The Muslim Woman

Women in Saudi Arabia, off late, are creating a niche amidst the watchdogs, and trying their hands in different fields and have largely met with success in their endeavor. In the kingdom of Riyadh, Azah Al-Deghather has revolutionized the Engineering Industry by becoming the first Saudi woman architect, who has obtained her license for opening up an engineering firm on her own. Azah got the approval from the Saudi Engineering Association to launch her private firm and this has paved the way for the rest of her fellow sisters who are qualified as an architect and waiting for their chance. According to Adel Al-Moselli, who is the current head of Professional Affairs at the Association said, there are two women who have applied for the license, and in the coming days, he is expecting more numbers. Saudi women architects are as professional and competent as their male counterpart is and the Business Community of Saudi Arabia has full confidence in the women professionals as well. Via: ZAWYA

The year 2006 remained quite eventful for the Saudi women with women emancipation gaining momentum with the help of the liberal King Abdullah. Lot of talks were going on among the higher authority regarding creating more job opportunities for the Saudi women. The media was abuzz with the Saudi Arabian Airlines decision to recruit more female staff and replace the non-Saudi crew. However, the idea now faces a setback, because according to a statement made by Khaled Al Mulhim, the Saudi director general, no women will be appointed either in the airport or as flight attendants in the airlines. Via: TRADEARABIA

Women in the Middle East are trying hard to be recognized since a long time now. Despite the conservative practices imposed by the radical groups, women are gearing up to take all the rigid challenges on their stride and they are applying various measures to safeguard their interest. Women in the Arab world had attained success to certain extent; nevertheless, there is a long journey ahead of them. To reform the aged-old policies and legislation that blocks the progress of women, several women rights organization are using some ‘basic techniques and well-though out strategies’ to break the shackles. Women in these countries do not have the rights to equal citizenship. Supposedly, if a Saudi woman is married to a non-Muslim man, their children will not be considered as a Saudi citizen. To ensure the citizenship rights of women in the Middle East nations, Women’s Learning Partnership is all set to launch a ‘seven country regional movement’ which is scheduled to kick start on the September 6. The sole aim of this campaign will be to work for the attainment of ‘Arab women’s right to nationality in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Syria’. To know more about the campaign please visit: LEARNINGPARTNERSHIP

The rumour mill is buzzing with the news that employment of Saudi women is a far-fetched dream because the shop owners are not comfortable with the idea of employing women executives in the Lingerie departments. However, Labour Minister Ghazi Algosaibi, who is quite close to Saudi king Abdullah said that he won’t withdraw the plan and will make it a point that more job space is created for the Saudi women. The count of female graduate is growing substantially every year and it is necessary to accommodate the million of new comers in the Saudi job industry. The resistance of the businesspersons and the clerics is posing a threat in this ultra conservative kingdom, nevertheless, according to Algosaibi, all the shop-owners are given a deadline to reconsider their decision, which is scheduled for June next year. Via: KHALEEJTIMES

The highly influential voices of Saudi Arabia, the clerics are planning to impose a new restriction on the women from praying in the ‘grand Mosque, Mecca’. At present, there is a cube-shaped structure inside the Mosque (Kabba), where women pray along with the male devotees. However, Osama al-Bar, the head of the Institute for Haj Research said that the place is pretty small and packed all the time, so it will be best for the women to pray from a place which is far away from the ‘holy site’. An all-male committee has taken this decision regarding the exclusion of women in the Kabba: nevertheless, no final decision has been arrived at yet. This new restriction in progress has kicked off a controversy and has forced the women activist to oppose it. Via: SHORT NEWS

This comes as a rather shocking piece of news to the elite class of Saudi community. Media is abuzz with the case of Hana Al Jader, wife of Saudi Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud for illegally enslaving two Indonesian women to work as her personal domestic servants. She even went to the extent of allegedly holding back their passports and did not allow them to mix up with any outsiders or even communicate with them. The accused is charged with ‘six counts of forced labor’ and ‘four counts of infringement of the immigration laws’. However, according to an official statement made by Al Jader’s lawyer, she is ready to plead guilty. Read more

For almost a decade now, it has been witnessed that there are changes that many critics feel is taking over the nation of Arab. From change in women’s working condition to their participation in the electoral process, there are quite a few noteworthy progresses that in fact the media is buzzing with. However, there is one very shocking fact, which is creating ruckus amongst the men folks. A certain section of Saudi women are increasingly marrying foreign nationals. According to the latest figures received from the Interior Ministry, more than 20,000 cross nationality weddings have taken place in the last five years between foreigners and Saudi women. Taking into account the strict policies and rules of the Arabic society it is rather surprising that such a revolutionary movement has sprung up. It is almost impossible for an Arab woman to get married to an outsider, be it a foreign national or an Arab who is not a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Nevertheless, however rigid are the procedures, there are always certain loose ends. In this case, only a special permission has to be taken from the big shots at the higher end. Despite the fact that this growing trend is considered repulsive by the patriarchal society, the percentage of cross-national marriages an all time high, where as on the other hand the marriage between Saudi women and men barely touches 13 percent as said by one of the marriage registrars. Now the question here is, why this sudden offshoot? Reasons could be many. However, the most prominent is that many foreigners find it a very lucrative idea to marry a Saudi woman, as there are many added advantages such as Arab being a rich country it is mostly tax-free; and a no-taxation zone can be achieved only by marrying a citizen of the nation. While another factor adding up to the fire is the fact that many families who keep traveling abroad are quite liberal in regard to their daughter choosing a foreigner as her husband. Also fast forwarding few years, the rapid socio-economic progress have lead to the change of the mind-set of the society at large and be more open to the idea of cross-marriages. Not forgetting another booster, that is the high divorce ratio, due to which it is becoming easier for the divorced woman to get approval from the government in marrying an outsider. Image Courtesy More at