Kuwaiti Women: Participants in Nation-Building
Mohamad Alrumaihi, rumaihi@hewar.info

At long last Kuwaiti women have achieved their political rights. Yet they do not appear to be sure they would be permitted to become meaningful partners in their country’s march without more struggle. The first hurdle the Kuwaiti women have to surmount in their bid to win full political rights after the National Assembly’s decision to grant electoral rights to them, undoubtedly, is the clause that stipulates that their participation should be in line with the provisions of the Islamic law.

In the past I’ve noted how the Saudi media uses examples of foreign political development–particularly in Gulf states–as a mirror held up to Saudi society. This piece, from a Kuwait academic, is an example.

The piece is not flawless. In fact, several of the writer’s “facts” don’t bear close scrutiny. For example, there remains a problem of slavery in several Arab countries, including Sudan and Mauritania. And non-Muslims residing in Muslim countries do not always share the same set of rights as Muslims–Shari’a law actually limits them.

But these don’t change the thrust of the article: Muslim Arab women are taking up the mantle of political power throughout the region, to the betterment of their societies.