have a much higher GDP and human capital. Sociologically, it would be in the best interest of Saudi Arabia's men to take into consideration what their women can do for their country, as well as recognizing that at this current time within their culture, they are the ones that must progress with change.



Source: http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article589965.ece