The hashtag “the time has come for women’s driving” has been trending on Twitter in Saudi Arabia after a member of the royal family, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, tweeted yesterday: “Stop the debate: Time for women to drive.”
كفى نقاش:
— الوليد بن طلال (@Alwaleed_Talal) November 29, 2016
حان وقت قيادة المرأة للسيارةhttps://t.co/BBgyF8i1Gs
Stop the debate:
Time for women to drivehttps://t.co/6KAniFa4BT
The vocal supporter of women’s rights, who does not hold a government post, also issued a statement detailing his social and economic case for ending the ban:
“Having women drive has become an urgent social demand predicated upon current economic circumstances,” he suggested, given that women require their male relatives to temporarily leave work, or to employ a driver, in order to travel. The country is currently facing economic instability following the fall of oil prices by 51 percent last year.
Prince Alwaleed also equated the law banning women from driving to legislation preventing them from gaining an education or having an independent identity.
Many have been using the hashtag in order to call for a change in the law:
#حان_وقت_قياده_المراه
— AL-FAHAD الفهد (@ThisALFAHAD) November 30, 2016
تسوق حرام بس تطلع مع سواق حلال
تشتري من رجل حلال بس تبيع لرجل حرام
تكون طبيبة حرام بس يكشف على زوجته رجل حرام
تناق
Driving is “haram” (forbidden by Islam) but going out with a driver is “halal” (permitted by Islam); Buying from a man is halal, but selling to a man is haram; being a (female) doctor is haram but having your wife medically examined by a man is also haram. This is contradictory.
#حان_وقت_قياده_المراه
— Curious (@K_Johane) November 30, 2016
بالمنطق قيادة المرأة بنفسها أفضل
و أأمن من اعتمادها على اجنبي وفوق هذا
هي وعائلتها أحق براتبها من السواق وتجار الفيز.
Logically, a woman driving a car is better. It is more safe than depending on a foreigner. More than this, she and her family are more deserving of her salary than a driver or a visa merchant.
He's right whether you like it or not. #حان_وقت_قياده_المراه https://t.co/IfE2GeBjKe
— Salman Alshibl (@s_alshibl) November 30, 2016
dont ever give up women ! #حان_وقت_قياده_المراه pic.twitter.com/L2db4fqqcN
— GamerWhoDebates (@OldSoulGamer) November 30, 2016
Women's rights are rarely off the agenda on Saudi Twitter, with a hashtag calling for the end to male guardianshp in the country trending on and off since August. Only today debate was raging on the topic of a Saudi cleric who called men who let their women study medicine "cuckolds".
However, other responses to the most recent hashtag offered an insight into the prevailing social attitudes which prevent legislation change:
#حان_وقت_قياده_المراه
— ابو فيصل (@klaseke1) November 30, 2016
لاوالله ماحان
بل حان وقت العودة الى الله والتمسك بالشريعةالاسلامية
انظرواحولكم كثرة الفتن
القابض عالدين كالقابض ع جمر
No, the time has not come. Rather, the time has come for the return to God, and for adherance to the Islamic Sharia. Look around yourself and see the extent of temptation. Staying true to religion is like holding onto a blazing coal.
It seems that Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was right in April when he said of women’s driving that: “So far the society is not persuaded... but we stress that it is up to Saudi society.”
RA