The perception, held by some, that Saudi Arabia does not respect women and their ability to think, to contribute, and to debate creates the wrong image of the Kingdom in the world, according to Samar Fatany, veteran Saudi radio journalist, columnist and activist. Fatany, along with Rasha Hefzi, and Ala Nafees, co-founders of a consultation company, attended the four-day 2009 Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) conference in Kuala Lumpur recently. “I don't doubt our government's sincerity,” Fatany told Saudi Gazette in an interview. “However, I have to admit that there are many areas where we have failed as people. For example, during the WISE conference, as much as I spoke about reforms in the Kingdom and that there are people working hard toward implementing them, many of the delegates told me that I was trying to paint a rosy picture that they do not see when they come to Saudi Arabia as far as respect for women is concerned. Many of them have encountered experiences that were unpleasant,” Fatany said. She stressed that the Kingdom is working toward reforms. There are many government initiatives that are already being implemented, but, according to her, the problem is in implementation itself. “There are a large number of government initiatives. You know, I have a special program on (Jeddah) Radio that talks about government initiatives, and programs. These are very impressive. One would think we are a superpower because of all of these programs which are really very scientifically written initiatives that must be commended,” she said. “However, we have a problem. Some people, perhaps, do not take their work seriously, some don't understand the spirit of the reforms, or the consequences of being complacent by being inefficient. This hampers the work, and ends in conveying the wrong overall impression to the world at large,” Fatany explained. “It makes us go slow, when in reality what we need is to accelerate. If we had people who were more energetic, enthusiastic, and conscientious in implementing all these beautiful government initiatives that are already on the table, I don't think we would have any problem,” she added. She stressed that it was necessary to be more efficient. “As Muslims we are required to do a job efficiently. This is what is lacking. We need to think globally, apply global standards in what we do, which unfortunately is currently not the case,” she said. She said that when Saudis travel abroad they should remember that they are ambassadors of the country and display Islamic ethics and behavior. It is not necessary to be too Westernized or to be very rigid in behavior or to be isolated and unfriendly. “Abstaining from interaction creates the wrong impression. That also keeps people away from us and makes them reluctant to be friendly. That is not an Islamic attitude. Islam spread to the whole world by being a role model,” she said. Fatany said that the mindset needs to be improved. “If one has a feeling that he is above talking to anyone, that he has ‘a ticket to heaven' because he lives in this country, that is wrong. We have to be more humble, and respectful,” she said. She said that after attending the WISE conference she realized that many of the issues of concern to women in Saudi Arabia were issues of concern to Muslim women in general, globally. “After exchanging views and debating a lot of issues of concern we realized that it was important that we share our experiences and learn from each other. For example, the rights of Muslim women and how in some communities, and because some people hold extreme views in societies, these are interpreted in a very rigid manner, as a result of which the rights of women are not really addressed properly,” she elaborated. As an example she mentioned the experience of the Muslim women in Mindanao. She said the presentation of a case study by Laisa Masuhud Alamia, program manager of Nisa Ul-Haqq Fi Bangsamoro, Inc., was very enlightening and informative. “Muslim women advocates there have made an alliance with religious scholars in their communities in order to bring to them real life cases of how women are being discriminated against or being abused,” said Fatany. “Some of these religious scholars, (ulema) sometimes, are not in (tune with) reality, meaning that they believe that all Muslim men are beyond any violations. That is why they give their rulings (fatwas) the way they give them,” she said. When the case studies were presented to ulema, they realized that it was important for them to be more specific in their sermons to spread awareness about how Islam respects women, how it is a religious duty of every man to be kind and just. There are issues, such as child marriages. Some fathers give themselves the right to marry off their daughters at a young age either for dowry or just because they do not want to be responsible for them any more. “Whatever the reasons, maybe they had good intentions, but as a result all these child marriages are really very cruel. It's a crime. All these young women suffer a miserable life just because these men do not understand and follow the interpretation in a very rigid way,” said Fatany. She said that as a result of all these case studies, sermons were prepared, because most Muslims take their directives and guidance from them. These were prepared with the support of the ulema and women advocates and distributed to the imams. “This is what should be happening everywhere. The women's perspective should be respected and taken into account. They constitute 50 percent of society. One half of society should not be allowed to suffer because of the wrong interpretations, or misconceptions of some men, who are not in touch with reality – with what is happening in society,” she added. Asked how this kind of alliance between women and religious scholars might work in the Kingdom, she said “by sharing the experience. I approached Alamia, who is a Shariah graduate, a religious scholar. She said she would be willing to come to Saudi Arabia to give a lecture if invited”. Fatany said she would certainly do her best to bring this to the attention of people who could make it happen – the Muslim World League or the Ministries of Haj and Islamic Affairs. During Haj there are forums that take place and maybe there could be a forum to discuss these issues. “It is important to share these experiences. We are all Muslims at the end of the day. And we all have good intentions for the welfare of our society,” she said. Fatany said that it was wrong to equate modernization with Westernization. According to her it is an erroneous perception because to modernize is the duty of a Muslim. Muslims need to be a part of the global community. They cannot live as Muslims lived 1,400 years ago. At that time there were no cars or technology, and the way of life was different. “That is why we need to apply our Muslim standards to the modern way of life, and not live in isolation from the rest of the world. Take, for example, Islamic banking. The banking system did not exist 1,400 years ago, but today one has to deal with banks. And Islamic banking is an application of the Muslim standard,” she explained. In the past, women, perhaps, did not need to work. But today with the cost of living being so high, one income is not enough to provide for a family, and in order to live in dignity and provide for the children, and lead a happy life, it is important to have extra income. “And when a woman is educated enough and can provide and contribute to the happiness and welfare of the family, what is to stop her if she can apply her Islamic values in her work. I don't see any problem there,” she said. As for the driving issue, she said, women in the past used to ride on horses, camels, and donkeys, what is to stop them from driving today? Fatany said that Saudi Arabia is striving to live up to the expectations of the global Muslim community. “I don't think we can be so arrogant as to say that we are at a par with the more developed countries of the world. We really need to work hard toward that. We have a long way to go. We should be not less, but equal to any advanced country in the world. Until we do so, we will be held accountable to ourselves and to the whole world,” she said. Asked if reform of the judiciary would be helpful, she said that the judiciary is the key. “We really need to have judges and Islamic scholars who are aware and equal to global lawyers. The government has allocated a large budget for judicial reforms. Indeed, the last Cabinet reshuffle was an indication of the seriousness of the government to reform our judiciary. That is why I am optimistic. It is going to take some time. We need to train more judges, more qualified scholars who are aware of global issues, who can have fatwas in consultation with the people who are involved with these issues,” she added. She said that a suggestion at the WISE conference to have a Muslim women's Shoura (consultative) council on a global level was a very good initiative and she supported it. “It would be a way of sharing experiences and discussing issues that are of major concern to Muslim women all over the world. It is important for us to unite and share our ideas and experiences and come up with solutions to many of the problems that we face today, and we should have Saudi women as members on the council as well as women from all over the world,” she added. As for peacekeeping and conflict resolution, she said that what is happening in Palestine is a major concern for Muslim women all over the world. If Saudi women can contribute in any way to finding a solution to the problem and supporting the women there, it would be very effective. It is important that women should be educated and knowledgeable, not less than any man. “Women have their own perspective which should not be neglected and marginalized. For instance, when you hear a speech by Hanan Ashrawi (Palestinian leader), she is more effective in her way than any man,” she said. Fatany said that it is important that Saudi women share their views and experiences and learn from the experiences of global Muslim women. “The isolation of Saudi women is not to the benefit of our society. If we are to empower women, make them contribute to the welfare of our society, it will be very beneficial to the country.
