Makkah

Once the law allowing women to drive was passed, this issue became the main topic of discussion on social media. Putting my own opinion aside, I would like to talk about the way the majority of people in our conservative society think. Our society seems to be busy judging and analyzing people’s behavior and actions, and it seems to be one that mixes culture with religion and pays more attention to customs over sacred law. Our society is one that restricts our peaceful religion according to its own ideas and illogical laws.

There are far too many people today who have struggled with the way our society mixes culture and religion. We may have heard of many wrong and irrational explanations from family, friends, media pundits and men claiming to be Islamic scholars discussing topics such as women driving.

We are, indeed, the nation of “read” as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. We, however, do not read. Many of us are far from the ethics and teachings of Islam. Many Western countries have reached great heights in science and development by applying Islamic concepts. However, when we look at ourselves, the ones who are supposed to apply Islam in our lives, we find ourselves immersed in passing judgments according to our own preferences.

We continue to hear that only corrupt women are those who are going to drive. This is just a small example of the irrationality that saturates our society. Actually, it reminds me of the Age of Ignorance (Al-Jahiliyyah) in which rival tribes fought and killed each other for trivial matters.

The concept of women driving certainly has its negativities. However, there are also many positives. I would like to let those who have no idea about the struggle of some Saudi families know that the women of some families seriously need to be able to drive. Having communicated with the families of men in prison and men who abuse their womenfolk due to drugs or a misunderstanding of what it means to be a male guardian, I have come to realize the necessity of allowing women to drive.

We are behind the rest of the world not because of religion, but because of our failure to successfully harness the power of science.