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Finally! A woman has been appointed to a ministerial position in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On February 14, the appointment of Norah
al-Fayez as deputy Education minister for female education affairs
was announced. This is the most senior position granted to woman in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“King Abdullah has given us a Valentine’s
Day present!” happily proclaimed Aysha Alkusayer to us during the
2009 US-Islamic World Forum in Doha. Aysha represented the Alwaleed
bin Talal Foundation of Saudi Arabia at the Doha Forum. One of the
young professional Saudi women who are working to empower Saudi
women, young professionals and civil society, Aysha told us that
young Saudis are very supportive of King Abdulla’s moves to
transform Saudi Arabia. In fact, she said, King Abdulla is treated
like a rock star, with young Saudis buying his posters to adorn
their rooms.
Aysha is one of the rare few Saudi women who
have been given to opportunity to work at their profession. A paper
circulated at the forum, “The Impact of Oil Wealth on Women in the
Middle East,” noted, “There is little doubt that in the Middle
East, women lag far behind their counterparts in other regions of
the world.” The paper showed that while women generally do better
in the rich countries than the poor ones, “The Middle East is the
great exception: Even though the region enjoys relatively high
incomes, it has fewer women in the work force, and fewer women in
parliament, than even South Asia—where incomes are far lower.”
Norah al-Fayez’ appointment, while it does not
break the glass ceiling, has created a tiny crack which the forces
for reform and liberalization can certainly exploit.
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I was in Doha for the US-Islamic World Forum
from February 13 to 17. Organized by the Saban Center at Brookings
and the Government of the State of Qatar, the Doha Forum annually
brings together leaders from the USA and the Muslim world for
“frank dialogue on the key issues affecting their relations.”
This year, we discussed “Common Challenges,” as the Obama
Administration has reached out to the Muslim world to move forward,
together, towards common solutions to shared problems.
The dialogues at the Forum have focused on
security, governance and religion, and human development and social
change. This year, a session for Women Leaders was added. As you can
imagine, King Abdullah’s historic move certainly impressed. Not
only did he appoint a woman minister, he also axed Sheikh Ibrahim
al-Ghaith as the head of the Muttawa (religious police who strictly
enforce Islamic code of conduct such as segregation of unrelated men
and women in public places, women to be covered in black robes with
only their faces showing). Under Al-Graith, the Muttawa was a feared
institution. Al-Graith blocked many liberalization programs in the
Kingdom.
The King also removed Sheikh Salih Ibn al-Luhaydan
from the judiciary. Last Ramadan, Al-Luhaydan had ruled that it was
permissible to execute the owners of satellite television channels
broadcasting “immoral” programs. He and Al-Graith have been
widely viewed as enemies of reform and modernization.
King Abdullah’s sweeping changes included a
cabinet reshuffle and the reorganization of the powerful Grand Ulama
Council, which advises the King on religious matters. The
reorganization will bring in scholars from different branches of
Sunni Islam. Traditionally, the Ulama council members all came from
only one school of Islamic jurisprudence (what is referred to as the
Wahabbi).
King Abdullah’s initiatives are hailed in
Saudi Arabia and the Middle East as moves that will accelerate the
pace of reform in the Kingdom as well as bring in new and moderate
views into the political system.
Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright,
who spoke at the Doha Forum, must have been just as happy. She spoke
of a world where ideas are hard to contain, where the path of
dialogue is the right path. She stressed the responsibility of
groups (or countries) defending their legitimate group interests
without depriving others of their rights. Even the talk of General
David Petraeus, commander of the US Central Command, reflected the
shift to dialogue as he spoke of the strengthening of international
security by strengthening networks in pursuit of common goals. He
mentioned a security architecture that would include a leaders
network, information sharing and training networks (designed with
multilateral inputs).
With the commitment of the Obama Administration
to a common way forward, the developments in Saudi Arabia can usher
in a brave new world, where wars can be waged in the arena of ideas
and not in bloody Arab streets like Gaza. Where weapons of choice
will be carefully argued position papers and not deadly missiles.
aminarasul@yahoo.com
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