http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=62492&d=21&m=4&y=2005
Thursday, 21, April, 2005 (12, Rabi` al-Awwal, 1426)
Where Are We Going?
Abeer Mishkhas, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"WOMEN Without Shadows" is a Saudi documentary directed by the Saudi film
producer, Haifa Mansour. The documentary, which unfortunately cannot be
publicly screened in the Kingdom, was shown to a select audience at the French
Consulate in Jeddah. As the title indicates, the film is about Saudi women,
their problems and their development over time.
In general the filmmaker asked a number of women such basic questions as:
Why do you work? Do you think women have the right to work? Do you approve of
women going out alone?
Some of the women interviewed, including Haifa Mansour's mother, spoke of
their memories and how simple and uncomplicated life was in those days. One of
them even talked about how, when she was a child, young boys and girls played
together openly and without fear of reproof. Another mentioned that those were
times when a woman was not asked to prove who she was with when she was outside
her family house.
In the documentary, a well-known religious scholar, Ayed Al-Garni, was
asked what he thought about women covering their faces. His answer was that
women do not have to cover their faces as long as they are modestly dressed. He
also talked about the opposition he encounters when he voices opinions at
variance with the common majority-held ones concerning women's issues. What I
have mentioned so far is all in the film; what happened next, however, was not
filmed but is easily worth its own documentary. The very same scholar sent a
letter to all the Arabic language papers that carried reports on the film. In
the letter, he said that he had been approached by other prominent scholars and
advised to change what he said in the film. He said that he had also received
angry responses from a number of people about what he had said. In the end, he
decided to retract his statements. He said that he was wrong to say what he
said and he now understands that women should always cover themselves and that
he is against "sofoor wa tabaruj" - the unveiling and displaying of what might
attract attention.
In the documentary he also told how he had been attacked for supporting
women driving and he referred to those who attacked him as "exclusionists" who
do not respect the opinions of others. Once again, that was on film but the
scholar later once again backpedaled and said that even if women driving is OK
in other countries, it is still not OK for Saudi women to do so.
As the film focused on how ideas and attitudes have changed, nothing
proves that they have not done so more than his initial statements and
subsequent retractions. The questions that come to mind are: What kind of
change are we experiencing? Where are we heading?
The film tried to imply that there has been a change from the
conservative view on women's issues, but we can see clearly that the opposite
is the case.
Then there is another question which needs to be carefully considered
here: Are we free to hold opinions which differ from the majority-held ones?
Must we always swim in the mainstream? If the sheikh could not bear the
opposition and so returned to the generally accepted opinions, what does that
tell us about our efforts to ensure freer thought and differences of opinion?
After every terrorist attack, we heard calls to open up and listen to others'
opinions, to actually discuss and engage in dialogues with different ways of
thinking so that a one-sided view of things did not remain the norm.
Every bomber and every terrorist who killed innocent people had a single
way of thinking which he considered not only the right one but the only
possible one. I wonder if everyone in the Kingdom is obliged to have the same
opinion on everything. Would that make our lives easier?
Are we going to have standard thoughts which we must all think? What
about other Islamic countries? Are they less Islamic than we are? And exactly
and fundamentally, what is wrong with having different opinions if in our
religion we have several "matahaib" - schools of thought? Those who produced
the different schools of thoughts were respected scholars. Can't we be like
them? And why do we always hear the same thing: "Saudi women are different." I
can't help but wonder why. How are we Saudi women different from all other
Muslim women?
***
Home Delivery
A local newspaper carried a whole page feature on the dangers of home
delivery service. Believe it or not, I am not joking.
The whole point of the feature was the danger of men delivering food to
houses. The ad actually linked cases of AIDS to the deliveries - without of
course explaining what the connection was.
One of the people interviewed said, "Delivery services are a breach of
privacy, as they introduce people to indecent behavior." He asked men to stop
their wives from ordering food or, if they must, to make sure that men are at
home to meet the deliveryman.
An imam said that having food delivered to the house turned it into a
public place where strangers might drop in at any time.
He advised men to make sure that eveything necessary was in their houses
so that ordering from outside would never be necessary.
A sociologist lamented the social change that had led families to resort
to such services. He added that women should provide their families with
everything.
The article ended with statistics on the dangers of fast food. I do not
know which is more dangerous - the obesity that fast food might cause or the
viewpoint that having food delivered to houses is a menace to family life and
civilized society.
Too many people here link everything to an invasion of our privacy, our
lives within the four walls of our homes and the possibility that our women
will be "corrupted."
Not only are these links a gross oversimplification, but they are an even
grosser insult to all women.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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