Nobody disputes the noble goals of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, but differences remain concerning how issues related to women should be dealt with by the men of the Hai'a, as the commission is popularly known. Recent recommendations from the Shoura Council point toward appointing females to certain duties in the Hai'a, in compliance with royal orders to make greater use of Saudi women's skills in all areas deemed suitable for them to engage in, and end the male monopoly of Hai'a work. Dr. Mohammed Bin Yahya Al-Nujeimi, noted Islamic scholar, supports the Shoura Council move. “I have said in the past that although the Hai'a is restricted to men, the role of women in this area is, in fact, more important than that of men,” Al-Nujeimi says. “The texts of the Qur'an and the Sunnah address everyone, not just men.” “We have seen in recent times that a lot of detentions made by the Hai'a have involved women, and this results in ‘khilwa' (fraternization in private with an unrelated member of the opposite sex) and sometimes breaches of segregation, so there should be women working with the Hai'a, either alongside their husbands or as part of a women's department to which all issues involving women are assigned,” Al-Nujeimi says. Al-Nujeimi says that the error lies in not appointing women to positions in the Hai'a and not taking on female religious callers in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. “These areas should be addressed as quickly as possible to help speed up work that involves women whose dealings with these bodies are generally handled slowly or shelved due to the lack of women to work on them,” Al-Nujeimi added. “We need to benefit from the skills of the many female graduates in religious fundamentals, call and Shariah law who have been unable to find work. Why do we close this door on them?” Sheikh Mudghim Bin Ayedh Al-Buqami from Naif Arab University for Security Sciences says that the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice is a duty for all Muslims, but adds that “there is no precedent for women working in the Hai'a in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs did not assign any women to such a task.” “As for this day and age,” Al-Buqami says, “with its closed shopping malls for women and places especially for women and out of bounds to men, then it's okay for a woman to carry out such tasks as she would be dealing with women.” Sheikh Abdul Nafi' Al-Rufa'i, Imam of Al-Amoudi mosque in the district of Al-Hamra, says that women used to consult Hadrat Ayesha (wife of the Prophet) on matters of Shariah. “The Qur'an makes clear that there is no objection to women working in the Hai'a as long as that conforms with Shariah law: ‘Whoever works righteousness – whether male or female –while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)'.” (Surah 16 Al-Nahl, Verse 97) Religious caller and sociology expert Mahasin Shu'aib believes that changes being witnessed by society have affected the “balance in social values between generations, and produced conflicts and upheavals”. “With the rise in the level of women's education and her entering the workplace and pursuing her rights,” Shu'aib says, “I think the time has come for women to play a role in calling and guidance, based on Shariah and social and psychological foundations, to be able to promote call in the correct way and assess wrong understandings, and consolidate the firm Islamic values. And that won't happen without enforcing women's role in the workplace alongside males in the Hai'a.” Religious caller and educator Madiha Al-Saeed commends the Shoura Council's recommendations. “The Shoura move takes a perceptive view of the role of women and the importance of their needs. Women used to take part in work with men in many of life's professions that require women's presence, in accordance with religious Shariah rules. I think the recommendation represents a beginning as we can all see the capabilities of women that in many cases are superior to men, notably in areas that are of special relevance to women, and issues about which only women know. Some of the Hai'a's work concerns women, and would it not then be more sensible for that work to be performed by women?”
