I think this subject is highly subjective but from what I've seen its a small campaign by a minority of the population thats got a disproportional amount of media attention from the West. A recent Guardian article states that only 30-40 women participated in the protest out of a population of 27million...
Whether that's due to the lack of right to protest or the lack of interest in driving by women is another subject entirely but surely it erodes the legitimacy of the protest? The Arab Spring Revolution only succeeded because of the sheer number of people supporting the cause.
As we're constantly presented with articles on why women should be allowed to drive in the Kingdom i thought it would make a healthy change and put up a video offering a different opinion by prominent Saudi Shaykh Fawzan.
Smoking, selling and buying marewana is permitted in the Netherlands but it doesn't necessarily mean that it should be made a basic right in all countries. Perhaps the same rule applies to driving...for better or worse the complex nature of the Kingdom, its social fabric and culture make driving for women seem a distant and unlikely prospect.
So true, every society is different and we all know it's the West's default position to think that their way is superior so sometimes we should not give so much credence to what they think. Especially with all the discrimination and exploitation of women in the west that occurs in different ways from the east.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, if Muslim men acted toward their wives as they should according to Islam e.g. providing them with happiness, finance and security, what is so wrong with wives asking permission from their husbands to go somewhere, if after all, their husbands have their protection and best interests at heart.
Alas, this idealism does not exist widely.
Change from within builds a society change from outside destroys it.
ReplyDeleteThere is no ultimate truth and each society should work on correcting its own flawys and injustices rather than trying to impose its narrow ideology on others.