Dying to drive in Saudi
One of the most hotly debated topics in Saudi Arabia is whether women should be allowed to drive. Some say it will lead to the dissolution of the family, while others argue that the longer you wait to lift the ban, the harder it will be to do it. Laura of Arabia investigates.
About a week ago we joined a bunch of expats for a get-together, braai and walkabout in the desert about one hour's drive outside Jeddah. When we were well away from civilisation, my husband asked whether I would like to take the wheel for the last stretch. Of course I said YES! I raced around the car, abaya flying in the wind, and steered us gleefully over the rocky path to our destination.
I hope that, if this news reaches Crown Prince Abdullah, he'll forgive me, as it could have caused untold chaos in his country had I been spotted by his subjects. Not to mention a rendezvous in a Saudi jail for me. But I'm in no way the only woman in Saudi sneaking a quick dally behind the wheel. Every now and again news that a woman has been driving in the Kingdom makes the headlines, sometimes because she made an accident (dearie me!), sometimes because she had to take over the wheel because, for instance, her husband had a heart attack, and sometimes because she had no other way of getting a sick child to the hospital. It's also a known fact that women drive on farms and in the desert in remote regions, as well as in the large compounds and on school grounds. That said, it's estimated that 70% of Saudi women drive themselves when they go abroad.
Fallen women
One of the most talked about incidents of women driving happened during the build-up to the Gulf War when thousands of US troops where stationed on Saudi soil. Emboldened by the sight of American women driving trucks and in leadership roles, 47 women defied the ban and on November 6, 1990, drove around the capital of Riyadh for 15 minutes before being stopped in their tracks. They were denounced by the mutawwa'in (religious police) as "fallen women" and vilified as communist whores. They lost their jobs and passports for two years, and clerics issued a fatwa (edict) that saw the once unofficial ban on women driving becoming law.
To this day these women are held as "a source of anxiety" because their ideas are implanted in the minds of students and some more conservative clerics and academics warn that "the purpose of women working and driving cars is to get women out of their homes, which would have negative social effects and... lead to immoral behaviour."
Let's not comment on that, but it's a fact that every woman in Saudi Arabia needs transportation and having to depend on someone else to drive her around is not a practical nor economical solution — for the men in her family or for her. On the one hand women are banned from driving and on the other they are warned not to ride with strangers. This leaves women with no options, especially when there is no dependable public transport.
Plus, all women (including us) are warned against taking a taxi, least of all alone. For years friendly Asians were employed as designated female taxi drivers, but since the Kingdom has embarked on its "Saudization" of this industry, putting young Saudi males in the taxi driver's seat, women aren't so keen to use this mode of transport. Expats fear extremists, and Saudi women harassment. There's the well-known story of a young woman who was abducted by a taxi driver and in a desperate attempt to flee she jumped from the car, only to be run over and killed by another.
The worst drivers in the world
Which brings me to one of the most important aspects of the argument. Saudi Arabia has the highest rate of car accidents per capita in the world. This in a country where women, who are proven to be more careful drivers anywhere in the world, are in the car but never behind the wheel.
Car accident reports litter the Saudi dailies, and every day dozens of innocent women and children die at the hands of reckless Saudi and assorted foreign drivers. Recently there was a report of two children who were killed in a car accident while being driven to school. As a mother, would you want the safety of your children to be in your hands, or in that of a man who belongs to the group of most dangerous drivers in the world? Also, spare a thought for the many women who are driven around by sons or grandsons who can barely see over the steering wheel. They "cope" with it, saying if they had to die in a car accident, it would have been God's will.
Here's the shocker; an Arab News article reported that 50% of the nation's road accidents were attributable to women, which, for non-drivers, is some feat. The stats were supported by a study which concluded that women routinely argued with their husbands, interfered too much as backseat drivers or demanded that they stop suddenly at the sight of a nice-looking dress in a shop window, and so caused pile-ups.
Reasons why women shouldn't drive
There are some really strange reasons men say women shouldn't drive. Here are a couple, gleaned from various sources, with my comments.
There would be an increase in accidents since women will be busy looking in the mirror instead of concentrating on the road. If they drive, mirrors should be removed from their cars. Saudi men are forever looking in the rear view mirror while driving, even turn it vertical, so they can get a better view of their headdress and how it hangs.
If women were allowed to drive it would merely encourage them to leave the house unsupervised for no good reason. It's the supervisors I'm worried about...
If women were allowed to drive, soon some of them would take the opportunity discard the Hijab and Abaya as well. Don't men trust women at all?
It will make dating, which is already getting out of hand, much easier. Girls pretending to be out for school and social events go on dates. So you just lock the one gender up?
It's not practical – what will happen to women in traffic jams, accidents, car breakdowns, driving in remote areas, etc? Is it so much more dangerous for a woman to be in this situation in Saudi, the holy land, than in any other country in the world?
Teenage boys will bump into a woman's car just to flirt with her. True, they would.
It's too dangerous to let them drive. They would kill us all. So you'd rather be killed by a man?
They aren't smart enough to learn how to drive. Saudi women are better educated than men – when the males are out hot rodding or racing to the malls, the girls are home studying.
A woman is like a queen here. She shouldn't drive. Since when don't queens have a say in whether they should drive or not? Well, I guess Queen Elizabeth doesn't drive.
In January 2004 Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni, a well-known Islamic scholar reiterated why it is so important Saudi women don't drive:
One: I do not see women driving cars in our country because of the consequences that would spring from it such as the spread of corruption, women uncovering their hair and faces, mingling between the sexes, men being alone with women and the destruction of the family and society in whole.
Two: Sadd Al-Dharaie principle (the closing of doors which could lead to corruption or sinful actions) is one of the values in our religion. Women driving cars is a sinful thing. It is used by those who want to wage a war against purity and hijab.
Three: One of the principles of our religion is protecting honour and moral values. Women driving cars would threaten these principles because of the dire consequences resulting from it.
Will they ever drive?
Several Saudi newspaper commentators have argued for an end to the ban on the grounds that employing drivers to transport women everywhere is a drain on the economy. The government agrees and is keen to break the non-driving taboo because the kingdom spends millions a year employing 500 000 immigrants as drivers. According to western diplomatic sources, the Saudi royal family is considering giving driving licences to professional women aged over 40.
Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, former deputy chairman of the Shoura Council (a 120-member body that advises the royal rulers) and former secretary-general of Muslim World League, has said that women driving is not un-Islamic and could be introduced in the Kingdom gradually, beginning with cities such as Jeddah and Riyadh. Indeed, the Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) wives rode horses and camels, and during last year's Jeddah Economic Conference Former US President Bill Clinton echoed what many Saudi men and woman say, namely that the Prophet would have let his wife drive a car, if cars had existed 1 400 years ago.
No one is allowing the issue to die down. Just this Sunday two Shoura Council members made an appeal to let women drive, speaking up on the need for Saudi society to avoid the possible dire consequences of allowing women to be in a car with an unknown male driver. Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni, a prominent Saudi Islamic scholar (who admits he won't allow his wife or daughters to drive), said that if the choice is between a woman driving a car herself or being alone in a car with a stranger, then he would choose that she drive herself. Other suggestions are that, if women get in trouble, they could use their cell phones to call for help. They should also only be allowed to drive during daytime, and they should not drive between cities.
But there's more to it. For one, the attitude some men have toward women has to change, and some social norms will have to be carefully considered before women take to the road. For instance, a completely veiled woman behind a steering wheel would be just as dangerous as a maverick Saudi male driver. And ID cards without photos are useless to insurers and security police – although Saudi women are finally allowed to have their own identity cards, putting a photo on it is optional at this stage because of the belief that photographing the female face is un-Islamic.
Closing argument
During a seminar in Jeddah in August 2003, Saudi writer Omayma Zahid said: "Saudi society does not so much address problems as try to frighten people with illusory problems with scary consequences. For example, women playing sports: will lead to vice. Women driving cars: will lead to dissolution. Women working: will lead to the break-up of the family. Revealing the face: will lead to vice. Whenever we try to take a step forward, we are told it will lead us into darkness. The logical way of thinking does not exist in our curriculum. If we are afraid of Western negative influence, we will have to build a strong generation of intellectuals that can confront ideas that are against Islamic teachings."
In March this year Marwa Mahmood Al-Eifa (see picture), a young Saudi woman residing in the UAE, won first place in the first international women's rally car race in Dubai. When asked if she thought Saudi women should be allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, she angered many Saudi women when she told The Saudi Gazette she was against the idea. "There are more important things they have to do to help in the country's development process." To this writer RF Burton (the pseudonym for an American who lived in the Kingdom for years) said in one of his Letters From Saudi Arabia: "She's absolutely right. More important things like finding a way to pacify the idiotic demons twitching in the average Saudi male's mind."
That's it. That's the short story behind why women aren't driving in the Kingdom (yet). The unique style of Saudi male and assorted male expat driving, is another short story, which I'll tell you more about down the line.
If there's anything in particular you'd like to know about life in Saudi Arabia, or if you'd like to comment on this article, send me an email at jeddahpost@hotmail.com
My Saudi Secret
Death of a Princess
A slightly different secret this time, but then secrets can't be predicted. It's about a documentary, made 25 years ago, called Death Of A Princess and which is "enjoying" a revival in the international media.
American Public Broadcasting television company Frontline is marking the 25th anniversary of this controversial docu-drama with an expanded re-issue, based on transcripts from interviews conducted by reporter/filmmaker Antony Thomas on his journey through the Arab world in search of the truth and the meaning of the public execution of Saudi Princess Misha'al.
The original film is accompanied by a new examination of the controversy surrounding the original broadcast and an analysis of the politics behind the protests against the film and of what the film reveals about the struggles of Arab women.
Says Antony Thomas of the re-release: "It surprises me how little has changed in 25 years. Think of some of the other territories in the world you could make a film in 25 years ago, and now just imagine what's happened in those years."
In a postscript added to the film to explain why so little has changed for women, Mona Eltahawy, an Arab journalist, explains that in Saudi society, women's emancipation is viewed as the most drastic and dangerous form of Westernisation: the ultimate abandonment of tradition and Arab culture. "So it's this paradox," she says. "The more open and modernised you become, the tighter you must hold onto women in particular, and children, to show what a good Saudi you are and what a good Muslim you are."
For more information, visit Frontline: Death of a Princess. Then lobby your favourite TV station to air it.
Suggested reading:
Saudi Babylon: Torture, Corruption and Cover-up inside the House of Saud
By Mark Hollingsworth; Sandy Mitchell
When Sandy Mitchell was arrested for his alleged involvement in two bombings in Saudi Arabia in December 2000, he thought it was a case of mistaken identity and that he would soon be released. Instead, he spent the next two and a half years in jail, where he was repeatedly tortured before being forced to sign a confession and admit his guilt on Saudi television.
Laura of Arabia
- Women24