Let Them Be at the Helm
Khaled Almaeena, almaeena@arabnews.com

Recently in our media there has been a number of articles dealing with whether or not women should drive. Many oppose the idea and many others support it. What disturbs me, however, is that certain people are trying to make it a religious issue. It is not. As Interior Minister Prince Naif has pointed out, it is a social issue: “I believe that this is a controversy which has no meaning because it is a social matter to be decided by society. It looks as if some people want to make it an issue but it’s not.” And we should treat it that way.

Arab News editor Khaled Al-Maeena makes it perfectly clear that he can see no real issue that prevents women from driving in Saudi Arabia. He notes that his mother drove–outside the kingdom–and that his daughter drives–also outside the kingdom. Anyone suggesting that they are less than proper Muslims will be in for a fight. They’ll also have to explain why Muslim women around the world are able to combine driving with good Muslim lives. It’s a good piece, worth reading in its entirety.

Also to be noted is the following article, also from Arab News, which quotes a member of the Ulema (senior religious authority) Council saying that the Council has never ruled that women’s driving was forbidden. It seems that women are going to be driving in Saudi Arabia much sooner that I would have guessed a year ago. Granted, it’s late… Saudi Arabia is the sole country legally preventing women from driving(but in fact, permitting in many circumstances). But as the saying goes, “Better late than never.”

Ulema Council Never Discussed Women Driving: Ibn Munee
Saad Al-Matrafi, Arab News

JEDDAH, 6 June 2005 — Sheikh Abdullah ibn Munee, a member of the Council of Senior Ulema which is the Kingdom’s highest religious body, said the council had not discussed the issue of women driving in its past sessions.

“The issue was never brought up in any of our sessions,” Sheikh Ibn Munee said in an exclusive statement to Arab News. The scholar stated that those who have announced either through the Internet or in leaflets that women driving is religiously forbidden — haram — were not telling the truth.