Lifting the Ban is the Continuum of a Reformist Drive

Women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to drive as of June 2018. What was regarded with disdain, irony and, almost derision by the world’s press, was hailed as a much-awaited reckoning in Saudi, as it should be. The issue is less the need for women to start practicing their ‘fast & fury’ routine on the roads and highways of Saudi, but one of individual freedom. The freedom of movement and of choice which, has started more than 50 years ago by a succession of reformist Saudi monarchs.

What kept women away from the steering wheel since the inception of Saudi Arabia was not Islam but rather a conservative, Bedouin, Arab culture that had little interactions with the outside world for centuries. Add to that, a group of firebrand scholars who interpreted the verses of the Koran with a narrow, ultra-conservative Wahhabi prism. This reclusive culture was suddenly face to face with the world preying inside its daily life due to the discovery of oil in 1938. However, why Saudi alone from all other Arab and Muslim countries applied such a ban and other similar restrictions on individuals? The answer could be found in part in the political and legal isolation that Saudi has experienced for hundreds of years. Roman legions invaded parts of the Middle East from Tunisia to Alexandria, but never set foot in the Arabian desert. The Moguls and Tatars did not attempt to conquer these sandy dunes, nor did the Crusaders maraud in such vicinity. Even the Ottoman Empire was selfishly interested in Mecca only, in order to legitimize its dubious claims to the Caliphate that was anyway exercised from distant Istanbul. After World War II, Britain and France exited from most of their colonial dominions. Again, Saudi, was never part of any colonial territory, or subject to a foreign mandate by the Society of Nations (the U.N.’s predecessor). Hence, as far as the law of the land was concerned, common law and the civil code never took roots in Saudi in parallel with Sharia law, as opposed to Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, the Levant and Maghreb. But again, Islam does not condone a ban on driving, or a veil for women for that matter, as argued ad nauseam by waves of reformist jurists such as Mohammad Abduh, Grand Mufti of Egypt in 1899. So, Saudi being  politically distant from the rest of its regional environment, remained true to strict interpretation of Sharia law in a society beholden to old tribal customs, which kept women segregated.

The discovery of oil brought American oil companies, and soon the world’s flood of goods and services -from Coca Cola to Cadillacs- followed. In the early days of the kingdom, Saudi clerics who refused to use the telephone –claiming it was a Satanic instrument- were forced to do so by a reformist and charismatic leader. To make them accept this new tool of communication, King Abdul Aziz asked the caller on the other end of the phone to recite verses from the Koran. Only then, did the clerics admit its usage. Today Saudi has one of the highest per capita viewers of YouTube and mobile phone owners. Women’s education was also brought down by royal decree in the days of another reformist monarch: King Faisal who ushered the right for girls to receive education. Under Faisal’s rule, schools for girls were first opened in the kingdom in 1960. The policy was very unpopular with the clerical establishment, who believed that women should remain at home and without the benefits of any kind of formal education. Without this move education for Saudi women would not be what it is today, and the setback would have cost Saudi dearly. In 2015, women in Saudi Arabia have cast their first votes in the country's municipal elections. A total of 978 women have registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men. This historic decision to allow women to vote was also taken via decree by a reformist King, late King Abdullah and is a key part of his legacy to the kingdom.

King Salman, counseled no doubt by the reform-oriented crown prince,

Women in Saudi Arabia will be allowed to drive as of June 2018. What was regarded with disdain, irony and, almost derision by the world’s press, was hailed as a much-awaited reckoning in Saudi, as it should be. The issue is less the need for women to start practicing their ‘fast & fury’ routine on the roads and highways of Saudi, but one of individual freedom. The freedom of movement and of choice which, has started more than 50 years ago by a succession of reformist Saudi monarchs.

What kept women away from the steering wheel since the inception of Saudi Arabia was not Islam but rather a conservative, Bedouin, Arab culture that had little interactions with the outside world for centuries. Add to that, a group of firebrand scholars who interpreted the verses of the Koran with a narrow, ultra-conservative Wahhabi prism. This reclusive culture was suddenly face to face with the world preying inside its daily life due to the discovery of oil in 1938. However, why Saudi alone from all other Arab and Muslim countries applied such a ban and other similar restrictions on individuals? The answer could be found in part in the political and legal isolation that Saudi has experienced for hundreds of years. Roman legions invaded parts of the Middle East from Tunisia to Alexandria, but never set foot in the Arabian desert. The Moguls and Tatars did not attempt to conquer these sandy dunes, nor did the Crusaders maraud in such vicinity. Even the Ottoman Empire was selfishly interested in Mecca only, in order to legitimize its dubious claims to the Caliphate that was anyway exercised from distant Istanbul. After World War II, Britain and France exited from most of their colonial dominions. Again, Saudi, was never part of any colonial territory, or subject to a foreign mandate by the Society of Nations (the U.N.’s predecessor). Hence, as far as the law of the land was concerned, common law and the civil code never took roots in Saudi in parallel with Sharia law, as opposed to Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, the Levant and Maghreb. But again, Islam does not condone a ban on driving, or a veil for women for that matter, as argued ad nauseam by waves of reformist jurists such as Mohammad Abduh, Grand Mufti of Egypt in 1899. So, Saudi being  politically distant from the rest of its regional environment, remained true to strict interpretation of Sharia law in a society beholden to old tribal customs, which kept women segregated.

The discovery of oil brought American oil companies, and soon the world’s flood of goods and services -from Coca Cola to Cadillacs– followed. In the early days of the kingdom, Saudi clerics who refused to use the telephone –claiming it was a Satanic instrument- were forced to do so by a reformist and charismatic leader. To make them accept this new tool of communication, King Abdul Aziz asked the caller on the other end of the phone to recite verses from the Koran. Only then, did the clerics admit its usage. Today Saudi has one of the highest per capita viewers of YouTube and mobile phone owners. Women’s education was also brought down by royal decree in the days of another reformist monarch: King Faisal who ushered the right for girls to receive education. Under Faisal’s rule, schools for girls were first opened in the kingdom in 1960. The policy was very unpopular with the clerical establishment, who believed that women should remain at home and without the benefits of any kind of formal education. Without this move education for Saudi women would not be what it is today, and the setback would have cost Saudi dearly. In 2015, women in Saudi Arabia have cast their first votes in the country’s municipal elections. A total of 978 women have registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men. This historic decision to allow women to vote was also taken via decree by a reformist King, late King Abdullah and is a key part of his legacy to the kingdom.

King Salman, counseled no doubt by the reform-oriented crown prince, has again been true to the reformist movement led by royals towards women in Saudi, in spite of harsh criticism and fierce resistance from the clerical establishment. By lifting the ban on the right of women to drive, King Salman has further advanced the agenda of civil rights in the kingdom. Once seen from this angle, all the smirks and hisses of the world’s staunch feminists, journalists, TV pundits, activist bloggers, Hollywood genius stars, and the sort fall short of making any noise, let alone making any sense.

Such decision is not an orphan policy, but as demonstrated, it relates to a series of gradual emancipation rights achieved by the kingdom’s rulers every time they have had the opportunity to do so. Having had the will, they each had to wait for the appropriate time to bring about the change that is needed to couple a conservative society with a fast-moving world.

Change is good, and change is coming, even if it is turning one wheel at a time.