Women have played an important role in society alongside men since the beginning of Islam. Some of them ran businesses while others participated in battles. The other day Princess Reem bint Muhammad Al Faisal, the President of "Yes, We Can" Foundation, said 95 percent of Saudi women's financial resources are not utilized because some members of society do not want Saudi women to play an effective role in building their country and want women to be stay-at-home mums. This means that only five percent of financial resources are being used and that most women who have large amounts of money do not know how to invest them. This is a very sad thing. Princess Reem stressed the importance of paving the way for women to enter the Islamic banking industry and that women should be given more important roles because Saudi women have proved to be highly intellectual and qualified to enter this field. She wondered why women are not encouraged to enter the field of Islamic economics despite there being many rich women. Today, the leaders of this country have, as their predecessors, expressed their full support to empower women who have proven themselves in fields like the sciences, culture and literature. The leaders will support Saudi women to contribute to the development and growth of this country. Princess Reem also underscored the fact that Muslim women have always played a pivotal role in society since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). For those of you who do not know, most universities built 1,000 years ago in Muslims countries were built by women. Most endowments run by Islamic countries are owned by women because women have more money than men. It is high time that 95 percent of women's financial resources were utilized in order to create job opportunities for young men and women alike.
