http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=66328&d=3&m=7&y=2005
Sunday, 3, July, 2005 (26, Jumada al-Ula, 1426)
Riyadh Professor Objects to Woman Pilot
Javid Hassan, Arab News
RIYADH, 3 July 2005 - An associate professor of Imam Muhammad
ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh has objected to the hiring of a Muslim
woman as a pilot.
In a statement issued in response to a full-page
advertisement by Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co.,
congratulating Capt. Hanadi Zakariya Hindi for becoming the first Saudi woman
to get a commercial pilot's license, Sheikh Yousuf Al-Ahmad said the
appointment was un-Islamic.
Al-Ahmad, who teaches Shariah law at the university, said the
job would require her to travel without a male guardian and would therefore
lead to her mixing with men.
Prince Alwaleed, who has employed Capt. Hindi to work for his
company's fleet of private jets, recently bought advertising space paying
tributes to the first Saudi woman pilot in several local papers. The
advertisements have elicited a negative response from religious conservatives.
In his statement, Al-Ahmad said the contract given to Capt.
Hindi was unlawful as women should never be allowed to work as either pilots or
airhostesses. For this reason, he said, even the advertisements were unlawful.
Several Internet sites operated by conservative Islamic
groups have sharply criticized plans to let a woman pilot an aircraft.
Al-Ahmad's statement may thus have the tacit support of many.
Capt. Hindi, 24, obtained her commercial pilot's license
earlier this year. Her success led to a 10-year contract with the Kingdom
Holding Company.
Last week a petition asking for an end to the ban on women
driving in the Kingdom was submitted to the National Society for Human Rights.
The signatories included 60 Saudi women.
A poll conducted recently in Riyadh, however, found that 88
percent of Saudi women refuse to drive cars. According to the women, driving is
not a priority for a majority of Saudi women; most women believe the main
women's issues have to do with their right to work, marriage, divorce and
domestic abuse.
In another poll, the chief researcher at the Academic Center
for Women's Studies said Saudi women who were in favor of women driving saw it
as a requirement for modern life.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
