Benazir Bhutto Returns...

..and so does mayhem. More than 100 human beings with families, jobs and lives, killed in Karachi. The spread of extremism is just increasing day by day, the longer the war on terror goes on and the longer one ignores the socio-economic reasons for the spread of extremism, the bloodier Pakistan will get.

I avoid writing about politics in general because I am no politician, no conoisseur of the political life and thought. I have a general naivity or dismay for politicians...not the desired ingredients of a commentator on politics.

Having said that, I don't have to be a plumber to know a clogged drain.

I always liked Bhutto. The few years I spent in Pakistan as a young girl while she ruled as PM, I saw her as a positive figure, a Muslim woman (the first Muslim female leader in the Muslim world) amongst men, charismatic and elegant.

But the truth of the matter was, Pakistan under her and subsequently Nawaz Sharif was a big disaster with corruption allegations left right and centre. In NWFP where I lived time stopped. And the rich got richer, and corruption flourished. Looking back on it now I am reminded that she, as a woman, never did a single thing to change the faulty Hudood ordinance for rape victims (the one where supposedly a woman has to produce four witnesses to prove a rape case). She had two terms as PM to do something about it and never did.

In an interview she says:

“I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan.”

Musharraf however, being the dictator he is, did something about it and the law was modified earlier this year (with the help of Dr. Hassan Hanafi of Cairo University whom I met with earlier this year). Whether he did it to score browny points or not, I will never know.

Democracy, yes. It is important, it is vital and it should be the goal. I hope to see it in place in Pakistan again. But Pakistan has had it for decades and each leader that came hid behind it and sucked Pakistan even more dry than before, and as Bhutto steps out of her plane with a decade old corruption charges against her, waving her heavily bejeweled hands, sparkling with gold (after her 8 years in Dubai), a feeling of worry hits me.

Have the cleaners come back to Pakistan?

Female Doctors & The Eternal Muslim Plea...

Having worked in the health care system in an immigrant dominated suburb in Stockholm, one picks up on a lot of things going on with people behind closed doors and text book replies.

One of the main issues for patients visiting a doctor has been the lack of female doctors to meet the huge demands of a large immigrant population, some perhaps not used to going to a doctor of the opposite gender.

In the suburb in question, Wahabi inspired Islam seems to be spreading more and more. The influx of Somali refugees, many (but of course not all) of them having lived in Saudi Arabia, has affected the spirit in this particular suburb. Seeing women in Niqab on a daily basis is nothing strange here. I must add though, most of these women don't work and it doesn't seem like it's part of any future plans.

To become a doctor, all of you surely know, hard work is needed. Night shifts and working in environments with men and women, female and male patients.

These women (with the encouraging tune of their husbands) who for religiously claimed reasons won't see a male doctor even if it has to do with examining a throat, are no where to be found in medical schools or nursing schools but rather make themselves scarce when the subject is brought up and it is not uncommon to get the reply:

"It's not islamic for a woman to stay away all night
(referring to night shifts), or to examine male patients."

But a female doctor, they must have.

From Stockholm to Yemen. In Tarim, an area near Hadramout, there are no female doctors to be found, at all. Well, apart from the imported female Russian doctors. But no woman will go, or rather, no husband or father will allow them to visit a male doctor. So I ask myself: from where are these female doctors supposed to rain down on us?

Silence is man and Speech is woman...?

On one of the most widely seen arab-muslim channels, Iqraa, a man by the name Sheikh Jassem al-Mutawah explains the differences between Man and Woman.

I was very surprised to see that a channel like Iqraa, known for its moderate and contemporary elements would allow such a man camera time to voice what is no doubt a Wahabi inspired Saudi view of Women.

Watch what he had to say, with english subtitles.

Ps. His words are not lost in translation. His arabic corresponds to what has been translated.

Battling faulty sharia law

"Islam is like new wine in old bottles."

I met with Dr.Hassan Hanafi, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cairo. The Pakistani Government recently approved a bill that argued for a change in the old sharia law that stated that for rape a woman would need four witnesses.

Dr. Hanafi's writings on sharia and islam helped provide the necessery facts needed to refute such a faulty sharia interpretation (one that only Pakistan had), and he was consulted by President Musharraf throughout the whole process. The only time four witnesses is needed is to prove zina (adultery). And for that to be proved, the witnesses have to see both organs meet. The design of this law is basically such that it is next to impossible for four people to see the organs meet. Thus next to impossible to ever accuse anyone of adultery.

Women Praying & Sultan Qaboos Mosque

The beautiful mosque, one of the largest in the Arab world was recently built in Muscat, Oman by the Sultan Qaboos. Whether it was to make up for the fact that it is commonly percieved that he killed his father, the former Sultan of Oman, I do not know. Either way, it is absolutely beautiful with large gardens and courtyards and for once, the female area was not a room with white walls and a funky smelling carpet, but rather a work of art on its own. Although not comparable to the main prayer room only the men get to enjoy.

It was even hard work getting the men to let me even enter to take a photo. Even then I kept only to the entrance.

I am still waiting for the day when I as a muslim woman can enter a main prayer room and pray there, which is my right. The way it was done at the time of the Prophet Mohammad* when no mosques had upper levels, or walls seperating the men and women.

But we live today as if that time never existed and as if the way mosques were built pre-Wahabi influence, never existed.

Look at the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, a mosque where Imam Al Ghazali and many other great scholars of traditional Islam studied in the past; no walls. Same is the case with Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. All men and women pray together in one room, on different rows or sides of the room. Think about it next time you pray in a Mosque, what does it look like and why?

*May peace and blessings be upon him

Women's Night in Bogotá

Today we celebrate International Women's Day. The Mayor of Bogotá in Colombia, Antanas Mockus, introduced a new tradition in 2001 called Women's Night. It was celebrated the night before March 8th and men were asked to stay home with the kids and contemplate over themselves and their women, and the work they do. The women in turn went out to parks and enjoyed themselves with their grandmothers while policeofficers made sure no man disturbed them.

Result: There was not a single murder on the streets of Bogotá, which normally witnesses 15 murders a night. *

Also Watch the fabulous feature documentary about Women and AIDS. A Must See!

*From the article "Aborto Libre" by Magnus Linton, 2005

Al Jazeera TV, is one of the supporting media groups for the IWD.

Let's talk about AIDS, Ambassador

I met with the Saudi Ambassador to Sweden at the Kuwaiti National Day Celebration in Stockholm and after finding common grounds with his music taste (Abdel Halim Hafez in particular) I moved on to talk about the AIDS situation in the Muslim World with emphasis on the Middle East and Gulf Region. He seemed unaware that the fastest growing region for AIDS/HIV was the Middle East. He seemed to believe that although cases had been found in Saudi Arabia it was by far "not as problematic" as the situation in "the west".

The first case of AIDS in Saudi Arabia was detected as early as 1984! (UNAIDS) That is 23 years ago. No data on HIV testing is available according to UNAIDS. Of course not, it is stigmatized, there is little awareness and a strong belief that it does not exist in the Holy Kingdom.

He told me there is no current health plan in Saudi Arabia to battle the AIDS epidemic that will no doubt hit it very hard in a decade or more (along with the rest of the Gulf Region and the Middle East). With the increased travelling, prostitution and sexual experimentation of a lot of the married and unmarried men (and to a lesser extent women) and youth of the region with new religious fatwas supporting their new found sexual freedom of zawaj friend (friendship marriage) allowing them to have a dame in every port, and the other zawaj orf (similar to zawaj friend). *

-What do we do about it Ambassador, I asked him.
-Well, I recommend you start with Dubai and Bahrain. They are very open and would perhaps welcome the discussion because they have a lot of tourists and expatriates, he replied.

Ok, but I was actually talking about Saudi Arabia?

*The fact that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) twice forbade mut'a (temporary marriage) until Judgement Day, seems to be of less significance to them.
**Picture courtesy of UNAIDS

"Circumsize me!"

According to a statement by UNAIDS, WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF, male circumcision can decrease the risk of being infected with HIV.

Campaigns taking into account religious and cultural sensitivites will be launched around the world as a consequence. Men will be standing in line ready to go under the knife. The question is; will news like this help decrease the spread of AIDS or will men assume that they are now next to immune and indulge even more than before?

Although the report presented by the previous mentioned organizations has taken into account the risks of spreading such information and thus has emphasized the need to stress that circumcision by no means is a protection from HIV/AIDS but merely a complementary source of protection, one still cannot help but worry about the effects of word of mouth.

I can imagine a conversation between two Muslim men in a poorer area of Casablanca:

-I heard that men who are circumsized don't get AIDS.
-Come on Amin, who said that?
-What? Are you saying I'm lying? A nurse told Boubakir and he told me.
-Wallahi? You see! The wisdom of Islam. God has protected us from AIDS*...

Update: Interactive AIDS map.
*Since circumsicion is obligatory for all boys in Islam. Converted adult Muslims do not have to do it.

Saudi PhD in Sweden

Dr. Mazen Matabakani recently toured cities in Sweden lecturing at state libraries and other institutions on Muslim peace culture. He teaches at both King Faisal Centre for Islamic Studies and King Bin Saud University, both in Saudi Arabia.

He specialized in Orientalism or al- istishraakiyyah as it is called in Arabic, and had the following facts presented at one of his lectures in Stockholm;

-In 1873 the first World Congress of Orientalists was held in Paris. Every 3 to 5 years a new one has been held in different parts of the world.

-Kyoto University in Japan has recently composed a volume on Islamic Political Thought from past to present.

-A Danish Institute has been set up in Damascus following the controversy of the demeaning Muhammad Caricatures printed by Jyllands Posten in the fall of 2005.

After his lecture was over, I couldn't help myself but ask him about issues that had nothing to do with orientalism but more to do with the enigma that is Saudi Arabia.

I mentioned the AIDS situation outside Aqaba (read previous post) and how unfaithful Saudi men are at risk of being infected by HIV and unknowingly carrying it on to their wives. His comment to that was, "We deserve it."

Ridiculous Rumours

In Sweden we have had many cases of girls and now even boys being killed by family members because of alleged love affairs (physical or emotional). Primarily Islam is being attacked for this primitive, barbarian behaviour.

So what's it all about?

To think that this is a male invented phenomena would be to laugh in the eyes of all victims off honor killings. The fact of the matter is, men and women are both in on it, maintaining and executing.

In Jordan, honor killings are given a milder sentence. Thanks for such a legal view can be given to France, where the idea stems from. Crime de passion (crime of passion) as it was once labelled. In France it was used in a context where often a man had killed his wife out of jealousy. Because of the "upsetting" circumstance, he was not to be held as harshly accountable for killing her.

In Jordan this year 15 people (mostly girls and women) have been murdered by family members. Often a brother, father or uncle. Only recently a 21 year old girl and her would be fiancé according to Jordan Times.

Her own mother had heard from their neighbor that the young couple were having a sexual relationship. She then told her husband, the girls father, who later called the boy's family over pretending to want to finalize an engagement. He asked to speak privately with the boy and his daughter and fired 14 shots at both daughter and boy killing them.

He "defended the family honor." Medical reports later showed the girl was a virgin.

It is irrelevant whether she was a virgin or not. Whether she had sex with the boy or not. How do you kill your own daughter? There can be nothing but a sick society and culture that would encourage such behaviour.

Playing devil's advocate, had he not killed his own daughter, he would be put under great pressure by his surroundings, both men and women. And as the Pakistani saying goes, he would have "lost his shalwar" (meaning lost his pants, become shamed).

This sense of honor exists in many cultures, and although nothing in Islam has ever and will ever support such behaviour, Muslim men and women continue to make a case against themselves for being the most primitive bunch of lunatics on the planet. A legacy every Muslim (particularly in the west) is forced to bare whether they agree with it or not.

Saudi Men Spreading AIDS

In a small town outside of Aqaba, Jordan, a group of Beduin women serve as prostitutes for the many businessmen and others visiting Aqaba for conferences and other gatherings.

Among those men there are a large number of Saudi Men (as well as men from the rest of the Gulf Region and world), who frequent these Beduin women. Married men, often with more than one wife.

I met up with a woman working for a humanitarian organisation in Sweden, as she had recently come back from that town outside Aqaba. She compared the state of it to the sights of poverty she had seen in India. She continued telling me about the research with regards to AIDS she had been made privy to.

Cases of AIDS had been found among those Beduin women. When one of the women was asked to estimate how many men she had slept with in her "career" as a prostitute, she rounded it up to a disturbing figure of 700 men. Unprotected sex.

Right now, there are most probably women and children in Saudi Arabia who are infected with AIDS because of their hubands and fathers and they don't even know it.

Water

The third and final movie in Indian born Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta's trilogy, Water, tells the story of 1938 India, where widows suffered three fates: To burn with their deceased husband. To live a life in self denial. Or to marry the husband's brother if his family permits.

We get to follow the fate of Chuiya, a 7 year old bride whose significantly older husband passes away, and she is lead to a widows home where other widows dwell till they die. It is an absolutely beautifully made movie with a simple story that captures you.

Watch clips of the movie here. Watch trailer here.

Also read about Saudi Arabia's first feature film, Keif al hal.

Her other two movies are Fire and Earth.

Keif al hal?

Screening at Stockholm's 17 th annual International Film Festival is Saudi Arabia's first feature film, Keif al hal? A comedy-drama shot in Dubai.

"The ultra-conservative Khaled wants his sister Sahar to marry his righteous and God-fearing friend Waddah. Sahar on the other hand has no plans what so ever to quit her job as a journalist and seems much more interested in Sultan, a director of experimental theatre and also a close friend of the family."
-David Fukamachi Regnfors

Watch the trailer here.

Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale

Sohaila, a well educated woman, 27 years of age tells us her story about what leads her to sell her kidney. It’s a story about a system where women are prey by constitution. Raped in early age she flees into a marriage with a psychologically disturbed man. To get a divorce she has to borrow money and buy herself free, a freedom which is imaginary even though she gets a good position in a computer company and is able to pay the interest of the loan, faith caches up on her. Her abusive stepfather is now about to sell the elder of her half sisters, who already tried to commit suicide, to a crippled considerably older man. Sohaila decides to take care of her two half sisters. Meanwhile the half of the loan which was private has to be paid of immediately. Sohaila face a situation where social authorities waves her away in spite of her impossible situation with hints that she always could sell her body. Sohaila refuses to do so but she still has to sell a part of it – her kidney.

-Excerpt from the Swedish made documentary by Nima Sarvestani shot in Iran, "Iranian Kidney Bargain Sale"

Hysteria Film AB

Female French Revolution

For those of you who missed reading my "A French Revolution in Saudi" post, here is a re-cap of it:

I have a suggestion for all Saudi women; it's time for a revolution!

Yes you heard me. Bring out the guillotine (in the form of kitchen knives that do an excellent job on tomatoes), guns (in the form of the latest version of blow-dryers) and don't forget to claim the code; Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité!

You are to tell the men in your lives (and the king), that you are not able to work outside your home and contribute to the economic growth of society because it is against your fitra (human predisposition). Don't forget to quote some of the leading wahabi scholars; I'm sure you will find heaps of material for your defence.

-Fraternize with your kitchen utensils and chop your husband up a lovely salad, Tabbouleh perhaps? That knife of yours will chop up those tomatoes in small squares before you can say "Help". (Oh and if you don't have a husband, a brother or father will do just fine.)

-Equalize yourself to that of a servant (for what could possibly be better than to serve your husband?) And last but not least:

-Liberalize yourself just enough to pull out the blow-dryer and fix your hair in the latest western hairdo (for even the learned wahabis don't mind you getting all dolled up á la Hollywood, as long as it's for your husband).

Vive le reverse psychology!

E-mailing Musharraf

Did you know President Parvez Musharraf had his own website?

The reason I found out is that there is a "Women's Protection Bill" in Pakistan that has been proposed and is now on the table of the President himself, where he can either take action and approve it or not.

A campaign on the net has been initiated by blogger Eteraz and brought to my attention by fellow blogger Baraka. You can read more about the Bill there.

For those (Pakistani, half Pakistani, or non Pakistani) interested in lobbying for this Bill to be taken seriously by the President concerning issues of forced marriages, rape and abuse, the following can be done.

Go to Musharraf's website, and send a comment with the following text:

We believe that you should support the passage of the Women’s Protection Act in the form proposed by the Select Committee of Parliament. The passage of that bill would be a significant step forwards in the protection of women’s rights in Pakistan and an achievement for which you would always be remembered.

Musharraf is to appear on The Daily Show with John Stewart on Sept 26th.

Ps. one can actually download desktop pictures of Musharraf on his website... *Laugh*

5 reasons to "Go Wahabi"

1. If you happen to be a woman and still not gotten that driver's license although you're way past 25, don't fret. According to Wahabism in Saudi you ain't allowed to drive anyway so no more feeling embarrassed about your lack of license, instead you will gain the respect of your fellow Wahabis in not only not driving, but not knowing how to drive as well. What piety! (Arab News article here)
   
2. If you're a man and you really wanna save money, Wahabism is the way to go. How you ask? Well, you can use your old pants, or even your younger sibling's or children's pants, because they are supposed to be short on you and reach just above your ankles. Now you don't have to feel embarrassed that you look like Steve Urkel, and also, imagine the money you save being able to use the pants you once wore when you were 12?
   
3. If you're a girl and you happen to be lazy, I have the solution for you. Go Wahabi. Next time your mom tells you to go to the shop to buy milk you can simply say "Mom, I am not allowed to leave the home without a male member (mahram) of the family accompanying me". Now your brother will have to go every time while you sit at home chilling. Great isn't it?
   
4. If you're a woman who is conscious about protecting your skin from ageing or even cancer, well then there is no better sun screen than wahabilotion. Make sure you find a nice thick cloth (preferably black and synthetic so you sweat to death in the 50 degree sunshine) and cover your whole body and face, one eye is allowed open for the sake of seeing where you're going although popping on a pair of black sunglasses will enhance the look. No wrinkles, no cancer.
   
5. Last but not least, to all the unmarried girls out there who are tired of feeling compelled to exercise and learn Pilates, yoga (haram haram) and aerobics, Wahabism has catered to your needs. Like in schools in Saudi Arabia where exercise is forbidden for girls so as not to make their hymen break out of "strenuous activity", you can now feel good about popping that Hershey Bar in your mouth while flicking the channels on the satellite dish. (Arab News article here)

And they say Wahabism is oppressive to women! Look at all the perks...

No, no, the men!

Going to the mosque to say a prayer these days far from serves the object of the act i.e. to experience some sort of calm or peace in the "House of God". In our grand mosque in Stockholm, inaugurated in June 2000, Muslims from all over the world gather to say their prayers, attend lectures or classes, and go to work.

The building is the work place for many Muslim organisations that work within different spheres such as Islamic Relief, NewMoon, Al Khawarizmi (Swedish Muslim Student Association) and many more.

As for the history of the building itself, it calls for a separate post for it is a fascinating story.

Back to finding peace whilst praying in the mosque. I had a meeting with various organisations for the sake of discussing the material that should be included in a book that will be published in Sweden at the end of this year God willing about Muslim Peace Culture. We met in the office area of the mosque and the call for Asr prayer came so we all took a break to pray.

Now praying in a mosque in itself is not supposed to be a complicated affair. In our mosque the women's prayer floor is above the men's. However it is designed so that one can look down from the women's area straight to the men's in order to both see and hear what is going on better.

So the Imam calls out the adhaan (call to prayer) and one of the women goes and stands at the very front of the women's prayer room in order to start a line there. Very smart I think to myself, for that will allow plenty of room for people to come in from behind and make new rows should the amount of people increase. So I stand next to her and a few more women follow our lead.

An older woman, 55+ speaking Arabic comes to me and exclaims:

Laa laa, el rijaal! meaning no, no, the men!

I was startled for I did not quite understand what the men had to do with anything and furthermore the time for prayer was there and we were all trying to start. So she continues and pulls people telling them to move backwards in the room to the middle of it. I am still lost, but since everyone started taking a step back, I did not wish to pray solo for that sort of defeats the idea of congregational prayer.

This however, was still not good enough for the lady in question and at the same time another lady started joining in with different requests. Apparently we were not starting the line from the right side of the room. So she started pulling at people yelling yameen yameen (right, right) to move to the right whilst the other lady still calls out el rijaal!

By now I am fed up at the hen house our prayer room had turned into, along with many more around me and we were now in three different rows, one starting from the left, one from the right and one at the very back. It looked absolutely ridiculous. The woman came back to us again and now this time she was even more passionate about the rijaal so I had to ask her what she was talking about:

Hajjeh, ma fahimtek ya3ni sho da'7let el rijaal? meaning "Hajjeh (term of respect for an older woman), I didn't understand you, where do the men fit into all of this ?"

And she replied, as if it were the most natural thing I should have understood myself:

Ehna laazim naqif waraa el rijaal meaning we have to stand behind the men.

Behind? huh? we are in a separate room? They are not even in the room? What do you mean behind?

For a Muslim man or woman, the only person that one absolutely must stand behind, is the Imam. No one can stand in front of the Imam whilst praying. And our prayer room for women is designed so that the first row of the women is just behind the Imam, yet side to side (though on a different level in the building) with the men.

This woman meant that we should not even be standing next to the men praying one floor below us and she managed to rearrange the whole room of women into something that looked like abstract art á la Picasso, not only disrupting the time of prayer when silence and order should be in place but ruining the rest of my prayer for all I could think about during the whole prayer was how to tell her off in Arabic. So much for '7ushoo.

The incident stayed with me, not so much for disrupting my prayer which of course was bad enough but I thought to myself, she has probably raised kids, and along with that promoting an idea of men and women unto them which is far from anything one could call female emancipation. Women like her take us back to the days when women wore corsets and fainted at the sight of a man who most likely would be the only hope for financial security.

Eberhardt "On Women"

I am still reading Isabelle Eberhardt's last book, In the warm shade of Islam, and although I wish I could reprint the whole book right here on my blog, I shall have to be content with publishing a few quotes that really strike a cord, somewhere inside for whatever reason.

In her chapter, Reflections in a courtyard, Eberhardt talks about the ever so contemporary issue of women. I was surprised at her ideas and thoughts, though 100 years old, it seems we still ask the same questions, regardless of emancipation and equality. In the following quote, keep in mind Eberhardt is disguised as a man and just entered a courtyard in Bechar, Morocco.

"I entered into their midst and sat down in a corner of the courtyard. They didn't even notice me. Of course, there's nothing remarkable about me. I'm able to pass everywhere completely unobserved, an excellent position to be in for observing. If women are not good at this, it's because their costume attracts attention. Women have always been made to be looked at, and they aren't yet much bothered by the fact. This attitude, I think, gives far too much advantage to men."

So what do some Arabic proverbs say on observance?

Absar min Zarqaa Al Yamama, which means, more observant than Zarqaa Al Yamama, who apparently was a woman famous for her good eye sight.

Absar min al watwaat, which means more observant than a bat.

The question is, do women face the same predicament today? Are they made to be looked at and if so, by whom? Do they themselves contribute to it whilst being, like Eberhardt said "not yet much bothered by the fact", or is it imposed on them unawarely?

A French Revolution in Saudi Arabia

After ranting on about my brief discussion with "Average Moe" at the restaurant the other day, it seems word got around to the king. Oh well, let me believe that what I feel or think could have some impact even on the likes of royalty.

Now then, to the news. According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet , crown prince Sultan of Saudi Arabia told Swedish television that women in Saudi could be allowed to get drivers licenses, if the men in their lives agree to it.

-When fathers, husbands and brothers ask us to let women drive, then we shall consider the issue. But, if they ask us to prevent it, then we cannot force them to accept it, Sultan says.

Apparently recently inaugurated king Abdullah has said that he wishes to increase women's ability to move around in order to stimulate economic growth. Right, so now that things are going down the drain economically for Saudi (black gold running out), it's time to let out the cattle from the farms, and milk them for what it's worth. Naturally under the supervision of the "farmers" (i.e. men).

For you see, the leaders and learned of Saudi Arabia have expressed a concern that letting women drive might lead them to trying to access men outside of their homes and (as they often assure us), it has nothing to do with the emancipation of women that being able to drive and have a license would lead to in such a country. (Right...)

No, indeed, the learned of Saudi are wise, they have tapped into our heads, and figured out what Mel Gibson couldn't; what women want! For those of you who didn’t know, our secret wish is to at any given chance, take out our car and drive to the first man we can think of, any Tom Dick or Harry will do. No no, I mean Taha, Dawoud or Haroon (anything else would be unthinkable). Preferably someone we have made some sort of acquaintance with, like the guy who sold us the onions? No wait, we only looked at him, our husband did the buying, hmm...then whom? How about our driver? Yes we could drive to see him? No wait, he has the car plus he lives in the servant’s quarters. Ah well, I guess we will just have to sit that one out, mission accomplished Saudi legislators! Masha'Allah! (what God willed)

I have a suggestion for all Saudi women; it's time for a revolution! Yes you heard me. Bring out the guillotine (in the form of kitchen knives that do an excellent job on tomatoes), guns (in the form of the latest version of blow-dryers) and don't forget to claim the code; Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité! You are to tell the men in your lives (and the king), that you are not able to work outside your home and contribute to the economic growth of society because it is against your fitra (human predisposition). Don't forget to quote some of the leading wahabi scholars; I'm sure you will find heaps of material for your defence.

-Fraternize with your kitchen utensils and chop your husband up a lovely salad, Tabbouleh perhaps? That knife of yours will chop up those tomatoes in small squares before you can say "Help". (Oh and if you don't have a husband, a brother or father will do just fine.)

-Equalize yourself to that of a servant (for what could possibly be better than to serve your husband?) And last but not least:

-Liberalize yourself just enough to pull out the blow-dryer and fix your hair in the latest western hairdo (for even the learned wahabis don't mind you getting all dolled up á la Hollywood, as long as it's for your husband).

Vive le reverse psychology!