Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia : Rights, Challenges and Achievements [1 ed.] 9781443893282, 9781443872812

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Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Rights, Challenges and Achievements By

Hend T. Al-Sudairy

Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Rights, Challenges and Achievements By Hend T. Al-Sudairy This book first published 2017 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2017 by Hend T. Al-Sudairy All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7281-4 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7281-2

To My Parents & My Children Wejoud, Moteb, and Mishal

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements .................................................................................... ix Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One ................................................................................................. 5 Historical Background Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 27 Saudi Women’s Early Education and the Modern Era Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 41 Abandoning the Traditional Role Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 55 Saudi Women’s Early Writings Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 69 Analysis of Selected Contemporary Novels Malamah (Features), Zainab Hufni: Consuming Sexuality Jahliah (Pr-Islamic Era), Layla Aljahni: Women and Social Taboos Alwarfah (The Lush Tree), Omaimah Al-Khamis: The Woman and the Mass Culture Zyarat Saja (Saja’s Visit), Omaimah Al-Khamees: Condemnation of Materialistic Society Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 113 Saudi Women’s Achievements and Challenges Conclusion ............................................................................................... 129 Bibliography ............................................................................................ 133 Glossary ................................................................................................... 139 Index ........................................................................................................ 143

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is a pleasure to register here my thanks and appreciation to all those who encouraged me to embark on this project, and made it possible for this book to be realised. In particular: Professor Martin Arnold for his encouragement and his reading of my previous articles on the subject; Professor Said Al-Said for his intellectual discussions and comments which kept me continually aware of what is at stake in discussing such issues and helping me with German references; Professor Dalal Al-Harbey for her readiness to help with the necessary references as a specialist in the field; Dr. Abdullah Al-Washmi for his swift responses to my inquiries, and; Dr. Aljazi Alshubaiki for her generosity in gifting me with her thesis on charitable societies which was a valuable source of information on this issue. I would like also to give thanks to Dr. Suad Almana, for her continued support; special thanks and gratitude to my children, who bear with me my efforts in writing and being busy most of the time; to Ms. Victoria Carruthers from Cambridge Scholars Publishing for her prompt replies to my inquires; to Dr. Fouziah Abu Khaled for all the information regarding education, and also to Dr. Salwa Alkhteeb, for invaluable help with references. Many thanks to all the friends that I have not mentioned, as there are a great number whose suggestions and discussions have enriched the book.

INTRODUCTION

This book aims at introducing the Saudi woman to readers in a neutral light. This woman has been a puzzle to many nations, even to most Arab countries, in which people have not come into direct contact with her. Many male Saudi writers and other Westerners advocate her rights, represent and express her views without any explicit approval from her, which has made her an enigma to the masses. There are two typical images of her in most parts of the world: the oppressed, ignorant woman, and the extravagant, luxurious woman who more closely matches the “Harem” idea than the reality. Saudi writers tend also to idealise the woman’s status and present her as a queen; both representations are wide of the mark. The Saudi woman remained a mystery to many nations as she rarely participated in international delegations and events until the later years of the twentieth century, at which point in time she became very active both in and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The outside world thinks of her as an ignorant, oppressed woman, while the truth is that she is not. Visitors to Saudi Arabia today will meet engineers, physicians, journalists, magazine editors, lawyers, teachers and females working in many other occupations. Yet, the Saudi woman is fighting and demanding the acquisition of more rights. One of her latest achievements is the right to vote and elect the Municipal Council, although it is only in its third round. During my academic career I have attended many conferences and seminars. Almost every time I was faced with questions regarding the Saudi woman: ‘how does she dress?’ ‘Does she work?’ ‘What about her marriage rituals, or patriarchy?’ In my time I have heard many false notions. It has proven difficult to explain that most Saudi women are happy, and that the Saudi culture is very different from other cultures. The father’s authority, the healthy accepted and respected authority over his daughter, is not considered as oppression in Saudi Arabia. Yes, there are some traditions that are rooted deeply in the Saudi society which women are now revolting against, but at the same time there are others which continue to be embraced. The idea for this book came to me from these questions. No one understands the Saudi woman better than a woman, plus I am a Saudi citizen and have lived my entire life in Saudi Arabia, and

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Introduction

whilst I do acknowledge the differences between my society and other societies, at the same time I am the product of my society’s culture, which makes it easier for me to explain this culture to others. Therefore, I believe this book will bridge the gap between the conservative Saudi society and those of the West or the East. It has been difficult to find references on this subject as most books are optimistic, reporting only the bright side of the woman’s journey, ignoring all the obstacles facing her. Also, there were many documentations of the Arabian peninsula during the 19th century, but these were written by foreigners, and that was a large obstacle as usually Arab women neither communicate with, nor allow foreigners to mingle amongst them or have any contact except through trading. However, although the Saudi woman has always had her status given within her home and among her family, a role outside it was not granted to many. Looking back on her history, the reader will notice in Chapter One that the woman was an active social member. The Bedouin woman lived a relatively free and mobile life. Even before the formation of the Kingdom, women had ridden to war alongside tribal men, and had even held such positions as an expert physician. They had carried familial responsibilities in the absence of men during the poverty of the 19th century. Being veiled in some regions did not exclude the woman from her society or her active role either in teaching, religion or literature (poetry). Some dedicated religious books for readers and made these books available for all at a time when illiteracy was the norm. Today the Kingdom gives Saudi women many rights equal to those of men: the vote, the ability to become members of parliament, and at governmental offices they receive equal pay to men. Nowadays they fill all ranks of society within almost all professions. Higher education is open for all, although women are still denied access to some majors. In the field of education, the percentage of female students surpasses that of men. Vocational training is available, too, and for free. This book takes the reader on a journey from the 19th century up to today, it traces the woman’s position within her family, immediate community and her country in general. Therefore, the book should be read chronologically starting with Chapter One, in order to understand where this woman comes from, what her background is, her culture, beliefs and how all these things have impacted the woman’s progress and development. Each chapter will investigate an important era in the Saudi

Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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woman’s progress and formation, and will show how the woman began her journey. Chapter Five will take Saudi women’s novels as its subject, selected novels will be analysed and connected with real life to bring to life the Saudi woman’s real challenges and achievements. Saudi female literature is hardly discussed, and few novels have been translated into other languages. The novels analysed here have been selected to reflect Saudi female writers’ developments and maturation. It also aims at filling the gap in Saudi literary criticism and to be a reference for researchers who are interested in the Saudi woman or Saudi culture and society. As life consists of ups and downs and the hard working person is always rewarded in his/her journey, so is the Saudi woman. The chapters ahead will investigate the woman’s persistence to succeed in a patriarchal society and how she has overcome the challenges of tradition. The final chapter is dedicated to this brave woman’s achievements over the course of fifty years, and the obstacles that she still faces.

CHAPTER ONE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The current study focuses on the Saudi woman as she is today, and her history. It will embark on a journey beginning with 19th century social life. Unfortunately, the information regarding this woman is very rare, her role, lifestyle or social and economic contributions before 1950 are hardly documented. The researcher is faced by this obstacle when trying to explore the history of the Saudi woman, as mentioned by professor Nora Alshamlan when she attempted to search for information about Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman, one of the most prominent famous Saudi women: “I was shocked by the scarcity of information about this princess, someone about whom I thought I would find a wealth of information. After reading many books, unfortunately, I found very little”1. This sentiment is one that I share, I had to search many books and documents which did not contain much useful information. Most documentations from the 19th and early 20th centuries were written by orientalists or explorers who were Westerners and spoke a different language to the natives, and they were also written by men. These are strong barriers when writing about women. The Arabic tradition is strict on gender mixing, especially with foreigners, and maybe that is one of the reasons why the early writings do not contain much information about the woman of the time. Lady Ann Blunt’s ‘A Pilgrimage to Najd: The Cradle of the Arab Race’ gives an account of the woman, especially in the northern areas. As a woman she was able to mix with the women and to observe them closely, yet her accounts still lack a real understanding of the woman and her way of thinking, as she accuses some of being stupid for no obvious reason other than that the communication was difficult due to the language barrier2. Saudi historians such as Ibn Besher were not interested in women’s issues and documented almost nothing regarding the woman. However, this lack of documentation led to the creation of a dim view of the Arabian Peninsula’s women, and consequently helped construct a stereotypical image of the woman as a submissive, marginalised being who has no societal role whatsoever.

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Chapter One

This chapter will attempt to dive into the woman’s history, starting with the early 19th century, to explore the woman’s status and contributions in different areas of social and economic life in the area which would become known as Saudi Arabia. It will also explore man and woman’s relationship and why the woman did not receive the attention she deserved. On this issue, Madawi Al-Rasheed states that: A persistent problem facing researchers is the limited historical knowledge about and current research on Saudi woman. Most of the academic literature on the country has focused on history, politics, oil, security, and Islamism. Compared to other Muslim women, who have been the subject of much serious academic research in history and social science, Saudi women’s gender issues remain the least studied. 3

Al-Rasheed is certainly correct in noting the absence of research in regard to the interest in the gender issues of the Saudi woman. However, that is not the only obscure area regarding this woman, and that is what this study tries to address, whilst simultaneously attempting to give the Saudi woman the credit and the comprehensive research that she deserves, as she has contributed greatly to her society and history. Even when articles or studies are published, they tend to be written by people who lived abroad most of their life even if they are Saudis themselves or by Westerners who are unaware of the culture and customs known to Saudis. Their accounts sometimes contradict the facts and surprise the Saudi reader who is more aware of the facts, and has perhaps even lived through them. However, international interest in the Saudi woman has been growing since 9/11, but has not received the serious attention it deserves. As AlRasheed puts it: the ‘Saudi woman question’ has not attracted sufficient academic attention due to difficulty accessing the country, which is only gradually being opened up for academic research. Gender remains an unexplored terrain that could benefit from further investigation. 4

That is true to an extent, but as the reader should be aware, Saudi women are present in many institutions in the 21st century, besides, there are many female foreigners working at Saudi universities who mix frequently with the Saudi woman either as a colleague or a student, and physicians also find themselves in a mixed environment (hospitals). The Saudi woman writer has opened up, and expresses herself and discusses the social issues that interest her. Anyone who is seriously interested in this woman will find a wealth of information in the modern era.

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Understanding the status of the Saudi woman demands a knowledge of the region’s demography, its culture and history. The inhabitants can be divided into two categories: Hader or Sedentary, and Bedouin or Nomadic. The majority in the north and central regions were Bedouins. As Lady Blunt mentions, their towns and villages were a long distance from each other, and each town or village was surrounded by a sea of sands. Such distances led to political individualism, with most towns being governed by themselves 5. The Hader were those inhabiting towns and villages. They worked mostly in farming and trading. They were governed by a uniform tradition and custom and their lifestyles were more or less the same. The Hader people descended from well-known Arabic tribes who established themselves in towns for a long time and had either forsaken the nomadic life 6 or newly adopted the Hader lifestyle and settled in towns, meaning that Hader and Badu are descendants of tribes7. Bedouins (Badu) are pure Arabic tribes moving from one place to another depending on the presence of water or the prevalence of raids. They traditionally despise handcrafting and those performing it, thus, they bargain with Hader to buy those necessities which they cannot produce, such as grains. The Bedouins are considered the noblest species of human beings, and they do value themselves above the Hader. However, the Sheikh’s (head of the tribe) blood is nobler than the rest, and he and his children marry only from their cousins or a top family of another tribe8. That does not mean that no marriage has existed between Bedouins and Hader, especially rich Hader families who were keen on keeping a bond with Bedouin lifestyle and also those that believe the son inherits the maternal genes. They go as far as sending their male children to the tribes to learn and experience the Arabian ethics. Also, there have been political motives behind Hader and Bedouin marriages, as exemplified by the Al-Rasheed monarchs when they married from all branches of the Shemer tribe to secure power and loyalty 9. The relationship between Hader and Badu, as mentioned above, has an economic side. During harvest season the Bedouins sell the produce from their cattle: milk, wool, oil and special homemade white biscuits called ‘Iqt’ made of lambs’ milk. They buy or exchange (as currency was rare) their goods with dates, grains, clothes, and some handmade crafts 10. Besides, the Hader used to leave their herds with the Bedouins to graze during the spring season based on agreement between both sides. However, the Hader were keen to be on good terms with Bedouins as they needed their camels to help in aggregation, as there was no way to keep the necessary number of camels within their towns so they borrowed them from Bedouins11. There was also a unique relationship between the two

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Chapter One

peoples called “brotherhood” (Alkhawa) where the Hader paid the Bedouins for protecting them from other tribes, a source of valuable income for Bedouins. That demonstrates the Bedouins’ power and how they enforced their customs and lifestyle patterns on the inhabitants of the peninsula12. As raids prevailed all over the peninsula, the need for protection was often in demand. Therefore, in such an environment where power and protection were received from the Bedouin fighters, it is to be expected that the superiority in the male/female relationship would lie with the man. Added to that is the fact that the Arabic societies are patriarchal. The woman was viewed as weak: It was assumed that men were physically and mentally superior to women, who were assumed to be weak and emotional. Thus, women should be controlled and protected, remain at home to raise their children, obey their husbands, and perform domestic work 13.

The woman in this milieu is a dependent being who depends upon the man for many things. Hence, the man’s decision regarding any member of the family or aspect of life is a law to be obeyed, especially by women. Worse is when a man does not consult his wife or share with her his resolutions, as many men believe that women are not to be trusted with secrets. According to Badriya al-Bishr they even go as far as preferring gender over age, which is usually respected and considered in the Arab world in general and in the Arabian Peninsula more specifically14. Based on that, the mother may kiss her son’s hand if he consents to something she asked while the Arabic custom is for the younger to show respect to the older. The eldest son is the guardian of his widowed mother and orphaned sisters. Nevertheless, Islamic and Arabic ethics stress the importance of helping and caring for women, and they do follow that to a certain point, as one sees the Bedouin man carrying the goatskin water container instead of the woman, in order to help her with her tasks. Not only the Bedouin man but also the men of the Hader who are very considerate with old ladies and widows, supporting them and providing them with grains and dates at the time of the harvest, as these were almost the only crops available15. Usually, the chief of the tribe sends annual gifts of clothes to the tribal women, and that shows how attentive the chief is to his female subjects, especially when the reader knows the poor circumstances they live in - in Najed in particular, with no rivers or existing vegetation. The prevailing poverty is well demonstrated by their tents and habitats. The Bedouins lived and still live in tents made of goats’ wool, divided into

Historical Background

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two or three sections with a curtain-like material (kadah) one for the man and his guests and the other for the woman, as well as the children and family life16. In towns and villages the situation was known to be a lot better, but still simple and poor. Al-Harbey states Barclay Raunkiaer’s description of one of these houses in 1815: We entered the guest room (living room) and the ground was covered with sand and handmade mats of palm trees, at one side there was a wejar (local type of fireplace) with coffee pots placed on it and on the wall there were mud shelves filled with more coffee pots. There were a few openings on the walls and in the roof for light and to release smoke 17

This description of the houses in the early 19th century reflects the simple life and primitive towns. Houses were built of mud in the central and eastern regions, and of stone in the south. The houses in general consisted of two floors, as Raunkiaer also notes. In Hail, in the north, according to Lady Blunt some houses were surrounded with palm trees, as she describes houses disguised behind them. The roof was used for sleeping during the summer season in all provinces. The man has always been privileged with a special room for himself and his guests, unlike the woman who receives her guests in the family quarter. The above raises a question: does this social division and marginalisation indicate a subordinate status in that society? One needs to dive deep in the Saudi culture to answer this question. The starting point is the family unit and the woman’s role within that unit. The mother has a central status in the family, she is a source of psychological security and provides the family members with their daily needs. Badriya al-Bishr says that “the mother holds the internal affairs management until the male children reach adulthood, they follow the father’s roles at that age18”. But even at that age of adulthood the mother has a huge impact on her boys’ life as she is entitled most of the time to choose the daughter-in-law. The son is also keen on a wife who is patient with his mother and attentive to his mother’s needs, as Dr. Salwa Al-Khateeb stated: From interviews I conducted with my respondents, I found that the relationship between mothers and daughters-in-law was an authoritarian one. As long as a woman was living with her husband’s family, she was expected to follow her mother-in-law’s orders. The household belonged to the mother-in-law not her 19.

The mother’s blessing is crucial in the young couple’s life as the man can go as far as divorcing his wife if she offends his mother20.

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Chapter One

The mother has the second say, after the father, in matters of the daughter’s marriage. The reasons for such a strong influence are: both mother and daughter are females and understand each other’s needs and points of view better than men. The mother also has a warmer and closer relationship with the children than the father, who usually has a formal relationship with them, as Al-Khateeb remarks: The relationship between a mother and her children was always warm, affectionate, and intimate; but the one between a mother and her daughter was particularly strong, derived as it was from a sense of solidarity 21.

Moreover, the management of the household duties were the mother’s responsibility. As the extended family form was the most common kind and they all used to live in one house, she divided the tasks among her daughters and in-laws. These tasks included: milking animals, cooking, cleaning washing etc. Everyone had to obey her and follow her instructions. The son would never side with his wife against his mother or he would bring shame upon himself for all of his life, and that might even influence his children’s reputation, especially if they were girls. Saudi society idealizes the mother, and folk stories represent the mother as a loving, considerate, sacrificing and honest woman and emphasize the suffering of the widow, hailing her for dedicating her life to her children22. In reality, widows did remarry in most cases due to prevailing poverty and the need for protection and support for herself and her children, more than for reasons of emotional satisfaction. The Saudi woman has also had a political influence, as history tells us about the politicians’ wives impact on their decisions, as was the case with the religious reformer Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab. As the historian Ibn Ghannam says, he was welcomed and supported thanks to a woman’s efforts after being expelled from his town due to his religious reformed views; a woman carried the news of his message to the ruler’s wife who in turn transmitted it to her husband, the ruler Imam Mohammed Bin Saud, and prepared the path for him to be welcomed. Of course, that was before the 19th century. If it were not for those women who knows what might have happened to the message of Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab23. Women’s influence even reached the extent of releasing prisoners, as exemplified in 1884 with Imam Abdullah Bin Faisal, whose mother sought the release of Alshaik Abdullah Bin Abdulatif’s students and had her wish granted24. The high status of the mother is historically repeated on all levels, when the victorious Bedouin came back from a raid he would gift his mother the best of his spoil of camels. They were even very keen on choosing the

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wife, as they believed that the genes of her family affected their children and were very proud of their ancestors on both sides. But that did not stop them from despising any man brought up by a woman, and it was and still a shame to call a man by his mother’s name, even though they showed great respect for her. One of the most influential female figures in Saudi history up to the early 20th century, still remembered now (and as a matter of fact, her name was honoured recently by giving her name to the first female university in Saudi Arabia), is Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman (1875-1950). She is remembered by all Saudis as King Abdulaziz’s nakhwa, Akhw Nora, Nora’s brother. She is remembered as a supporter, social worker and as the first lady who supported her brother and managed the royal household receiving foreign visitors such as Violet Dickson, who was impressed by the Princess’s grace and hospitality. She looked after every member in the family and opened her house for commoners to visit, dine, and even helped in solving their problems. History remembers her as the one who encouraged her brother after being defeated for the second time: “do not cry your luck, if you failed twice you will win the third time, look deeply where you failed and do not stay long with your mother and wife, men are not born to rest”25. It is said that the woman’s opinion was generally not taken seriously, many proverbs and folk tales stress that point, but historical incidents prove otherwise, and the counsel of women could be highly appreciated26. However, the relationship between husband and wife was a conservative one as love, especially on the man’s side, was considered a weakness, and the man was not supposed to show his love for his wife. On the other hand, a woman might be divorced if she expressed her longing to her husband. That did not stop many men from writing elegies on their wives, and many famous poets immortalized their dead wives in poems, such as the famous poet Ibn Laboun27. Polygamy prevailed more among Hader than Bedouins, but the power was always in the hands of the first wife if the mother was not around or deceased. She was the one who managed all the other females in the family, as Lady Blunt noted regarding Amsha, the first wife of prince Homoud Al-Rasheed: Amsha, the prince’s first wife, one can distinguish her from other women. She has a splendid appearance and her manners would expose her anywhere . . . the other two wives, Doushah and Luluah, dressed like her but Amsha was smart and entertaining and able to carry a conversation, while the other two were too intimidated . . . the prince came twice while

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Chapter One I was there and all the women stood up in his presence, except Amsha who just gave a gesture 28.

Lady Blunt’s description of this female gathering shows the distinction and influence of the first wife on the others and how this wife evaluated herself especially with regard to her husband and his household. Although polygamy still exists in modern Saudi Arabia, wives do not share the same house like they did in 19th century life. The wives at that time all inhabited one house, as readers can see from the previous quote. It is true that the royalty had large houses and each wife may have had her own quarter, but in the case of the normal people the wives shared a simple house, as mentioned by Lady Blunt when talking about their guide’s cousin’s wives, whom Lady Blunt visited to choose a wife for her guide Mohammed: Then appeared Turki’s wives, one is beautiful, the other is simple and the only wife of Arabi is beautiful and recently married. They seem to be on good terms with each other better than other wives and in-laws. They were keen on pleasing me 29.

The acceptance of sharing one man and one habitat on the woman’s side is taken for granted, and the women arrange their lives accordingly. This tendency to have more than one wife extended into the newly born state in the 20th century, as Princess Alice writes when she met two wives of King Abdulaziz: “he (King Abdulaziz) took me to a house with a nice garden to say good-bye to two of his wives: The lady doctor . . . introduced us to SA Majeste Um Manur et Sa Um Talat {l}”30. As the reader can see, in most cases the women lived together like roommates and the social milieu dealt with it as normal. Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman asked Violet Dickson “not to worry”, comforting her as she was distressed by the idea of having more than one wife, “as all men do that, but we are used to it, it is nice to have many women around28”. We know that this was not the case in all parts of Saudi Arabia, as Faiz Al-Shehry said, regarding the Beny Sheher tribe in the south, that it is rare that a man would marry more than one wife31. Having more than one wife did not affect the man’s respect for the woman, as one can see from the Bedouin raiding practices, where they might kill the men and take all the cattle and objects of value, but they would never touch a woman or her personal belongings like her jewellery32. For sure that was a sign of respect for the woman, but Madawi

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Al-Rasheed gives another explanation for not harming women during raids: While raiding parties felt free to cut down palm trees, steal camels, destroy agricultural fields and damage wells and watering canals, they hesitated before they inflicted any harm on women, even after defeating their menfolk. Abiding by this practice in the warfare of Arabia was cherished and respected, as no group wanted a violation of its women which would eventually lead to perpetual cycles of revenge 33.

This explanation is not convincing, as revenge would not stop because the enemy did not harm women, as revenge would still be sought for raiding the land, stealing the animals or destroying wells. It was more about respect for the woman rather than preventing revenge. The woman’s importance is highlighted in the wars in most parts of Saudi Arabia, where beautiful women were seated on camels on the front lines of the battle encouraging the fighters, as we can gather from Wallin’s description of the battle between King Abdulaziz and the Ajman tribe in 186034. Madawi AlRasheed also refers to the woman’s important role in wars in her account of women’s contributions: Tribal women who encouraged their men before raids, composing songs and chanting them loudly, and contributed to the nomadic economy of herding, weaving, and trade with settlements35.

However, a witness account is very important here to emphasize this respect of the woman especially among her own tribe. Wallin states that he and his companion had to convince a woman from the Shamer tribe to accompany them in their trip from Aljouf to Jubah to ensure their safety from the Shamer tribe as they crossed their land36. This account explicates the tribal respect for their female members and those in their company. By now the reader is familiar with the Saudi woman’s status and environment in the 19th century, but it is important to give an account of this woman’s characteristics. The most obvious feature of the Bedouin woman is patience and bearing as she consistently, due to the lifestyle of raids prevailing at that time as a part of the 19th century culture, loses the men in her life, be they father, husband, brother or son. Another suffering attributed to the Bedouins only is the non-stop traveling, as they travel in search of water and grazing land for their animals in the winter and then go back to their areas in the summer season. This trip is a sad and difficult one as it creates a sense of longing for the familiar places, as they stayed at the camps more than the men would, with a lack of security. This

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Chapter One

travelling enriches the woman’s knowledge of the area’s geography due to their continuous travelling habit37. Nevertheless, this travelling gives the woman an unlimited freedom which is denied to her Hader sister. Many Bedouin women reject marriage proposals from Hader men, Dickson remarks that Bedouin women are happier and have a higher margin of freedom than Hader women in Najed38, but in the southern and western regions the Hadri women have more freedom, as the reader will see when we reach the male/female relationship. The patience of the Hader woman is clear in the case of Alouqilat. In the 19th century Najed was very poor and men used to travel for business and work to the north in Syria and Iraq. They might stay there for years before they returned to their towns and families, mothers and wives waited patiently for their return, also in the coastal regions the wives and families of the divers for pearls (a popular job with good income) would wait as they go away for months diving in the Gulf, and in the meantime the women would bring up their children alone and work to be the breadwinners in the absence of the man. Not only that, but the young wives had to deny their emotional needs and sacrifice them for the sake of their families. The women and children celebrated the husbands’ and fathers’ return on the shore, as the poem goes: Let us all welcome the returned and hail them brave men tiger-like and not intimidated by danger.

The Bedouin wife suffers more as a mother if she is married to a man from a different tribe than her own. In divorce the woman goes back to her tribe and the children stay under their father’s custody and she might never see them again. Children have been important and considered as a continuation of a person’s existence after he ceases to live, that is why a woman would not hesitate to marry a dying man so she can bear his children. Economically speaking, the woman was a major factor. Most people think the Saudi women only dived into the labour market recently, but that is not fair to her history. True, the woman in that historical society was a housewife and mother in essence, but that did not stop her from helping her husband earn a living. Women were working in different jobs according to their environment. The Bedouin woman weaved wool for tents and covers, gathered wood for cooking and fires39 and watered the animals. The watering of animals is not so easy a job as it seems, pulling water from wells requires strength and the help of other women, and it takes time for all of them to pull up their requisite water and carry it to

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15

their houses or tents and then give it to the animals. The task was easier for the Hadri woman as most houses had their own wells. Other duties included milking cattle and using the milk in making Iqt (still poplar today, and in markets nowadays), butter and yogurt. Painting was one of the most famous activities of Aseer women in the south, and they used to decorate the walls of their houses with beautiful murals like the one which can be seen at the Abha palace hotel, where the entrance is adorned with a beautiful mural painted by an old lady (76 years old) called Fatemah Abu Gahas. The woman’s job in the south extended to guarding the farms from the Turkish soldiers before the formation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, when those soldiers tried to throw stones at the palm trees to knock the dates down. These women would start shouting so that the husbands were alerted and could come to help. In the towns and villages women raised animals and poultry and benefited from the produce such as milk and eggs, either by consuming it within the family or selling it in the market, tanning (animal skin processing) was also a successful business for women. Household tasks were divided among the women of the house and supervised by the mother or the eldest. Hader women were also in charge of feeding the animals, and also of the farms, where they would supervise the irrigation of crops and help in ploughing using camels or oxen. Sometimes, women would grow certain herbs and plants for their own use, either as ingredients in remedies or to sell for their own benefit, as most women were keen on having a separate income from sewing or weaving, areas which Bedouins excelled in. There were famous towns with women’s markets like Aein Aljwa and Unayza where clothes were available for buyers, especially Bedouin customers, and there were a variety of clothes for all ages40. In Najed women were known for sewing and decorating Baiz (Pot holders). There was a lot of merchandise handled by women containing raw materials from the environment: mats, baskets, hand fans, plates, ropes, and in the south umbrellas and many other things. Spices had a flourishing market, too. Women were also traders within female surroundings, a woman might allocate a room in her house for trade and keep all merchandise in it, female customers would then come and buy goods, or leave some of their own products to be sold there for a certain amount, from which the merchant woman would take a percentage of the price. Such stores were also social gathering places, like cafés. The other kind of female traders were peddlers: Dallala, where the woman carried the goods in a bundle over her head and went around the rich houses. This was done in two

16

Chapter One

shifts, early morning till noon and from afternoon till sunset41. However, women in some towns had their own shops, as Ibn Besher mentioned that women were selling on one side of the market square and men on the other42, such public activity of women continued up to 1927, according to Ameen Al-Rehany43. The number of women working in the market in Riyadh, as William Palgrave describes, was large, and their goods varied from food to firewood44, but his statement indicates that women did not have stores but just sat on the floor with their goods in front of them, ironically this tradition continues up to today in all big cities in the traditional mixed gender markets. Al-Rasheed gives an account of women’s economic participation: Many women in the pre-oil era made a valuable economic contribution to their households. In the heartland of Arabia, vegetable markets were predominantly run by women in towns like Unayza and Burayda. Many women made important clothing for men . . . which they sold either as peddlers or in markets. Other women traders, known as Dallala, visited households to sell traditional make-up for women, for example hina (hair color) . . . In Mecca and Medina, women traded in the streets, selling food and other items to pilgrims45.

Another job that the poor women practiced was acting as a ‘house helper’, where they served in some houses helping with cooking, cleaning and washing during the daytime. Saudi women have always been interested in perfume and incense, and some were famous for their mixtures. It is still popular today, although modern stores provide different kinds of all types of perfume. Najed specialised in an occupation, one usually practiced by middle-aged, experienced women, it was to accompany the bride on her wedding night and stay with her for a few days to take care of her room and clothing, and to help her settle in to her new life. Such women also practiced a pre-marriage task where families depended upon them to choose a bride for their sons, as they were usually very social and knew most of the girls around the age for marriage. However, the woman’s economic activities did not mean or indicate that gender mixing was allowed in all regions, especially in Najad, and perhaps Madawi Al-Rasheed’s comment is the closest to reality. This economic participation on the woman’s side was performed within roles or traditions governing such interaction: Only women of humble origins and market traders would be seen in the markets of the oases . . . Oasis women of the learned religious families and

Historical Background

17

the settlements’ amirs were confined to their large houses, as can be glimpsed from the accounts of Lady Ann Blunt and Gertrude Bell46.

Of course Al-Rasheed is speaking about Najed mostly, while other parts were more flexible in that aspect. That takes the reader to a related issue. Face covering, or wearing a Niqab (a black face cover with two holes for eyes), is a fundamental issue for most Saudis both male and female, and the Saudi woman is known all over the world for covering her face or wearing a Niqab, although it is nowadays a choice and not a requirement. Surprisingly, and against the prevailing idea regarding facial covering, this study discovered a variety of customs differing according to region. Some areas were very strict about it, such as the conservative Najed region, while others were more flexible about it. Philipe Lippens says that John Philby warned them that Najed’s inhabitants were more strict and conservative than Najran’s47. This comment explains the differences among regions and also the flexibility of male/female relationships when the face cover becomes a choice. In western and northern regions there was a certain flexibility in a woman’s covering of her face, as the reader can see from Burckhardt’s remarks; he goes as far as describing hairstyles: “the hair styling differs among tribes. In Hijaz and Yemen, the women arrange their hair in a braided style like Nobian women48”. Burckhardt’s comment indicates that he has seen them without them even covering their heads, which is religiously speaking a must for Muslim women, and therefore I consider this incident a rare one and thus do not build any assumptions from it. There is, though, another incident with two females who might have been very young, as Euting writes in his trip account from the north that he met two women outside the walls of the village Kaf, and he recognized them: “once I met Lahood (the name of a woman) with another one setting out of the gates of Kaf and their braids set free49”. In another region in the west near Alfao, at Kashem Dashlah, Lippens took pictures of ladies with full black covers on their faces, wearing bright red dresses and without the traditional black cloaks50. He continued documenting his observations at the town of Jofaifah. He noticed that some women were on the houses’ roofs without head covers, but he did not mention the faces which I assume were uncovered 51. To the south in Beeshah town, Burckhardt wrote an account on trader women’s jewellery as he watched them buy and sell in the market. They wore zimam, a piece of jewellery worn on one side of the nose as the contemporary piercing 52, it is impossible to notice that with a covered

18

Chapter One

face, and that enforces the assumption that face covering was not an absolute must until the middle of the 20th century. When Burckhardt advanced on his journey to the south, Najran, the picture changes, and he stated that women wear the niqab. In Aseer in the south, Maurice Tamisier, who accompanied the Egyptian army to Aseer, wrote in his description of the women that they were “dark skinned and do not cover their faces”, and this observation might come from a comparison between the Egyptian Yashmek and the differences in Aseer 53. On his trip from Taif to Aseer he met Bedouin women, some of whom did not cover their faces, while others were covering half of their faces with blue material, which suggests that the black niqab is newer, and not as traditional as it is thought to be nowadays 54. In Alqateef, in the eastern region, the unmarried girls were supposed to hide even from women, not just cover their faces55. The previous accounts and testimony indicate that interaction between male and female was always there, and even accepted socially, but still within defined roles. The Bedouins were more flexible on this issue as Hussain Husney, a Turkish officer in Najed, describes the male/female relationship as familiar, and that a Bedouin woman would not hesitate to talk to the man and does not retreat at his sight56. This comment raises a question: are there other areas where she does just that? In another town, Afeef, on the northwestern side, Burckhardt witnessed an incident where the guide’s wife served them, and describes a tent where the female quarter was not completely segregated, and was within his sight57. However, the previous examples show that the two genders do know each other, although in most cases their interaction is limited, and it was the norm not to cover the face among common people. In Mecca it was even smoother. If we may describe it in such a way, Christiaan Hurgronje gives an account of a more flexible relationship between women and men that with common people, especially the middle class, the man received his guests in the living room and the woman could be seated in the next room. Sometimes, by chance, the dividing door between the two rooms may not be closed well, and if closed there may be holes in the door’s dry wood due to the weather and heat, and one could see through them. If the host trusted his guest enough, the woman could participate in the conversation from where she was seated or through a curtain, at other times the husband may do away with all the partitions altogether58. This account regards Hader, the Bedouin case was different; as Euting’s description of women’s jewellery, especially that worn on the face like zimam, proves they did not cover their faces 59. Also, Al-Rasheed emphasises this: “Images of

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Bedouin women that Bell took during her journeys in Arabia in 1914 reflected greater flexibility, as the Bedouin women who posed in front of her camera sometimes had their faces exposed60”. It was normal for women to meet men for work or help and was not a strange thing to do, as Al-Harbey 61 states; the woman was hosting men if her husband was away, but she was keen on her reputation, and that adds to the Bedouin woman’s sphere of freedom. Al-Rasheed says: Where tribal women enjoyed greater freedom of movement within their group, their settled counterparts, especially those belonging to the upper classes of society, were not to be seen moving between houses unless fully covered . . . The confinement of elite women was an exception, as commoners and slave women continued to appear in markets and fields. 62

What Husney noticed in the male/female relationship63 supports the above. This relationship between man and woman takes the reader to the traditions of marriage, and how the choice of the bride is made, and on what basis with such limited interaction, especially in the Hader milieu. In some regions men were mixing with women or at least women did not cover up, so it was easier to choose based on looks. The Turkish governor in Aseer, Suliman Kamaly Pasha, 1908-1912, describes a public occasion of boys’ circumcisions: “usually the circumcised boys would be around the age of 15 and people gather, young, old, men and women to witness the occasion”64. Kamaly’s account describes a mixed congregation which seems to be accepted socially. However, most of the southern tribes confirm, although nothing is documented except the Westerners’ journeys, that facial covering is not part of their tradition. Al-Khateeb states: The wearing of veils and female seclusion were not common in all parts of the peninsula. Bedouin women used to participate in public activities and enjoyed more freedom in their movements. Rural women in the South and West of Saudi Arabia such as Abha, Ghammed, Asser, Nijran, and Jazan, who used to participate in public activities, were not accustomed to the veil. The veil was almost exclusively an urban phenomenon65.

Nevertheless, in the far south near Yemeni borders, Burckhardt gives a different observation which contradicts his first regarding face covering 66: “in the corner, there were old ladies dressed in black and glancing furtively at us through their half face cover”67. Although Burckhardt considers the presence of the women among them as unusual, he also gives an extraordinary piece of information, some of these women went as far as shaking hands with them in their own strange tradition of pressing the thumb. Burckhardt mentions these women’s names, which indicates

20

Chapter One

engagement in conversation with them: Nora, Guzail, and Snooh. The mixing between the two genders captured Burckhardt’s attention in Najran, as he wrote that there was a young, beautiful girl with no cover 68. Burckhardt’s observation about the covering traditions in some parts of the south goes hand in hand with a native writer’s documentation of his region’s traditions: In the south, the woman does not cover her face but she does wear the hijab. She mixes with foreigners and has a confidence and pride in herself and replies to men’s conversation. She also socializes with her relatives, neighbours and village people, and she may invite whoever she might meet accidently on the road as part of the southern generosity, but she invites along with this person some men of her village 69.

In such diverse communities marriage traditions differ too from one region to another. Girls were expected to marry their cousin, on the father’s side, as a certainty, and the girl’s consent was not important among Bedouin tribes. The preference of cousins is explained by Al-Khateeb as follows: Endogamous marriage was preferable, especially a father’s brother’s daughter’s marriage. Several reasons could be given for the preference . . . It is believed that the girl would be well treated by her cousin, who would not disgrace or mistreat her because of the blood tie in their relationship. Since, in this case, husband and wife belong to the same family, they tend to keep the unity of that family. . . it helps to keep the property under the supervision of the eldest male in the family 70.

The girl could be set free of such an arranged marriage only if the cousin rejected the engagement, otherwise she would spend her life a spinster waiting for him. On the other hand, each man had every right to marry any girl he chose, within the roles of the tribe 71. The Hader were more flexible of course than Bedouins, but they too preferred marriages to be within the family, on either, but with the preference going to the father’s side. The conservative Najed generally did not marry-off their daughters to regional outsiders due to their respect for the purity of Arabic blood in Najed 72. Also, in Najed the marriage of young girls to older men prevailed. The motivation of such marriages were a man’s wealth or his social status, but it was not welcomed by the girls. One of those unlucky young wives expressed her disappointment in this poem addressing a man called Rasheed, perhaps a relative: Rasheed my family sold me cheaply to an old man I do not know why his mouth is toothless, is it because he is very young or have his teeth fallen out with age 73.

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In most regions, the girl’s consent is not important whenever the father (or brother, if she is an orphan) decides the case is closed. If she is ever consulted, the tradition forces her to be silent as a sign of her trust in her guardian74. In Mecca, in the western region, the girl’s opinion is considered but it was not common that she rejected her guardian’s choice 71 . Lady Blunt mentioned something unusual regarding marriage consent in the northern region, in Skaka town, saying that a girl is not officially engaged unless she announces it and accepts it, otherwise she is free75. I did not find anything matching this statement in the traditions of any region. In the south, the father gives his initial acceptance and there is a possibility of rejection either from the daughter or the mother, but Mousa does not state clearly whether the girl has a right to reject76. Of course the couple to be married could not see each other, as tradition demands complete segregation between them. Islam emphasizes the consent and presence of the female to perform the marriage rituals, but in the 19th century they just ignored that principle based on the assumption that the guardian knows best. The rituals are carried out in the presence of a clerk, the guardian, and two witnesses. After performing the rituals they become husband and wife, and the man might marry up to four wives77. Islam’s respect for the woman states a gift from the groom for the bride as a dowry, or Mehar. This gift varies according to the man’s wealth and region, and it may include money, jewellery, clothes, land, a farm or a house, or just a sum of money alone. For example, in Najed the amount for the dowry is not discussed, but left to the man’s estimated worth, social class and ability. As it differs from one class to another and between Hader and Bedouins, some people exaggerated the dowry, and this was a source of great pride 75. This practice is unlike the tradition in Hijaz and Mecca specifically, where Hurgronje mentions that there were terms and conditions that the two parties agree on at the time of the marriage rituals on both sides79. In Mecca, because of its holy symbol to Muslims and the fact that in the old days the trip to Mecca took many months, economic marriages between pilgrims and female residents of Mecca prevailed. Such a marriage could last for months or years, and he paid the woman a certain amount of money and was responsible for all the household finances while married. Such marriages often became a business-like relationship, and they mostly ended in divorce80. In the south the Mehar is discussed once the marriage proposal is accepted: most regions hosted a party where food was served and people danced. All wedding parties were commenced at night.

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The divorce process in Saudi Arabia was completely different than in the Western world. The divorced woman was not entitled to any of her exhusband’s wealth, but according to Islamic principles the man had to pay an allowance for his ex and their children, if they were under their mother’s custody. Also, divorce was accepted socially and it was not a stigma. The divorcee was allowed to marry again. The process of divorce was simple; if it is the woman who wanted it she just expressed her wish, and in most cases could have it granted, and the same applied for the man, it took only a word to be uttered by the man and it was done: 19th century life was very simple. There was no need for a divorce to be documented in the courts. The children stayed in most cases with the mother until they reached the age of 8. This simple process of divorce amazed European orientalists. Hurgronje was fascinated by this easy process of divorce in Mecca where a woman could file a divorce through the judge (court) and she would be granted that wish81. In some cases, all over the Saudi and Islamic world, as it is a part of Islam, the woman had to pay back her dowry to the husband to be divorced, as one can see in a poem of an Assiri woman: The girl says father Give the rejected husband his gift of clothes Rings, and lambs Do not mention him to me I do not want to talk to him, nothing to discuss 82.

That happened especially if there was no specific reason for the divorce, and the husband believed the divorce would harm him83. This is how the woman’s social life and status looked in 19th century Saudi Arabia. Some aspects of her life are a source of pride, while others were gloomy and hectic. The Saudi female has developed tremendously in 100 years with the introduction of official schools and the increasing number of registered students. One cannot but admire the change the country and the female citizens have achieved. Of course, female education has always been available to some, but it was not obligatory and was mostly for the rich in the old days.

Notes and References for Chapter One 1- Nora Alshamlan, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman (Riyadh: Conference of 100 years of the Kingdom 1999), 6. 2- Lady Ann Blunt, A Pilgrimage to Najd: The Cradle of the Arab Race, Trans. (Dar Alyamamah Pub. Riyadh 1978) 198.

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3- Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (New York: Cambridge UP, 2013), 33. 4- Ibid., 35. 5- Lady Ann Blunt, 207. 12 6- Abdullah Al- Othemeen, Najed menth Alqrn Alasher Alhejri ela thahour daawaht Alsheek Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab {Nijed from the 10th century to the emergence of Alsheek Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab call} (Riyadh: Aldarah, 1977), 12. 7- Ibraheem Alhaydary, Anoun Almajed fee Byan Ahwal Bagdad and Basra and Najed {The Bride in Discussions of Baghdad, Basra, and Najed’s Matters} (Bagdad: dar Manshorat Albasry), 198. 8- Alexe Vassiliev, History of Saudi Arabia Trans. Kahery damen and Jalal Almashtah (Moscow: Dar Altaqadm, 1986), 62-3. 9- Dalal Al-Harbey, Almarah fee Najd: wadawha wa doroha 1786-1932 (The Woman in Najed: Her Status and Role) (Riyadh: Darat Almalk Abdulaziz, 1432) 69. 10- Ibid., 70 11- George Wallin, Travels in Arabia Trans. Sameer Shebly and Yousuf Yazbek (London: Alwarrak, 2008) 139. 12- Dalal Al-Harbey, 72-3. 13- Salwa Al-Khateeb, “Family Perspective,” Center for Studies of the Family Vol. 30, no. 2 (1996): 203-28. 14- Badriya Al-Bishr, Alhayah Alajtymaiah fee Mantaqt Najed Gbel Alnaft: Derash Sesyologiah llhykayat Alshabyah - The Social Life in Najed before Oil: Sociology Study of Folk Tales (Riyadh: KSU 1996), 124-5. 15- Dalal Al-Harbey, 111. 16- Ibid., 45 17- Ibid., 63 18- Al-Bishr, 139. 19- Salwa Al-Khateeb, 216. 20- Abu Abdulrahman Bin Ageel Al-Zahry, Sour Men - Albyah Alnajdyah {Images of Najdi Lifestyle} (Riyadh: Alarab, 1983), 236. 21- Al-Bishr, 169 22- Hussein Ibn Ghannam, Tarik Najed {History of Najed} (Cairo: Dar Alshurouq, 1994), 11. 23- Al-Harbey, 118 24- Nora Alshamlan, 36. 25- Dalal Al-Harbey, 130 26- Ibid., 133 27- Lady Ann Blunt, 193-4. 28- Ibid., 75 29- Alice Countess of Athlone, For My Children (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1967), 230. 30- Dalal Al-Harbey, 140.

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31- Faiz Al-Shehry, Alwajeez fe Tarik wa Gugrafiyah Belad Beny Sheher {The Summary of the History and Geography of Beny Sheher Land} (Riyadh: King Fahad Library, 1997), 387. 32- Dalal Al-Harbey, 103. 33- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 55. 34- George Wallin, 215. 35- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 53. 36- George Wallin, 101. 37- Dalal Al-Harbey, 79. 38- Ibid., 81. 39- Lady Ann Blunt, 102. 40- Abdullah Al-Walaayee, Alshmasyah (Riyadh: The Youth General “Presidency”, 1984), 114. 41- Dalal Al-Harbey, 183. 42- Ibn Besher, 44. 43- Ameen Al-Rehany, Tarik Najed Alhadeeth {Modern History of Najed} (Beirut: Dar Aljabel, 1988), 42. 44- Dalal Al-Harbey, 185. 45- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 87. 46- Ibid, 53. 47- Philipe Lippens, Expedition en Arabie Cenrale Trans. Mohammed Alhanash (Riyadh: Darat King Abdulaziz, 1998), 213. 48- Burckhardt, 84. 49- Euting, 50. 50- Lippens, 192. 51- Ibid., 138. 52- Burckhardt, 51. 53- Maurice Tamisier, Rehlah fee Belad AlArab: Alhamlah Almasryah ala Aseer (A Journey to the Arab Country: the Egyptian Campaign to Aseer). Trans, Mohammed Al-Zulfah (Riyadh: Alshreef Press, 1993), 51. 54- Ibid., 73. 55- Mohamed Saeed Almusalm, Alqateef waha ala defaf Alkhaleej (Alqateef - An Oasis on the Coast of the Arabian Gulf) (Riyadh: Alfrzdak Press, 1991), 115. 56- Hussain Husney, Memoirs of a Turkish Officer: An Overview of Najed State, Trans. Suhail Sabban (Beirut: Kutub, 2003), 59. 57- Ibid., 209. 58- Christiaan Hurgronje, Mecca in the Later Part of the 19th Century, trans. Ali Alshyouk (Riyadh: Darat King Abdulaziz, 1999), 403-4. 59- Euting, 39. 60- Al-Rasheed, 54. 61- Al-Harbey, 82. 62- Salwa Al-Khateeb, 206. 63- Al-Rasheed, 54. 64- Husney, 59.

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65- Yousuf Hasan Alaref, Adwa ala Muzkrat Suliman Kamaly pasha (A Study of the Diary of Suliman Kamaly Pasha) (Riyadh: Abha Literary Club Pub. 1990), 66. 66- Burckhardt, 146. 67- Al-Khateeb, 206. 68- Ibid., 146-7. 69- Ibid., 126. 70- Ali Mousa, Nessa bela quod . . . Nessa bela Hedoud (Women with no restrictions . . . women with no boundaries) (Riyadh: 2012), 133-4. 71- Abdurazag Al-Masoud, Alzulfi (Riyadh: Youth Presidency Pub.), 95. 72- Hashem Al-Refaie, Men zykryati (From My Memoirs) (Baghdad: Alrasheed Press, 1939), 100-7. 73- Al-Harbey, 207. 74- Ibid., 206. 75- Hurgronji, 447. 76- Lady Blunt, 83. 77- Mousa, 170. 78- Al-Harbey, 139. 79- Ibid., 208. 80- Hurgronje, 407. 81- Ibid., 409-10. 82- Mousa, 183-4. 83- Hurgronje, 406-7.

CHAPTER TWO SAUDI WOMEN’S EARLY EDUCATION AND THE MODERN ERA

Sir, How can I emerge from the abyss of water where I live? How can I manage unharnessed horses? —Haya Al-Orainy

The early women’s education problem is not confined to Saudi Arabia only, as education is one of the most important paths towards the empowerment of women everywhere. It is also an area where discrimination against women exists worldwide. Among children not attending school there are twice as many girls as boys, and among illiterate adults there are twice as many women as men. It should not be a luxury to offer girls a basic education, as it is one sure way to empower them to make important choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead. The traditional education in Saudi Arabia during the 19th and early 20th centuries was based on reciting the Quran, memorising traditions, Alhadeeth, (the prophet’s sayings) and simple reading and writing. This education was available for both male and female students, with the exception of writing, which was not always available for female students. The place where men study is called the Kutab, and it takes place either in the mosque, a building attached to the mosque or at the house of the teacher. Such a place (the building or the house) is called in Najed ‘Almaqraa’, or ‘Almaalamah’ in Aseer. There are many different titles for the teacher depending on the region: in Najed he was called ‘Mualem’, ‘Muqra’ or ‘Mutuaa’. In Hijaz, they called him ‘Faqeeh’, ‘Mula’ or ‘Ustath’, and the same in Aseer, who also called him ‘Almeelamah’. In Alahssa, the eastern region, he was called ‘Mula’ or ‘Mutuaa’. Some families were named after this occupation1. The woman in those days had her share of education, but with limitations for many reasons: the families had to pay for the teacher and in the poor circumstances at that time, especially in Najed, it was preferable to educate the male rather than the female, as they believed that the man needed education (a primary one) in his life more than the

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woman. Besides, they believed deeply in their hearts that the woman was created to be a wife and mother, so an education would not add much to her, and as the offered education was a religious one and the man is the one who goes to the mosque for prayers, and it is he who is the Imam of praying, to head others during prayer time, he needs it more than the woman. The poetry of that time shows their interest in male education, as one poem of a mother goes: May my son grow up to be a student returning daily home from school with his mud board of lessons please God 2.

The females studied at the Almutuaa’s (female teacher) house, or like the boys in a semi-school attached to the mosque where the girls could gather at a certain hour of the day 3. The female teacher in Najed had different titles too: ‘Almutuaa’, ‘Alshaikah’, and ‘Almuqreea’. The lessons started with short Surahs (chapters) from the Quran, then moved on to the alphabet, and later, Alhija (the vowels). Sometimes they even learned writing using wooden boards and went through examinationd to ensure their learning before moving on to the next stage. The study period was divided into two sessions, each lasting between 1.5 & 2 hours: the first was a morning session and the second started after the noon prayers, and this session was for revision. Once the pupil completed memorising a whole chapter of the Quran she was entitled to two days of vacation as a reward4. However, the Saudi woman’s education witnessed slow progress, although there were many attempts to teach her in the following manner: -

-

some educated men, who knew how to read and write according to the standards of that age, devoted time to teach their daughters the Quran and reading, sometimes even writing. some husbands tried to teach their wives the Quran (partial education) there were governors and princes in Najed who were keen on teaching their wives and daughters the history record, for example: Aljoharah Bint Al-Imam Faisal Bin Turki who knew how to read and write 5, and also Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman, who was certainly capable of writing letters to her brother King Abdulaziz, as one can view these letters that are kept in The King Abdulaziz Foundation Archives (Darat Almalk Abdulaziz). Her daughter, Princess Aljoharah also said that her mother was capable of reading and writing 6. In the eastern region, Mohammed Aedrous stated that

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29

girls’ educations consisted of the Quran, traditions, basic writing and reading, and also that the numbers of mutuaa were few. Sometimes the young girls studied with the young boys 7. It is amazing that John Lorimer kept for us five schools for girls in Buridah, where they were taught the typical religious subjects, and he also added sewing, which is mentioned for the first time in education, as it was usually learned at home with the mother’s help. Abdualah Al-Washmey states some very important information regarding women’s education: My grandfather (born 1918) recalls that he was taught by his father’s aunt, Modie Al-Median, who owned a well-known kutab for girls, and she knew the whole Quran by heart. His father had assigned to her the task of teaching him, she used to pass by before sun rise. He read and she corrected 8.

This story shows the trust in women’s knowledge and ability to teach. Modie was not the only female teacher, there were many, such as: Um Alhazaaa and Hailah Al-Saif in Buridah , Haia Al-Shaaer in Hail and many more9 . The Najedi women were keen on learning their religion and as most of them were illiterate they attended the afternoon preaching in the mosque and sat at the far end, away from the men, listening to the Imam (the preacher) as he read from a chosen book. On Fridays, they also attended to hear kutbah (preaching) outside, as the mosque was usually full of men and would be no space for them, but there was a place located for them called “mujabab Alkutbah”, meaning a roofed place to hear the preaching 10. In the Hijaz region, specifically, Mecca and Madina which were centres for religious education, there were ‘alimat al-haramayn’; female scholars who were well known for their deep knowledge of religious matters and Hadith (Tradition) and Fiqh (Jurisprudence), and some learned women who were known by the titles: ‘Waithah’ (preacher), ‘Alima’ (scholar) ‘Faqiha’ (specialised in Jurisprudence) and ‘Muhaditha’ (reciting the prophet’s speeches and sayings). These women’s lives and efforts are documented and referred to as proof of the need for women’s education nowadays11. Moreover, the two holy cities have a special place in all Muslims’ hearts. They were visited by many scholars from all over the world some stayed and some left when their education was complete. They have the two holy mosques which give their education an added value, and they continue in their influential roles in education up to the present day. Al-Rasheed refers to their importance:

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Chapter Two From the nineteenth century, substantial networks of ulama and madrasas were established in Mecca. Muslims from all over the Islamic world found in the holy city a refuge, especially at times when nineteenth century anticolonial movements, mostly led by ulama activists, began to gather momentum 12.

Here, Al-Rasheed is actually concentrating on the Arab anti-colonialism movement, as education did not start in the 19th century but way back before that, as it is well-known that the reformer Mohammed Bin Abdalwahab went there in the 18th century to attend some lectures and to study with the scholars over there. Christiaan Hurgronje wrote excessively on Hijaz and women’s customs and lifestyles there, but he did not write anything regarding women’s education except that Alsaid Babsaeel gave lectures to women twice a week: on Tuesdays and Fridays. These two days were chosen because no lectures were offered to men on those two days. The lectures were on religious topics13. According to Rania Salamah the kutab or katateeb were available for both sexes 14. These katateeb were an essential part of women’s education as the reader can see in Professor Sameerah Islam’s educational journey. She was the first Arab Muslim woman to achieve the Unesco prize for women in science. She attended the kutab in Jeddah before moving to Alexandria with her family, and she had the chance to attend official school and continue her education15. Professor Islam had the chance to follow up that official education thanks to her father’s diplomatic career, but others were not so lucky, as official schools in Saudi Arabia did not start until 1960. Alshareefah Nur Al-Hashemi’s story of the mother of a famous columnist, poet and a professor at King Saud University, Fawziah Abu Khaled, is an example of the difficulty of having a proper education even if she and her family agreed to it. The woman’s education was restricted to the Quran, so she knew what to read in her prayers, the strangest thing that happened according to Nur is that she was taught by a very well-known kuttab, Alshathliah, and managed by a woman, nevertheless, she was the guardian of ignorance and the child, Nur, was close to losing her life because she trod on male boundaries or a forbidden knowledge of writing: In my childhood I almost lost my life for insisting on learning how to write on the mud board. I was stopped and warned many times, but I did not listen, nor stop my endeavour of writing. So all the students were summoned, and so as to prohibit them from even thinking about it, the back of my right wrist was slashed with a knife and I bled so much I could have lost my life 16.

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But that did not stop her, although it hindered her for some time. This lady was able to continue her education although she was a mother of eleven children and she also owned her own business. In the past, women received little education. Domestic work was their only education, but as the society developed and started to change, the introduction of official education became a must. However, there were many people who did not want to educate women, because they thought that women were not in need of a proper education. There was a prevailing belief that women were expected to take care of everyone except themselves. They had to take care of the children, stay at home, clean up the house, and be the self-denying wife and mother. They thought that the life of a woman was all about getting married, having children, and being bombarded by unimportant details of domesticity. The issue became a necessity for the government, which was keen on modernising the country and looking forward to a better future for the nation. The government’s educational project for women was faced by fierce opposition. The majority were resisting male education in the first place. This opposition was not in one particular part of the country but was widespread, Mohammed Al-Shamak notes that education was not an aim in Hijaz 17. Fouziah Al-Beker gives an explanation for the opposition to the introduction of official education in Najed, referring that to the region’s isolated nature18. As the government was keen on establishing official education for all, and this decision was faced by fierce rejection from different segments of society, it had to be implemented very slowly. A boarding school for male and female students was opened in Taif, in the western region. Its students were from Najed, which had the strongest opposition to education of all the regions, and students were registered and enrolled against their families’ will19. The female section started with few students, but among them were King Faisal’s own daughters as clarified by Princess Lateefah Alfaisal. The problem which faced that early schooling was a lack of female teachers. The female section depended on the male teachers, as it was difficult to find female teachers, so within three to four years the section was closed 20 . Then male schools started to open all over the country and the opposition melted away. Families started to register all their boys and a different attitude towards modern education took over. Female education was a bitter story, and the opposition towards it took a fierce turn. People (men) looked at it as interfering with a very domestic issue. The

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opposition could not understand the need for educating women and how they would benefit from it. Even Ulma (religious scholars) were against it, and both the common man and most Ulma looked at it as the gate of all evil. It was a confusing, dangerous area, and even those who supported the project were afraid to be labelled as such, or worse accused of heresy. To mention one incident that took place in 1956, 4 years before the first official female school opened, the chief editor of the Aldahran newspaper permitted an article encouraging female education to be published. The editor, a well-known man and a man of letter, Abdulkareem Al-Juhaiman, was fired from his job21. These wars did not stop the government from proceeding. That did not mean though, that all supporters of women’s education were silent. Many intellectuals wrote articles and explained the importance of women’s education and its impact on the whole nation; such as Muhammed Awad who wrote about the subject early on, and he addressed women in his book Khawatir Musarraha (Authorized Thoughts) referring to known female figures in history and tradition to encourage women to follow in their footsteps through education 22; and Ali Alussain in Buridah, who was one of the toughest supporters and worked hard to open the schools, visiting Riyadh and meeting with officials as well as convincing the locals23. As a matter of fact, an early advocate for women’s education was Abdullah Al-Qasemy, in his book telk hee Al-Aqlal (Those are the Shackles) published in 1946 in Egypt. In this book, Al-Qasemy discussed many social and cultural issues, the woman’s status within them, and the importance of educating her. Of course he was attacked and accused of blasphemy, and up to today many people still reject him and have prejudice against him without even reading his books. Within Saudi Arabia, there were also the voices of some female students in a private school in 1960, before the launch of the official schools24. A few of them published a number of articles in the AlQaseem newspaper calling for better education and opportunities for women25. It will always be remembered that the two Kings: Saud (1952-1964) and Faisal (1964-1975) were pioneers in women’s education, and they started with their own daughters. Both Kings worked hard to establish a modern educational system acceptable for the population. Women’s schools were opened in 1960 amid fierce resistance. The opening of the schools was based on King Saud’s royal decree which read as follows: After consultation with the religious scholars, we have ordered the opening of schools to educate girls in religious issues (Quran, creed, jurisprudence) and other sciences that are accepted in our religion and tradition . . . we

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have ordered the formation of a committee of high-ranking religious scholars who are keen on guarding religion to supervise this education. The committee is headed by Shaik Mohammed Bin Ibrahim 26.

Hence, in 1960 the Saudi government, realising the importance of education to the female citizens, embarked on introducing official education for women, but in order to secure the success of the project they had to provide: x x x x

Parental and community approval Free education Schools solely for females, with female teachers Curricula learning materials that could be revised, were under the supervision of religious scholars, and in the Arabic language.

However, this royal decree with its applied conditions did not stop the opposition. In 1961, a delegation from Buridah headed by one of the judges (a judge in Saudi Arabia is a religious scholar) was accompanied by 800 men. They arrived at Riyadh, but the Crown Prince Faisal stopped them from entering the city. They asked to meet the King who was on a mission to Daharan city, so they asked to meet the Crown Prince who sent a messenger to listen to their demands and to inform them that schools would open and it was not mandatory for their girls to attend, it is only for those who are interested in educating their girls. Nothing would be imposed upon them but also they are not to impose their views on others 27 . The opposing people were not motivated by any ideology but were acting according to their age and the response of the other neighbouring countries, as the situation was as follows: in Yemen, female education was forbidden; in Dubai and Qatar the situation was no better as the population rejected the idea; in Kuwait women’s education started late because of the opposition, and many other Arab countries faced similar situations. In such a milieu it was understandable that the Saudis rejected women’s education in the second half of the 20th century 28. King Saud faced the storm wisely and tried to convince the royal family of the merits of women’s education, starting with his own daughters. HRH Princess Fahdah Bint Saud said that a school was established in 1952 for the Crown Prince’s (later King Saud) daughters at his palace. This school was the starting point in convincing the population of the importance of educating their daughters: Two Arab teachers were brought to the Crown Prince’s daughters’ compound very early in 1948 to teach them basic literacy skills, and were

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Chapter Two followed by other Palestinian female teachers in 1951 to enhance the daughters’ knowledge and teach them Arabic language, mathematics, English language, history and geography 29.

His daughters, Princesses Nourah and Hussa opened a school in 1957 and they were faced with the problem of calling it a school, so they chose the name Al-Mabarah (the good deed)30. King Faisal’s daughter Luluah would continue her education in Switzerland 31. In 1955, King Faisal, on the initiative of his wife Princess Effet, established a private school called Dar Al-Hanan (Home of Kindness) in Jeddah, and it had a free section for orphans. Princess Effet is an important figure when one is writing about education in Saudi Arabia. She was keen on implementing modern education for females. She herself was educated and had a diploma in education from Turkey, where she grew up, where she was to work as a teacher. Her plans changed when she moved to Saudi Arabia. Therefore, her enthusiasm for female education is not surprising. She did not choose to teach only her children but helped in establishing a school for all32. As mentioned earlier, the opposition to girls’ education was not only in Najed, the most conservative region, but all over the country, even in the western region which was considered more open due to the different races living there, and being an earlier centre of male education. At the same time there were other groups who advocated for women’s education. A group of merchants in Jeddah donated two schools for women’s education, but their donation motivated a reaction from the opposition, who sent a letter to King Saud accusing the schools of offending religious principles and teachings33. The schools, however, continued their mission. The government, to assuage the doubts and fears of the opposing people, put women’s education under the supervision of religious scholars, and established a new institution called ‘The General Presidency of Girls’ Education’. This presidency was given the task of supervising female schools, curricula, teachers, and contracts with teachers, and to ensure that the entire environment was completely female, unless through recorded lectures on film. Even with all this caution, there were still some suspicions, as the religious scholars’ attitudes in Hijaz were negative towards a drawing course, as they believed that “living creatures should not be drawing”34. As schools were opened, the columnists and writers were more open in encouraging people to take advantage of the opportunity offered to them. Of course, these articles were addressed to men, as Saudi women were mostly illiterate or not actually interested in reading newspapers with their primitive education in reading. One of the

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early Saudi female writers, Sara Bu Humaid (educated in Egypt), published an article in 1962 asking the government to: . . . use all means to explain to parents the danger of not sending girls to school. They have to understand that nations cannot be civilised without educating women. It is the responsibility of the educated Burayda people to enlighten parents. Only with education can a woman contribute to her family and nation. Educated girls become good citizens who serve their nation with their work 35.

Sara specifies in this article one city, Burayda, although we are already aware of other towns’ opposition to official education. It is possible that the people of that town are the only ones who took officially organised steps to express their protest against the project, and were well prepared, as they formed a delegation to go and meet the King, but they were not alone in the opposition arena. Most of the writers demanded women’s education and stressed their need to learn religion and different sciences that the modern life demanded. Ironically, one of those working in the education sector, the director of the Aseer educational head office, admitted the importance of women’s education, but he believed it should not go beyond an intermediate level36. However, soon the locals started to demand schools, and even donated their houses to be used as schools. A well-known example was the Al-Rashed family in Burayda. Also in Khubar, the eastern region, the inhabitants were distressed that their city had no women’s school, so they had a meeting and each donated towards the opening of a school 37. Modern education was the beginning of the Saudi woman’s long journey of development and her struggle to find a new place in a changing society and world. Many national and international changes took place in the 20th century, and these changes affected the Saudi people’s lives just like the rest of the world. The most important event that impacted on Saudis’ lives was the discovery of oil, which led to the wealth of the State, and consequently reflected in the population’s way of life. The wealth which accompanied this discovery helped in modernising the country and building the infrastructure for a modern country. The woman who started her education became an important player, unlike before when the educational battle was played out by men either with or against them. The scenario changed in the 1980s, two decades after the starting point of women’s education. Saudi women had known by then the taste of knowledge, and were keen to be part of the country’s educational planning. Saudi women, by 1980, had reached the higher education level, and there were a number of them who wanted to continue their education

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at university, but they were faced by a problem; all the universities were completely male institutions, and again a new confrontation erupted with the conservatives, especially at the beginning when there was a relaxing of the segregation policies at the universities which aggravated them. The first batch of women students in higher education institutions in 1961 consisted of just four students who were registered at King Saud University in Riyadh. But there was a need to find a solution for the issue of the mixing of genders that was raised, and due to a lack of female faculties and facilities for female students, a distance learning program for females was the most widely accepted solution for the students and conservatives. In 1962, the number of registered female students went up to 20 at King Saud University. In Mecca at the college of Sharia (Islamic studies), the first accepted batch for a distance learning program consisted of five female students in 1964. Full-time programs for female students did not start until 1970 in Jeddah at King Abdulaziz University. The students were enrolled in the college of Art and there were twenty of them. Other universities started to follow King Abdulaziz University’s example and accepted female students. In 1975, the female campus at King Saud University in Riyadh was opened. The female students were eager to learn, and in 2009 female students outnumbered the male students 61% to 39% in higher education institutions38. That did not settle the female higher education issue though, as conservatives were still worried and concerned about the female’s majors, and there were restrictions placed on some majors like engineering, besides, the educational environment was another worry. The universities also became competitors with the General Presidency of Girls’ Education, as many of the female staff of the presidency started to move and leave their jobs to pursue their own higher education. That imposed a big issue upon the Presidency, as it meant the female sector would have many vacant positions which needed to be filled, and the Presidency depended on Saudi female employees, and its aim was to be completely employed by Saudi females. The solution was to start a bachelor degree program and establish its colleges. In 1970 the first college was opened for females and it was, unlike the universities, under the supervision of the religious scholars. Some of its leaders at the beginning barely had a bachelor’s degree, like Abdulaziz AlMesned, but that was acceptable when the task at hand was planning and supervising schools. The first college opened and consequently the plans for higher education majors and curricula were placed under the supervision of the chairman of the Presidency, Naser Al-Rashed, who did

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not attend any official education and studied only in Katateeb and advanced religious studies. He stayed in his position for 17 years; 1960-1977 39. Nevertheless such appointed people were in charge of planning for those students in higher education. That is why the university graduates were more open than those from colleges, and more capable of debating thanks to a lack of strict rules and taboos as were commonplace in the traditional learning at colleges. This was reflected in the colleges’ weak outcomes. Women started their modern careers between the 1970s and 1980s. At that time graduates from educational institutes were in demand to fill the posts of teachers, as all teachers were from neighbouring Arab countries especially Egypt and Palestine. The graduates were not huge in number, and the only available venue for them was in the education sector. That sector was accepted by society and families as it was an enclosed female environment. It is documented that the first Saudi female to work as a teacher was Lateefah Al-Khateeb, who had graduated in Egypt. Her employment showed off the extreme need for Saudi educators, as she graduated as a midwife. The first to work in Riyadh was Fayzah AlDabaq, also a graduate of Egypt. As the reader can see, female Saudi employment was difficult to the extent of making necessary the employment of Ms. Lateefah, with a midwife certificate, in the teaching field. The other surrounding countries were no better. The Presidency tried to contract Arab women as teachers but they did not succeed often because the education in these countries was still weak. The Presidency Contract Committee spent sixty days in Khartoum, and the only female teacher who accepted the offer did so because her husband worked in Riyadh40. With the advancement of women’s education, and the increased number of those enrolled and graduates too, the Saudi woman’s attitude towards her rights and demands changed, and the men were no longer the major players in the handling of women’s affairs. The Saudi women who previously accepted tradition without question started to look for advanced opportunities in work and education. The next chapter will follow her social, educational and economic development.

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Notes and References for Chapter Two 1- Ministry of Education. Musuaa Tarik Al-Taleem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 100 Aam. (The Education History Encyclopedia in the Saudi Kingdom in 100 Years). Vol. 1 (1999), 107. 2- Dalal Al-Harbey, Almarah fee Najd:wadawha wa doroha 1786-1932 (The Woman in Najed: Her Status and Role) (Riyadh: Darat Almalk Abdulaziz, 1432) 240. 3- Ibid., 241. 4- Ibid., 242-5 5- Ibid., 230-1. 6- Nora Alshamlan, Alameerah Nourah Bint Abdulrahman (Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman) (Riyadh: Conference of 100 years of the Kingdom 1999), 10. 7- Mohammed Aedrous, Tarik Alkaleej Al-Arabi Alhadeeth wa Almuaser (The Modern and Contemporary History of the Arabian Gulf) (Aen lledrasat Alensaniah wa Alegtmaayah, 1998) 364. 8- Abdulah Alwashmey, Feetnaht Alquol be Taleem Albanat fee Al-Mamlakah Alarabia Alsaudia (Perplexing Debate of Girls’ Education in Saudi Arabia) (Caza blanka: Almerkez Althaqafy), 48. 9- Al-Harbey, 233-4. 10- Ibid., 226-7. 11- Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (New York: Cambridge UP, 2013), 81. 12- Ibid., 9. 13- Christiaan Hurgronje, Mecca in the Later Part of the 19th Century, Trans. Ali Alshyouk (Riyadh: Darat King Abdulaziz, 1999), 525. 14- Rania Salamah, Dar Al Hanan (Home of Kindness) (Jeddah: Dar Al Hannan: 2008), 14. 15- Arabiat. “Arabiat tastadeef Alalamah Alsaudia Professor Sameerah Islam” (Arabiat hosts the Saudi Scientist Professor Sameerah Islam.) http://www.arabiat.com/content/romooz/376.html. 16- Alsahareefah Nur Al-Hashemi’s, ‘Imraa Saudiya Min Jil Al-Amhat Al- Awail’ (A Saudi Woman from the Mother’s Generation), Huqul, 2007, pp.110-111. 17- Alwashmey, 80. 18- Ibid., 83. 19- Ibid., 80. 20- Rania Salamah, 27-28. 21- Mohammed Al-Qashamy, “Almaqal Althy besababeh Uqeefat Sahifat Akbar Aldahran” (The Article that Led to the Shooting Down of the Aldahran Newspaper), Aljazeerah Newspaper, February 8th, 2001. 22- Muhammed Awad, Kayfa Anti (How You Are), Riyadh: Huqul 5 (2007): 68. 23- Alwashmey, 56. 24- ‘Rwad Taleem Almarah Alsaudia: Qeraah fe sahafat Alafrad’ (‘Pioneers of Women’s education: a Reading in Individuals’ Journalism’.) Huqul, 2007, p. 63. 25- Ibid., 62. .

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26- Alwashmey, 172. 27- Ibid., 40-1. 28- Ibid., 35-6. 29- Ibid., 159. 30- Ibid., 62. 31- Ibid., 59. 32- Rania Salamah, 24. 33- Abdulaziz Alkeder, Alsaudia seerat Dawlah wa Mujtamaa (A State and Society Biography) (Beruit: Arabiya Network, 2010), 303. 34- Sarah Bu Humaid, “La Tamnau Al-Ilm an Fatayatikum” (Do not Deprive Your Girls of Education) (Huqul, 2007): 80, quoted in Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (New York: Cambridge UP, 2013), 94. 35- Al-Washmy, 152. 36- Ibid., 107-8. 37- Ibid., 167. 38- Ahmed Aleisa, Al-Taleem Al-Ali fe Alsaudia (Higher Education in Saudi Arabia) (Beirut: dar alsaqi, 2011) 51. 39- Ministry of Education. Musuaa Tarik Al-Taleem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 100 Aam. (The Education History Encyclopedia in the Saudi Kingdom in 100 Years). Vol. 5 (1999), 310. 40- Al-Washmey, 54.

CHAPTER THREE ABANDONING THE TRADITIONAL ROLE

Mohammed when will you reach manhood and build me a house? Or follow men’s steps and earn your living? —Dahia Alhammad

The previous chapter discussed early women’s education and the beginning of women’s higher education. This chapter will pursue the developments in women’s education and the vocational opportunities available to them. The study will continue up to the present day, as education is still the cornerstone of all progress and development for women. It was reported in the Almadina Newspaper on May 27th 2015 that the female students at Saudi universities surpass their male counterparts with a 51.8% majority1. The Saudi woman of the late 20th and early 21st centuries has proved herself on many levels: social, economic, and political ones to name but a few. She has benefited widely and wisely from her education. The social point of view towards women’s work gradually changed. It is true though, that this woman encountered some boundaries regarding some of the new posts for women which were not accepted by society and are to some extent still controversial. It was difficult for the old traditional agricultural society to accept the modernisation of the country at the beginning. This modernisation led to the opposition against some women’s occupations. There was a confrontation between those for the change and development and those who were intimidated by it and clinging to their traditions, but it was not as fierce as the battle waged over women’s education. There have been many theses and studies written in Saudi Arabia on Saudi women’s education and work. However, all of them concentrate on one aspect of the issue or another, but no comprehensive study regarding the issue has been conducted, and sometimes the studies highlight achievements and overlook obstacles and failures. Moreover, based on the findings of Nuorah Alyousef’s study, the last five decades of women’s achievements are not included in most studies1. However, the Saudi woman has had a lot of success in different fields: education, workforce, investment, and charities.

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As mentioned earlier, general public schools were under the control and supervision of the Presidency of Women’s Education, and so were most of the higher education institutions (education and art colleges). The colleges were built on the same ethical and educational principles as the schools, as Dr. Ahmed Al-Essa states: The Presidency, as with schools, applied its strict roles on higher education {colleges}, what was important {to the Presidency} were high walls and very conservative regulations. There was no interaction with social institutions or activities beyond the college walls.2

That may be true, but in the last few years before the merging of the colleges with the Ministry of Higher Education, some of the colleges started to open up for the public and began to provide programs and events for the wider society. Some of the colleges were keen on tackling issues related to society, such as child abuse. Nevertheless, the problem of the colleges’ graduates was that most of them, and even their professors, thought in line with the mentality of the conservative presidency. Employment within these colleges came mostly from amongst their graduates, and they were favoured over the universities’ graduates. College graduates aimed for the educational sector, plus the conservative society in general preferred teaching occupations for women, and at the early graduates’ time employment was secured for them. However, with the increase in the number of graduates from colleges and universities it was difficult to continue to employ such a high proportion of them. For a newly modernised country the only acceptable job, even for women themselves, was in the educational sector, although as this study explains in the first chapter, they had always been working within their home boundaries or farm domains. Very few worked at the markets. AlRasheed’s comment on the woman’s preference for an educational career shows a lack of understanding of the Saudi conservative society: This {the women’s attraction to writing and teaching} helps to explain why Saudi women have been active in teaching and in the production of literary texts at a time when their exclusion from other spheres of economic and political activity was severe3.

It was not because of deprivation, but it was because of the social attitude towards the new occupations open for women at the end of the 20th century. The Saudi woman was not ready to enrol in many of these jobs due to the social pressures placed upon her.

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The Presidency was lagging behind in modern educational trends, and its weak outcomes demanded a solution. In 2004, the royal decree integrated the Presidency’s colleges within the MOHE. This integration was for the benefit of women’s education and education in general. The first female university was established in Riyadh two years after the integration. It consisted of the old colleges in Riyadh. It was named after Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman to honour that important Princess and to emphasise the important role of the woman in modern Saudi Arabia’s development. For the first time in the history of education in Saudi Arabia, a woman was appointed as the rector of a university, and all the senior posts are held by women, too. It is run by qualified, well educated women. Most of its programs are accredited by the NCAAA, the National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation. Also, it enjoys collaborations with international universities, and some of the colleges have their own PhD and Master’s programs. Its rector is a member of the MOHE council; a council that had previously been exclusively for men. Of the old colleges of the presidency spread throughout the other cities and towns (as there were 101 of them), some were converted to new universities, and others were integrated into old ones depending on their geographical location. The integration was not limited to colleges only, as the presidency was dissolved, schools also came under the MOE umbrella. This integration faced a storm from the conservatives who went back to history, drawing up evidence and using religion to try and fight the decision. They based their argument on the beginning of female education, accepted under one condition: to be supervised by religious scholars. They were convinced that women would not receive a proper education without such supervision, but later they came to terms with the change and accepted it. The influence of the old cautious attitudes are still felt even today. Sport is banned in female public schools and universities. At the same time, private schools have sport classes for their students. A witness from history Faizah Kayal recalls: When I joined Dar-Alhanan school as a student, students practiced sports like basketball on a sandy floor, and when the school moved to a new building there was a GYM available for the students’ use 4.

Nowadays, Dar-Alhanan school has its own sports facilities: table tennis, volleyball, squash, and also a swimming pool made to Olympic standards5. In the present day, private schools and universities allow their female students to play sports and provide for them different kinds of sporting

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activities, also, there are many competitions and tournaments held amongst these universities. But the case is different with public schools and in some women’s university faculties. While the Presidency held onto strict rules banning sport from its schools and colleges, sporting attire was always one of the major battles to be fought, as conservatives viewed it as an insult to tradition. The sport issue has always been present but it was always discussed from two different points of view: the conservatives who were always cautious and rejected anything not within the traditional norms, and those activists who cared and were enthusiastic about the health and fitness of women. Therefore, no matter how many times the issue was discussed it was always delayed due to the conservatives. It reached the Alshuraa Council (the parliament), but again the conservative members succeeded in dismissing it. Although sport is practiced in 100% female enclosed environments, the issue still agitates the conservatives as a threat of Westernisation, and they always succeed in quietening down the issue6. That did not stop Saudi women from practicing sport: Sarah Al-Attar was even able to participate in the London Olympics in 2012, representing Saudi Arabia7. Surprisingly, nothing in the MOHE or their rules and legislations deny sport or ban women from being involved with it, but no educational leader took up the reins in implementing it in schools, as they were all afraid of being socially stigmatised. The danger of female obesity in Saudi Arabia is clear. The lifestyle and eating habits, plus the hot weather most of the year, prevent individuals from the easiest form of activity, which is walking. Many writers, programs, and health specialists have called upon people to recognise the importance of sport, but the conservative guards are deaf to any such calls, and are always ready to dismiss any project regarding this issue. As an example, the Okaz newspaper, to name one of many channels, tried to spread awareness of the obesity dangers, and covered one of the many symposia (“your health is your duty”) organised in 2014 in Jeddah for three days, with the participation of 2500 people from different governmental and private sectors. They came up with many important facts regarding obesity: one being that obesity among Saudi women had reached a figure of 37%, one of the highest percentages in the world. Nevertheless, there is no indication that the government’s educational sector is going to implement any kind of sport program7. None of the people in charge, either male or female, tried to introduce sport to schools,

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although they are all keen on improving and developing the programs and the educational environment in other ways. The Saudi private universities started to enrol students of both genders in 1999. There are now 7 private universities, three of them in the capital Riyadh, two in the western region, and one in the eastern region besides the other colleges in major cities. The private universities succeed in recruiting many students, sometimes beyond their capacities, in spite of their high tuition fees. Most of those recruited are female students who are looking for new majors and better chances of employment. These universities understood the need for new majors like industrial engineering for women, which is offered only at Alfaisal University, and are aware of the slow changes in the society towards these specialisations, so they work hard to promote their new programs and work with companies to provide internships for their students. One added value for these universities is that they supported women and empowered them, especially in decision making areas. The female students are encouraged to participate in the public sphere. Lately, governmental universities have started to reorganise their traditional majors and limit the enrolment numbers in some majors. Jizan University was the first to open a Mass Communication major for females in 2009. K.S.U also opened new majors like Law, Mass Communication (2012) and in 2015/16, Political Science, but are still hesitant to open or launch new majors like Engineering. However women’s education still suffers from its heavy inheritance from the Presidency, as most teachers are still products of that system. Education is still dependent on memorising, with no argumentative discussions to widen the female students’ knowledge and build critical views; in this aspect the male universities are much better. Women’s education is not limited to universities only, as vocational education started in 1973. There were only two institutes in Riyadh and Alhasa teaching sewing. By 1991, the number of institutes was up to 22, and these institutes were named vocational education and training institutes. However, the graduates were not utilised to the best of their abilities, as no factories for clothes or uniforms opened their doors to them, nor did they start their own businesses, except perhaps at home on a limited scale. In 2005 the now 23 institutes enhanced their majors in different technical areas of study, in training fields like: Management Technology, Make-Up Art, Food Processing, Jewellery Design and Manufacturing. The number of majors increased in 2006 to 25, ten of these are for women. These institutes became colleges in 2006.

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Health Education is also available for female students. Nursing institutes for women started in 1962 in Riyadh, Alhafouf, and Jeddah8. The segregation policy between male and female students, which was one of the principles of women’s education, was applied, as was the belief that women should be directed to the most suitable careers that suited social views and traditions. In 2003 the number of enrolled students after 41 years was just 731. The enrolment figures reflect the low level of interest in this sort of education, as it was not accepted socially and many families were reluctant to send their daughters for such an education. However, there have been changes now, as the society has become more aware of the importance of such an education. The first batch that graduated in 1963 was comprised of 12 nurses. The percentage of Saudi female employment at hospitals in 2006 was 46.70% 9. However, different majors in health education are available for women either in Pharmacy, Medicine, or Medical Sciences. The percentage of Saudi female physicians is 40.62%, while female pharmacists make up 38.50% of the total according to the above mentioned study. Today, there are 20 colleges of medicine at governmental universities all over the Kingdom and all are open for women. Also, there are 2 colleges at private universities and 9 private colleges. Women’s education also takes into consideration deaf and blind people. In 1964 there were three institutions supervised by the MOE. The students were granted a monthly allowance to encourage them to learn. In 1980 they became part of the women’s presidency, as the only entity in charge of female education. In 2006, the number of these institutes went up to 123 in different cities10. With the spread of women’s schools, mothers and those who had passed school age felt the need to learn reading and writing. Hence, in 1972/3 five adult women’s schools were opened under the umbrella of the Presidency. During that year 1400 students enrolled, which showed the population’s acceptance, enthusiasm and interest in such adult education programs11. This fact contradicts what Al-Rasheed writes on adult education in Saudi Arabia: Adult literacy classes were not initially very popular, as they clashed with women’s many household responsibilities. Furthermore, public opinion was not in favour of adult education 12.

As the reader can see, starting with 5 schools showed the demand for such an education, the times of the sessions were even in the afternoon so

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mothers would be able to attend to their families’ needs before coming to school. Another chance was presented for women to get into education. As education started late in the 1960s, some women were sent away earlier by their families who believed in the importance of women’s education abroad to continue their studies, like Dr. Soraya Altorki who was majoring in Social Studies, while others were accompanying their husbands who were on scholarships. The first Saudi woman to be on a scholarship from the beginning of her studies was Dr. Thoaya Obaid in 1963, who was studying English Literature and Social Studies. In the 1970s, all the women studying abroad were covered by a governmental scholarship. The number of study-abroad students increased in the early 1980s, as in 1977 a royal decree was issued that the wives of all students studying abroad were to join the scholarship, and most of the first PhD holders were graduates of that period. The majority of them were majoring in Education Studies, like Dr. Hind Al-Kuthailah, the first female dean of the female faculty at KSU. Most of the scholarships were in the USA, UK, and Canada. In 2004, the late King Abdullah’s program of scholarships was launched for both male and female students. The study-abroad destination countries were by now decided more by the availability of necessary majors, as the aim of the program was to improve certain areas of education and to provide the requisite knowledge for the country’s development. 57 different countries were eventually involved, among them: USA, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. According to the latest MOHE statistics, in 2014 the number of women on scholarships abroad was as follows: Bachelor’s degree: 13, 354 women, or 37.6% of all scholarships Master’s degree: 15, 696 women, or 44.2% of all scholarships Medical fellowship: 793 women, or 2.2% of all scholarships Others: 2, 488 women, or 7.0% of all scholarships. Most of the studies are in the area of Social Studies, Business and Law, with numbers totalling 11, 074. The lowest number is in agriculture, just 17, but one cannot ignore the new interest of women in Engineering, with 1,499 participants13. However, the women graduates were looking for positions to serve their communities and their country, but few occupations were open for these graduates as a lot of careers were guarded by the conservatives. There is a documented letter from Mohammed Bin Ibraheem stressing women’s

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inability to perform certain occupations and that women should not be hired so as to prevent gender mixing in social affairs, aeroplane crews and the like14. Not only that, but some went as far as writing books and preaching against women’s work, like Dr. Mohammed Al-Bar’s Amal Almaraah Fi Almeezan {Weighing-Up the Advantages and Disadvantages of Women’s Work}. The author is a well-educated person and a physician, not an average man or an illiterate person. In his attack on women’s work he went as far as criticising women’s empowerment pioneers like Qasem Ameen, Princess Nazli, and Huda Sharawi15. In his argument he confused women’s work with abandoning the hijab, although they are two different matters, as has been proven since the woman started to work in the public sphere, and as in all Islamic countries where women work wearing the hijab. Moreover, the Saudi woman always wears the black traditional attire in mixed gender employment. All of the Saudi women working in mixed gendered places wear the hijab and at the same time perform their duties with no problem at all, some of them even wear the niqab. Dr. Albar, in the last chapter of the book, brings religion into his argument, and forces false interpretations of Quranic verses upon the reader to wage a war against women’s work16. Fortunately, that did not stop the government from taking further steps to empower women, nor has it stopped women from advancing on their paths to employment. Women for the first time worked in journalism, banks, and customs among many other choices. Lately women have started to work as salespeople and cashiers, too. The memory of the conservative rage against these last two vocations is still fresh. To the conservatives they seem like channels to mix with men, although such work, as the reader has seen in Chapter One, has always been there as the woman was always present selling and buying goods. In 2006, there was a hot discussion regarding the occupation of cashier for women, and the loudest voice was for those against it. In 2010, a fatwa was issued banning such employment and considering it against Islamic teachings, but in 2012 the Ministry of Labour took a step ahead and implemented it, with certain regulations so as not to tread on Islamic principles. Many women were happy to be given this chance, and the number of Saudi women working as a salesperson or cashier is increasing. Many changes regarding women took place after 2000. In 2000, the first woman appointed as assistant deputy in the Presidency of Girls’ Education was Dr. Aljoharah Al-Saud, one of the first Saudi PhD holders. Later, she became the first female Saudi rector in 2007. In 2009 another woman, Nourah Al-Faiz, was appointed the deputy minister for female educational

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affairs. Besides them, other women were entitled to high ranking positions, like Dr. Wafeeqah Al-Dakheel who worked at the Ministry of Civil Service. Women were also among the founders of the first civil society, namely that of human rights in 2003. The Saudi woman was also present on the international map filling important posts. Dr. Thoraya Obaid was the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, and Mona Khazindar was the first woman to be appointed as the head of the Arab-French International Institute in Paris. On the economic side, Saudi women have been always active, and in some cases were the sole breadwinner in the family. They were good traders, but in the 1990s they became interested in the stock market and investments in beauty salons, not as employees but as owners. They are also interested in the field of Jewellery Design. Besides, the Saudi woman has had success in the catering business, and she has become a member of the Chamber of Commerce; in 2004 the Ministry of Commerce launched a centre for businesswomen to support them. Women, through this centre, are able to have their own businesses and licenses, to renew their licences and anything related to their business. Soon there will be a women’s industrial city in Jeddah providing 10,000 jobs. In 2020 there will be thirteen other industrial cities for women. Women’s business loans in 2008 made up 11% of loans, and governmental support for small businesses is available through the Prince Sultan Fund, The Centennial Fund, and the Saudi Credit and Savings Bank. Women have become an integral part of official delegations either on the governmental or the business level. Also, women’s faculties at universities have given women the same chances as their fellow men in attending conferences, workshops or supporting their researches. Now, most of the governmental and private sector offices have a women’s section so that women can be served by women. Going back to the Saudi woman’s role in her society will take the reader to the original kindness of Saudi society. Charity was a major feature of the society, even during the age of poverty, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the society members have always been kind to one another. Women were the key figures in this aspect; the ones who took the initiative to help other women either with whatever could be donated from her house stock, children’s clothes that became too small for them, animal products, grains, or cooked food to give to other poor families.

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Therefore, it is perhaps no surprise that the first organised charitable society in Saudi Arabia was established by women, as they used to organise bazaars for the needy families’ products to help them promote their works and food to help them financially. Also, the women were aware of these families’ needs, as they used to visit them and help as much as they could. These charitable initiatives involved either individual, familial, tribal, or charity funds. As well as the charitable society, there was Alarbeetah in Hijaz, a place to help the needy and teach them religion, sometimes it even offered beds and food for travellers. There were another two such places in Mecca and Madinah. These two establishments were under the supervision and support of the people17. In 1961, all charitable establishments fell under the stewardship of the newly opened Ministry of Social Affairs, but that did not stop women from their charitable deeds, it actually helped them to be more organised by allowing them to create a licenced society that could receive funds from the ministry later on. The first official charitable licenced society was Alnahdah (1963). It was one of many initiatives taken by royal princesses, and it was not limited to financial support, as Al-Rasheed states: Since the 1960s, Saudi princesses have established charitable organisations that deal with education, orphanages, and other welfare services for women. These initiatives are not exceptions, but signs of a general trend in which the ‘woman’s question’ is often entangled with wider political issues that dominate the gender politics of nation states in the region 18.

The society was established by HRH Princess Sarah Alfaisal and Sameerah Khashugjy, whose father was King Abdulaziz’s physician, both ladies were educated abroad and felt the society’s need for an organised charitable entity. The beginning was a women’s club where women met and felt the benefit of some educational courses, preaching and entertainment programs in 1982. It consisted of six members and they were not only Saudis. The Alnahdah Society depended financially on its founders to support its programs: literacy, English language teaching and typing programs19. Now the income has increased as it comes from different sources: membership, donation, program registration, plus the governmental support or any source approved by the board and that is applicable to all societies. The other three societies established in the 1960s were: The Women’s Charity Society in Jeddah (1983). It was launched through the efforts of 12 ladies, none of them royalty and not all Saudis. Its first president was Princess Effet. The first project of the society was opening a clinic for maternity and child care. Fatat Alkhaleej (The Young Women’s Gulf Society) in Alkhubar (1968) consisted of 27 young women, all were

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intermediate and high school students. In Altaif town there was the Alyaqadha Society (the awakening), formed by female teachers. It consisted of seven members. However, this one differed from the previous societies with regard to its income, as it added art galleries to its list of sources20. The number of charitable women’s societies now, according to the latest statistics is 83. 38 of these societies are under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Affairs21. Most of the female founders of these societies were educated abroad and most studied in Egypt, but that does not mean that the founders were copying an Egyptian example, as charity was a deeply integral principle in the Saudi society. According to Dr. Aljazi Al-Shubaiki’s study: The results have shown that the educated women volunteers in charitable societies make up more people than others. None of the volunteers is illiterate. The percentage of high school graduates among volunteers was 36.5%, and higher studies graduates 21.2%.22

I believe the reason behind the reluctance of those who are illiterate to be part of the volunteering is the ignorance of the aims and goals of the society as they were new entities to the society in general, rather than a rejection of the idea itself. These societies were in big cities, unlike now where most towns have their own. The early founders benefited a lot from their husbands’ positions, as most of them were married to influential men: royal court chiefs, councillors of a ministry, or top managers. Fathers were also supportive, like with HRH Princess Sarah Alfaisal. It is not surprising that all of these societies stress and share in their objectives the religious education of women as it is a religious society, but this was also done to convince the society members, especially the conservatives, that this new structure would not impose any danger to tradition. All the charitable societies shared the same views, objectives and programs more or less, except the women’s charity society in Jeddah. This society started as a clinic, also language teaching was not limited, as with other societies, to English language only. These differences suggest that this society has studied the need of the immediate surroundings and learned from those before it, as it shows that it aims at covering aspects that have not yet been touched on. Al-Shubaiki lists a number of activity types according to their importance from the volunteers’ point of view: social, educational, cultural, health, and finally entertainment related activities 23.

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However, the Saudi woman was socially active for a long time, and still is today, especially as part of a society that has charity as one of its Islamic principles. But these founders were faced by many obstacles. The society was familiar with individual financial help, but not an organised structure that provided education and training. There were no official regulations for such entities. The income was a major issue as it depended on the members and their relations’ donations. Saudi women were confronting many barriers, not only in charity work but on many different levels. Nevertheless they succeeded, and their success will be fully discussed in Chapter Six, when the reader is made aware of their journey in its entirety.

Notes and References for Chapter Three 1- Nuorah Alyousef, Tamkeen Almaraah (Women’s Empowerment) (Riyadh, 2009) 15.

2- Ahmed Al-Essa, Altaleem Alaly in Saudi Arabia (Higher Education in Saudi Arabia) (Beirut: Dar Alsaqi, 2011) 50.

3- Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (New York: Cambridge UP, 2013), 2.

4- Rania Salamah, Dar Al Hanan (Home of Kindness) (Jeddah: Dar Al Hannan: 2008), 128.

5- Ibid, 129. 6- Abdulaziz Alkeder, Alsaudia seerat Dawlah wa Mujtamaa (A State and Society Biography) (Beruit: Arabiya Network 2010), 327.

7- Abdullah Ali, shems Al-Riyadah Alnysaiah tushriq in Alsaudia (The Women’s Sport Sun Shines in Saudi Arabia) Alarabiya net, April 26, 2015. http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/sport/2014/04/26/-ϲϓ-ϕήθΗ-Δϴ΋ΎδϨϟ΍-ΔοΎϳήϟ΍-βϤη ΔϳΩϮόδϟ΍-.html 8- Alexe Vassiliev, History of Saudi Arabia Trans. Kahery damen and jalal Almashtah (Moscow: Dar Altaqadm, 1986), 561. 9- Nuorah Alyousef, 112. 10- Ibid, 64. 11- Ministry of Education. Musuaa Tarik Al-Taleem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 100 Aam. (The Education History Encyclopedia in Saudi Kingdom in 100 Years). Vol. 1 (1999), 247. 12- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 84. 13- Ministry of Higher Education. Almarah Alsaudiah fe Altaleem Alaly (The Saudi Woman in Higher Education). Riyadh, 2014. 14- Abdulaziz Alkeder, Alsaudia seerat Dawlah wa Mujtamaa (A State and Society Biography) (Beirut: Arabiya Network 2010), 33.

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15- Mohammed Al-Bar. Ämal Almaraah Fi Almeezan {Weighing up the Advantages and Disadvantages of Women’s Work). (Jeddah: Aldar Alsaudia, 1987), 13. 16- Ibid, 207. 17- Aljazy Al-Shubaiky, “Aljuhoud Alnesayah Altatawayah fe Majalat Alryaiah Alejtmaiah be Almamalaka Alarabiah Alsaudiah:Dirasah fe Asulaha wa Dwafiaha wa Enjazatha” (The Women Volunteers’ Efforts in the Fields of Social Care in Saudi Arabia: Its Origins, Motivations, and Achievements) PhD diss., King Saud University, 1992. 18- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 6. 19- Aljazy Al-Shubaiky, 92. 20- Ibid, 20. 21- Ibraheem Alzahem. Alshawn Alajteemayiah (Social Affairs) (Riyadh, Alhayat Newspaper. March 8. 2014). 22- Aljazy Al-Shubaiky. 119. 23- Ibid. 138.

CHAPTER FOUR SAUDI WOMEN’S EARLY WRITINGS

Whoever misses the night he hopes for the day But who will lead the one who misses the noon’s light —Mouidi Albraziah

The Saudi women’s writings exemplify an anxiety in many different periods of their writing journey, and an awareness of their status, rights, struggle, and the social pressures upon them. In addition, they mostly address contemporary historical female issues. Education, openness to other cultures and the world, enrolling in the work force and the social issues of their own community have rendered their writings as a medium for historical and social studies. Surprisingly, few of those women writers have been concerned with international issues like the Palestine crisis, the colonisation of some Arab countries or even, more recently, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the American occupation of Iraq. However, the above emphasises that the Saudi woman writer was busy with her own social issues. The act of writing is a social revolution, although the woman started writing very late in comparison with the Saudi man. The social censorship pressure is hard on women, as well as the customs and culture. Dr. Suád Al-Mana mentions an early piece of female creative writing which was published in 1936 for Khadija Alshanqitiya. Khadija’s writing consisted of poems in praise of the prophet Mohammed1. Of course, this subject was and still is praised as it involves religion and has no controversial or complicated subjects that may tarnish the woman’s reputation or consequently that of her family. But the social pressure on women is clear in the case of the female newspaper writers. In the 1940s, there were pages dedicated for women. The “Kuraish” newspaper’s women’s pages were edited by Fuad Anqaui, and with him a few female editors, but their names were never mentioned. It was difficult at that early stage to write a woman’s name even if the issues discussed were public ones. Writing love stories, which became popular at a later stage, was even worse, as Daphne Grace says:

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What Grace states is also repeated in the Saudi journalist Hala Al-Nasser’s documentary book on women’s journalism in Saudi Arabia, in which she says that up until the 1990s women preferred to use initials or first and second names only, omitting the surname3. This omission, or sheer hiding, is caused by the culture of shame. Nevertheless, most Saudi women writers started their literary production with short stories. The choice provides a mask for the women authors to hide behind, and express freely their opinions or what they long for. It is also a continuation of a tradition of grandmother’s bedtime anecdotes. The genre also enables the writer to dive into the fictional world and the imagination, as the writer Fauzia Aljarallah said in Al Madina newspaper, 1987. It is interesting how the Saudi women writers look at the work of writing and how it differs from Virginia Woolf’s views. In contrast to Western writers, particularly those from England where not only custom but laws were also restricting women: Woolf argues that at the beginning of the nineteenth century in England, “the slight changes in law and customs and manners” enabled women with literary inclinations to pursue authorship 4.

The English woman writer benefited from these changes, especially the social and industrial changes, unlike the Saudi one, as Dr. Khayriah Alsaggaf, the second Saudi woman to be appointed as editing director, said in a symposium during the third cultural festivals: “the society refuses and denies the woman’s name to be written, mentioned, or to accept her indulgence in literature” 5. I disagree with the last point, as Saudi women and the peninsula women in general composed poetry a long time ago, and it is a deep rooted art for both sexes, many women are even very famous poets. Journalism and short stories were new paths to society and were not even taken seriously as an occupation. After World War II the number of newspapers increased and became 18. With this increase of newspapers, short story writing progressed. Some of the female early short stories discussed many domestic and social issues like abusive husbands. It was a tentative criticism of patriarchy. The woman became aware of great social and economic changes not only in institutions and the country’s modernised landscape, but also in self-definition and experiences, as can be seen in their writings.

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As the reader has seen in the previous chapter, women’s schooling was opposed by the conservatives and it was implemented through a royal decree. The Saudi woman would not be able to read and enjoy international literature, not even Arabic literature, without an education. Education is the medium to reach the desired knowledge for political, economic, and social changes. Moreover, it will create new paths among individuals and enable them to be adaptable to newly assigned roles in their society. As Madawi Al-Rasheed explains, the importance of education is as the gate to the mass media and literary writings: With more than five decades of state education, Saudi women have already begun registering their voices in the local media as columnists and as novelists with their own aspirations. Women’s words expressed in short essays and literature become an arena where their aspirations and sometimes contradictory visions can be traced6.

Ironically, women started to write journalistically before the beginning of official education. According to Hallah Al-Naser although the norm was for a woman to write under a pseudonym, there were women who wrote with their real names, and the first was Latifah Al-Khateeb in 1951 at the Albilad newspaper7, followed by Thuria Qabel in 1959. Their writings show a social and communal sense of responsibility as the reader can see in one of Al-Khateeb’s essays where she demands a maternity hospital. Qabel was rejecting the prevailing idea of inequality of women to men in the matters of religion and logic and she replied to an essay on that subject. Their names have been kept for the generations to come and their memory remains as the first Saudi women to assert their real names in their writing careers. Unfortunately, others could not face the social and traditional norms, and preferred to write with a pseudonym or use their initials only. Even poetry was under the keen eye of the society’s criticism, even though it had been there for such a long time and many famous women wrote poetry. The first Saudi female poet to publish her collection was Sultana Al-Sudairi under the pseudonym ‘Nida’8. It goes without saying that no personal picture was published until the turn of the millennium, when some prominent women in business or writing careers started to attach their pictures to their news stories or writing, especially after Her Royal Highness Princess Adila, the daughter of the late King Abdullah, had her picture published. Still some worry about the social stigma, like the first Saudi deputy minister Mrs. Norah Al-Faiz who argued for the posting of her picture, and later expressed her deep distress for doing that.

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Naturally, education has increased readership figures and enabled many to read translated short stories and novels from different languages, especially English, French and Russian. These translations were introduced to Saudis after World War II through Egypt and Lebanon. The short story was easier to get into publication through newspapers and magazines. Consequently, that enabled writers to acknowledge this genre and adopt its techniques to contribute to the local literature9. Nevertheless, some of the early women writers who were published in the newspapers for a while disappeared from the literary scene altogether, either because of family obligations or social pressure on them, as working in the press was not greatly appreciated. Others left for reasons of commitment, as some were not fully committed to their work and took it lightly while press institutions recognised only those who believed in the importance of their work and its mission. Unfortunately, there is no actual number of women working in the mass media available10. A major problem for these writers, although a space was given to them in newspapers, is that: “many of these writers were just beginners and had not gone beyond secondary, or even intermediate school11.” Women’s work in journalism progressed, and they got their first exclusive department (they used to work only from home) in 1977 under the supervision of Sarah Al-Quthami, who later became the first female director in Saudi Arabia with the Okaz newspaper in 1980. The second department was opened at the Riyadh newspaper in mid-1981, and then most of the newspapers followed suit. The first Saudi female magazine was “Alsharqia”, initially published in 1974, which was owned and directed by the Saudi woman Sameerah Kashgji. It was, however, published in Beirut12. Of course, women faced many obstacles in their work in journalism, both social and familial, especially when it came to field work, but that did not stop them from their pioneering journey. Some succeeded in defying the socially typical view of the limitations of women journalists in investigations and reportage, and were at the heart of events. A good example is Eman Al-Qahtany, who wrote a comprehensive report with pictures on the police raid of terrorist locations at Alras city in 200513. The Saudi women were, at first, stumbling through their work in journalism, as they were beginners with no educational background in journalism. Universities did not have a Mass Media program for girls until 2009 when Jizan University took the initiative to enrol female students in

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their Mass Communication major. Although in 2001 a Journalism diploma was offered at the private College of Business Administration in Jeddah, the second major city in Saudi Arabia, the program failed as only two students registered and it sadly closed after three years. The Saudi woman journalist is in tough competition with other non-Saudi Journalists who have more freedom of movement. Women journalists are paid wages below those of their male counterparts who work with them in the same institutions. This difference in pay roll is due to the nature of the jobs done, because social customs prevent women from going whenever there is an event to be covered such as interviewing a prominent male figure; transportation and family commitments are challenging too. Moreover, it is difficult most of the time to reach the chief editor. No female photographer was employed, which made it even more difficult, until March 2014 when the Saudi Press Agency employed the first female Saudi photographer Randa Al-Harthy. Also, masculine domination in press institutions is another story. The segregation and the man’s authority spring from the social belief, in most social circles, that any male/female discussion is a shame and not accepted, especially at governmental offices. Some chairpersons even refuse to meet women14. Besides all that, no training was readily available. However, women have surprisingly succeeded in writing about sport, although up to now Saudi women are denied attendance to sporting events, and they do not have any official sporting tournaments for themselves. According to Halla Al-Nasser the reason behind their success lies in the fact that the male journalists writing about sport are not usually highly qualified, and women writers are keen not to leave any chance for criticism because of their lack of first-hand knowledge, so before writing they make sure they are aware of all aspects of the discussed subject15. The newspapers were and still are the gateway to the publication of literary writings. Many short stories’ authors were published in the newspapers before publishing any collections. It is interesting how the writing of short stories was more popular than poetry, in terms of publication, as women’s poetry has been always there. In 1999, “forty eight short story collections, thirty poetry collections, and twenty-seven novels [were] published 16”. The first modern Saudi woman’s poetry collection published was for Sultana Al-Sudairi, “Abir Al-Sahra” in 1956. The collection consists mostly of love poems, and that explains why AlSudairi published it under the pseudonym ‘Nida’. The importance of this collection is that it is considered the starting point for the publication of love poems by women: the first time in the whole Gulf region. It is

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understandable how difficult it must have been for Al-Sudairi to publish her collection at her young age, as it was not acceptable for a woman to express her feelings openly, and usually all writings were related to the writer’s personal life and that was difficult in Najed, especially for someone like her belonging to the elite class. Although many love poems by women were well known, they were all verbal and nothing was published at that time. In 1963, seven years after Al-Sudairi, Thuraya Qabil published her poetry collection Al-Awzan Al-Bakiya (The Weeping Rhythms). It was the first to be published in Hijaz apart from Khadija AlShanqitiya’s work. Qabil published her collection under her real name, and that emphasises the different traditions and social pressures from one region to another. Sadly, it was her only collection, although it was a success and many poems became popular songs. The two collections were not published in Saudi Arabia but in Beirut. In 1934, before these two works, there was a mention of a woman’s writing which is the first ever documented, but unfortunately the name is omitted. Her writings were appraised by the pen-man Ahmed Al-Sybai in his essays. He even refers to her as a Hijazi maiden and writes a synopsis of her writings17. Many of the early women writers in the Arab countries benefited from an education, but their voices did not reach the female mass audience as most of them were not educated, however, their writings are important as they signalled the beginning of the modern women’s writings, and encouraged generations to follow in their footsteps: Many women published their poetry, novels and essays in Cairo and Beirut. When they wrote in the local press, many used pen-names. But they were the nucleus of a small emerging intellectual community 18.

Short stories were mostly published in the newspapers and magazines up to the mid-1970s when many short story collections began to be published. The first Saudi woman’s short story was Najah Khayyat’s ‘Makhad AlSamt’ (Labour Pains of Silence) in 196619. Most early literary writings lacked depth, their language was weak, and as a whole they were not up to the expected standard. Dr. Aziza Al-Mana called, in her weekly column in the Al-Jazirah newspaper in April 2003, for the need to read and learn foreign languages so one cannot be isolated from international events. That is applicable to women’s writings too. The short stories became a voice for women’s struggles, and they dealt mostly with male/female relationships and passion: The stories that appeared from the 1960s to the mid-1970s generally deal with women’s problems and pains, but the portrayal of women’s pains

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does not always entail complaint and passivity. Some writers link pain with resistance and attempts to change a bad situation 20.

The writings emerging after the 1980s tended to tackle a wider range of life aspects, with a more subjective approach in general. In the social media revolution, through tools like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, online blogs etc. the woman’s voice is becoming louder, although many of the women using social media are hiding behind the mask of a pseudonym. They participate, analyse, comment, and give their opinions on different national and international issues. As this is a wide ranging issue, covering many different subjects than the specifics of this study, it will be the subject of a different research. Saudi women’s novels have gone through three phases since their beginning. Each phase has its own characteristics.

The first phase: 1958-1979 In the early stages of the novel, its themes were similar to those of the short stories and were mostly romantic. The first Saudi woman’s novel, as a matter of fact, and the first in the Gulf area as a whole, was published in 1958 by Samira Khashugji, (1940-1986) known as Samira Bint Al-Jazira Al-Arabia. It is called ‘Wadda’t Amali’ (I Bid My Hopes Farewell)21 which will be discussed later on in this chapter. Sameerah Khashugji is considered the pioneering Saudi woman novelist. She was born in the holy city of Mecca. A city recognized, besides having the holy mosque, for its multi-cultural inhabitants of mixed races. Her father was a highly educated man and had studied abroad to become a specialised physician, later he worked at the Saudi Ministry of Health before moving to Lebanon and then Great Britain. As an educated man he was keen on educating his children, he sent his daughter, Sameerah, to Egypt were she graduated from Alexandria university in the 1950s. She published her first novel in 1958 and she is considered the first Saudi woman to publish fiction. Her female characters are usually placed in foreign countries which do not reflect the Saudi culture or tradition, and even if the story takes place in Saudi Arabia, it is only the scenery and a superficial description without capturing the real Saudi culture. Her heroines are passive and their destiny is either to die or not achieve anything. In some of her novels she comments on the events directly and interferes with the course of the action, as in Bareek Ayneeak (The Glitter in your Eyes), 1963. The Arab man in this story is the devious liar, the

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heroine, Shorouq, is married to a man who has another wife without telling Shorouq about it. She asks for a divorce and marries the Spanish Colonel, who represents the ideal man, but he dies in the sea. She collapses and spends her life mourning his death. The events are unrealistic, and so are the characters’ portrayals. Marriage to Saudis is a sacred ritual, the engagement period is a time for both parties to learn more about each other, and families communicated, even if perhaps not directly at that time. That was the time to ask about and investigate the man. Also, her frequently sad endings exemplify her own views of the Saudi women of her generation who were not as lucky as her, being the daughter of a rich, educated man enabling her to receive a high standard of education and to own her own business, Alsharqiah magazine, which helped her in her economic independence. However, she is a pioneering figure not only in Saudi Arabia but in most Arab countries, and she continued her writing career to the end of her life, unlike others who disappeared form the literary circle. Huda Al-Rasheed comes next, and she is considered: “the founder of the Saudi women’s novel in regard to plot, realistic events, dialogue, and the relationship among the characters which was absent from previous novels.22” Therefore, the novel Gaden Saecoon Alkhamees (Thursday Will be Tomorrow, 1976) is a landmark in the transformation of the Saudi women’s novel in comparison to what had gone before. The heroine of this novel, Nawal, is not the typical weak, surrendering heroine the reader used to see featured in earlier novels. She is aware of her superiority and revolts against most of her social traditions, and she prefers to desert the man she is in love with than give in to his traditional views, as she sees him to be weak and not benefiting from his education to cross old customs. Her job is not one of the traditional jobs that Saudi women did during that time, and it was not even available for them; an editor at a political section of a newspaper. The heroine is therefore not a realistic version of a Saudi woman of the time of the novel’s publication. The innate desire for motherhood is absent from the heroine, which contradicts all beliefs of the Saudi society up to that point. Mohammed Al-Owain describes this heroine as a mature one, and not one who is way beyond her society, he seems to champion her23. Reflecting on the heroine and the events of the story, this study finds that the whole novel is not true to life as the heroine does not reflect the Saudi woman of that time nor the characters’ ways of dealing with each other. Nawal is in spontaneous arguments against her society and life. That said, the novel still expresses a different view of women’s capabilities and presents them in a better light than before. It departs from the romance which colours most of the novels from the first

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phase of the Saudi women’s novel. Also, the characters are more rounded than they were in earlier writings. It discusses issues which the author believes to be barriers facing the Saudi woman’s development, hindering her from reaching her goal, and most importantly it ends in hope. But at the same time there is a great anger towards the man in this novel. The author uses mostly classical Arabic in the dialogue, her sentences are clear, short and poetical. Unfortunately, her concentration on the dialogue weakens the description and portrayal of characters. Nevertheless, the novel is not a product of Saudi society nor tradition, featuring: the heroine’s job as mentioned earlier, the extramarital kissing of a man, and mixed gender gathering on the shore. Al-Rasheed lived much of her life abroad and was also educated outside of Saudi Arabia, and that explains her advocating of many non-Saudi views that were not digested at that time, not even by women. She was the first Saudi anchor woman, she worked in the media when it was not acceptable in Saudi society for women to work in that field. She worked for Jeddah radio then Riyadh TV, presenting news, and again she was the first Saudi woman to appear on the screen. Her career was not easy, as her father objected to her work in the media, but she did not stop. Later, she moved to the UK to learn the English language and there she worked for the BBC Arabic radio station. This was the first phase of the Saudi woman’s novel, where most of the novels display weak language and a simple plot and construction of events. Novels were more like anecdotes, and often romantic. During this phase, the authors see nothing of the world more than the man, therefore the themes were almost always centred on the male/female relationship. The man is presented as the woman’s destiny, and her disappointment.

The second phase: 1980-1999 New women novelists emerged in the intellectual circle, people like Raja Alem, Amal Shata, Zaineb Hufny, Gumashah Al-Olayan and many others. 33 novels were published during this phase. Fiction writings started to experiment with different techniques: The stories published after the mid-1980s employ different writing techniques and begin dealing with various aspects of life experience. Some address aspects of the relationship with the nation 24.

The women authors were by now able to create a connection between the events and everyday reality; fiction became a reflection of life. Events were now situated in a Saudi social and cultural context. Novels of this

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phase expose a knowledge of their societies and are of greater depth: the mission to support women through discussing related issues is clear. The novelists are clearly the product of educational institutes. Some of the writers of this phase continued their writings from the previous one, while some just disappeared, however the sad tone continues to be felt in these novels. The novels’ subjects deal mostly with women’s issues, search of identity, and the struggle with hindering tradition and social pressure. Some novels tended to criticise the society and its pressure and condemnation of women, and the fact that it is more tolerant with men. There is an interest in how the woman lives, and what her priorities are. The novels at this stage tackled some social taboos indirectly. More importantly, the woman novelist is recognised by the woman reader, and also by intellectual circles as well. Interestingly, the novelists of this phase, although they touched on many controversial issues, were not fought against as those of the third phase would be, nevertheless their novels were to be reread later in a different, more accusatory light. Such confrontation with deep rooted customs was not easy, many of them were accused of blasphemy, such as the writer and novelist Badriya al-Bishr who wrote “Hind Wa Alasker” (Hind and the Soldiers) published in 2006. An example of this stage’s works is Amal Shata’s novel “La Ash Qalbi” (Damn My Heart/Aching heart, 1980). The story is set almost entirely in one location for all of its events, in Mecca city at Al-Rabat: a charity place for the poor to live in. It is one of the oldest places in Hijaz, Al-Rabat stands for the downtrodden in the dark world where the poor and miserable live. The characters are women while the man is introduced only through them. The plot revolves around the stories of three women who are helpless and poor, barely earning a day to day living. The narrators are three characters but they all narrate through one vision and one voice, and that is the heroine Barakah. The women are not, as in previous novels, the man’s victim, as the woman here is fighting with age and society. However, the novel succeeds in portraying the miserable conditions where the unfortunate segment of society lives; those who lack education, skills and financial support. Their poverty and social circumstances unite them in a makeshift family. The three female characters are old, which emphasises their suffering. The novel documents a psychological struggle in the artistic work of a group of old women, and the histories which led them to Al-Rabat: the only place available for them. It includes their work as maids at the rich houses, and their booths of simple hand made goods. The author is a well-educated woman. Her career as a physician allowed her to closely observe the life of the poor and understand their suffering,

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and consequently, she presents a realistic image of what they go through. Amal Shata is an example of the educated Saudi intellectual who studied and lived in Saudi Arabia, and her career involved interaction with many different social classes, hence her characters are true to life and the place is well known to the inhabitants of the western region, with all its cultural and religious implications. The novel belongs to the realistic category of fiction, defined as “the faithful representation of reality25.” That is in regard to the choice of place, the portrayal of the characters, and the names of traditional jobs known only in that part of the country. Language construction and usage is more developed than before, and classical Arabic is the language used except for the title of some traditional careers or some words in the dialogues.

The third phase: 2000-today This has been the boom period for the Saudi women’s novel. In this period new names have published novels and novellas. Short story authors have deserted that genre and concentrated on novels, writers like Omaimah AlKhamis, some journalists also took advantage of the popularity of the novel and of women novelists and started writing novels. Some names wrote only one novel then disappeared, like Warda Abdulmalik and Raja Alsanaa, but many others continue, such as Muneerah Al-Subaie who just published her second novel. A few have even used sexual allusions to distinguish themselves and seek a wide ranging readership and popularity. Moreover, many novelists in this phase have taken pride in their writing careers, and it is now considered in most cases a full time job. The novels of this period vary in their artistic value as well as in their vision. Novels now are better established and have become competitive; in 2010 Omaima Al-Khamis’ “Al-Warfah” (The Lush Tree) was nominated for the Arabic Booker prize long list. Experimenting with narrative is attempted in many novels, like Raja Alsanaa’s “Banat AlRiyadh” (Riyadh Girls, 2005) and Al-Khamis’ “Ziyarat Saja” (Saja’s Visit, 2013). The novels become clearer in their vision and have a stronger voice, using images and references that suggest certain ideas to the mind of the reader. The women’s novel discusses many different social issues: restrictions on female employment, marital rape and domestic violence, the difficulty of having child custody, the rigid, gendered moral code and patriarchal authority, and besides questioning the genders, sexuality is placed at the centre of the writing. The Saudi woman’s literary work is a product of her culture, the social and religious conditions where she lives. Many novels

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are about the destructive outcome of men’s unrestricted and unconditional legal rights over their female relatives. However, the novels of the new millennium differ in their themes, as they mostly focus on criticising a culture which is prejudiced towards women. Women suffer under this aspect of culture, as Barrington Moore says: Culture and value systems are maintained and transmitted with much suffering and pain. Very often, to get humans to behave in specific ways, they must be punched, bullied 26.

The emphasis is on the woman in many different aspects of life, and as lifestyles have changed in Saudi Arabia and become more sophisticated so are the novels’ subjects, and it provides a space of expression. Al-Rasheed remarks that the narrative discourse provides safe expression for the novelist, as she feels the absence of authority and that the only one heard is her voice27. The previously meek condemnation of patriarchy and domestic violence is now stated clearly in the novels, as Hussain Al-Manasaerah states in AlHayat newspaper (18 March, 2013) that the woman novelist discusses different kinds of violence: male, social, and feminine violence. The women’s novel has now a mission to support women and awaken the mass conscience to women’s demands and their suffering. They do not all offer solutions, but they call for rethinking, reflection and revision. Consequently, that led to noticeable changes and a more positive attitude towards women’s demands. The novels spared nothing from their questioning: accepted norms and traditions, even some controversial religious issues. The next chapter will discuss selected novels from this period, as well as violence against women as presented in women’s literature. Interestingly, the tradition of using a pseudonym continues even at this late stage of writing. As the women’s names still present an issue to be uttered among foreign men, some choose to hide behind a pseudonym. To these novelists it was not important to confront their families, what is important is to express their views. Others have used it to find a wider space of freedom, especially those who tackle religious and cultural taboos, as with Seba Al-Heriz who wrote “Al-Akroun” (The Others, 2006), which takes homosexuality as its theme. One of the most important motivations for the spread of awareness and novel reading was the opening of intellectual women’s salons. The first salon was (based on Khaleel Haider’s writing in the Alwaten newspaper July 31, 2013) opened 32 years ago in Jeddah. By 2013 the number of salons in different cities reached 16, most of which are centered in Mecca.

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One of them is the salon of the artist Safiya Bin Zager. These salons host intellectual discussions and one of their major activities is introducing papers on literary works, plus interviewing the novelists. These salons are exclusively for women but the literary clubs which are also visited mostly by intellectuals are open for both genders. These clubs are to be found in almost all the cities of the Kingdom. They are headed by male members still, and the women are members of the committees only. In 2011, women were nominated for the council of directors for the first time in the literary clubs’ history. The nomination was at Hail, in the north region, and four ladies won the election. Nevertheless, the women were marginalized in the literary clubs before that, as Lamia Baashen states in her paper presented at the second intellectual symposium in 2011 that no Saudi woman was among the literary clubs’ policy forming committees. In November 2011, during the Albaha literary club election the intellectual Saudi woman was dealt an insulting blow. Dr. Su’ad Al-Mana, a very distinguished academic lady, was called by the masses to come down off her platform or cover her face, which she refused to do, and the club’s officials faced confusion created by the attendance of these people. This chapter outlined the Saudi women’s writings through three different phases. The issues discussed in the literary writings offer a historical, social, and literary background. These writings also document the woman’s progress and her social, political, and intellectual status in her national consciousness. Saudi women’s writings have developed and become stronger than before, and they are now more courageous than they were at the beginning, both in technique and in terms of issues discussed. But that does not mean all the contemporary writings are better than those of the previous generation, as Dr. Su’ad Al-Mana states: Later generations of {women} writers are not necessarily better than those who preceded them; rather, writers who continue to write improve with practice and experience, although this is certainly not inevitable. Some women writers published works in the 1990s that were neither serious nor authentic 28.

The next chapter’s subject is a selection of Saudi women’s novels representing a wide range of different points of view on society, women’s rights, gender inequality, and many other issues all published since the turn of the millennium. They have been selected based on their themes and artistic value.

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Notes and References for Chapter Four 1- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, eds. Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide, 1873-1999. (Cairo: The American Univ. Press, 2008), 254. 2- Daphne Grace, The Woman in the Muslin Mask: Veiling and Identity in Postcolonial Literature. (London: Pluto Press, 2004), 105. 3- Hala Al-Nasser, Sharazad in Saudi Press (Riyadh: Tariq Press, 2005), 33. 4- Dorothy J. Hale, The Novel: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory 1900-2000. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), 567. 5- Mohammed Khaled Al-Owain, Sourat Almarah fee Alqesah AlSaudiah (The Woman’s Image in the Saudi Fiction) (Riyadh: KAPL, 2002), 18. 6- Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (New York: Cambridge U.P., 2013), 32. 7- Hala Al-Nasser, 27. 8- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 255. 9- Sultan Al-Ghtani, Alrywaiah fee Al-Mamlakh Al-Arabiah Al-Saudia: nashaataha wa Tedourha 1930-1989. (The Novel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: its Beginning and Development: 1930-1989) (Riyadh: Alsafahat Althahbia Press, 1998), 95. 10- Hala Al-Nasser, 43 11- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 255. 12- Hala Al-Nasser, 30-31. 13- Ibid., 89. 14- Ibid., 79. 15- Ibid., 97. 16- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 258. 17- Mohammed Al-Qashamy, "Rwad Taleem Amaraah: Kerah fee Sahafat Alafrad" (Pioneers of Women’s Education: A Review of Individual Journalism) Riyadh: Huqul 5 (2007): 62. 18- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 2. 19- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 266. 20- Ibid., 266. 21- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 272. 22- Khaled Al-Refay, Alrywaiah Alnesaiah AlSaudia: KZerah fee Altarik Wa Almudouaa was Alqadiah, Wa Alfen (The Female Saudi Novel: A Study in history, Subject, Issue, and Art), (Riyadh: the Literary Club, 2009), 40. 23- Mohammed Khaled Al-Owain, 315. 24- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 267. 25- Donna M. Campbell. "Realism in American Literature". (Wsu.edu. Retrieved: 2014-07-15). 26- Haideh Moghissi, Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism (London: Zed Books, 1999), 59. 27- Madawi Al-Rasheed, 176-9. 28- Radwa Ashour, Ferial Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, 275.

CHAPTER FIVE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CONTEMPORARY NOVELS

Malamah (Features) by Zainab Hufni: Consuming Sexuality After the year 2000, the novel market witnessed copious production of Saudi women’s novels. The tone in these novels had changed and become bolder; a new generation of novelists had emerged. However, not all the novels met artistic criteria or had a serious message, but the demand for Saudi women’s novels was high and all Arab book stores were stocked with various novels. Articles and theses are now written on them, and many novels have been reprinted many times. Curiosity was behind this intensive interest in reading, learning and commenting on the conservative Saudi society, even if it was fiction. Women novelists have achieved recognition in Saudi society and they are respected and praised on both official and intellectual levels. This social status, plus the financial income, has encouraged many to try their talent in writing; however, not all succeed. The glamour of fame and the search for a wider readership scope tempt some novelists to step on social or religious taboos, which was not possible in the past. With the increase of freedom of expression, Saudi women novelists began to tackle such subjects, either seeking social reform, criticising the social laws regarding women or simply attempting to climb the fame ladder through stepping on forbidden territories. One of these taboos is sex. Many Saudi novelists, male and female, avoided it before the year 2000. The situation has changed, especially for those who write with the aim of reform and shedding light on sexual behaviour and abuse in daily life incidents. One of those novelists is Zainab Hufni. She has written novels and collections of short stories. Because of the heavy references to sex in her writings, she was severely

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criticised for her explicit language and detailed sexual scenes. Most if not all of her writings are about sexual immorality and what lies behind it. Her critics believe that she condemns men for women’s fall, but I do not agree with that; as I see her, and as the reader too will notice, she condemns both men and women for their materialism. This accusation undermines the woman’s intellect and views her as a submissive creature, lacking moral principles, which is not realistic in a society like Saudi society, which puts huge stress on religious teachings. A woman is supposed to fight the moral fall and she will find support from her family, society and the judicial system. Sex, in the novel discussed here - Malameh “Features” (2006) - is presented as consuming, and also used to expose the decay of one’s morality. The sexual events described in Hufni’s novels are not impossible, but hardly have grounds in reality for many religious, cultural and social reasons. The well-known columnist Dr. Aziza Almana wrote an article criticising one of Hufni’s short story collections, Nisaa Eind Kat Alistewa (Women at the Equator), in Okaz newspaper on Feb. 10, 1996. Almanaa questioned the aim of writing or inserting sexual references and language in a literary text: “Is the book really aimed at treating such issues (moral corruption) or does the author find it a good chance for fame and fast wealth?” Also, on March 18, 1996, in Alam Alyum magazine, the writer Intsar Alaqeel wrote a reply to those who defended Hufni: “Who dares to give this book (Hufni’s novel to his wife), growing daughter, or his promising young writer daughter to benefit from its ideas?” Moreover, Hufni’s novels are classified as erotic in the sense of writing about the use of the body and inserting or portraying sexual scenes to deliver her point of view. Hufni is unlike previous Saudi women novelists, who barely write about or refer to sex in their writings. She takes sexuality as a major theme, revealing through it the corruption of those seeking fortune and sacrificing for that their morals, ethics, and spiritual life. Being deprived of the elite life with all its comfort and glamour increases the hunger for a similar life, even if the price is belief, principles and reputation. The heroine’s end in the novel discussed here reminds the reader of the play Dr. Faust, as she faces an ugly end, just like him, for selling her soul to the devil. Malamah elicits many reactions from critics and readers alike. The events evolve around a fallen woman. The wife Thuria’s fall is through two major factors in her life. One is innate and the other is external. She descends from a lower middle class family; her father is a hard-working man and her mother is a pious housewife. Thuria is not satisfied with her family’s low income and aspires to wealth. Her encounters with sexual knowledge

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and pleasure start early through her wealthy school friend Noor. She introduces her to the open world of forbidden pleasure and relationships.1 She has embraced this secretive, sinful world, hiding it from her family, especially her mother. Her marriage is not what she expected and she complains to her mother about the shortage of money, as her husband, Hussain, is a simple employee in a governmental sector: One day I complained to my mother “Mom, I am sick of this life”. I saw a worried cloud cover her face and she replied: daughter, your husband is a good man, he sacrifices a lot for your sake and your son’s.2

Hussain has noticed his wife’s dissatisfaction and her hunger for money and jewellery, which goes in hand with his eagerness to change his financial status to a better one, and the way to that, according to him, is through his wife’s body. Thuria’s innate sexual drive has been strong since adolescence, as she does not mind peeking into her parents’ room and watching their intimate moments, which arouse her: I peeped into their room as the door was ajar. I saw my father kissing my mother’s body as she moans with pleasure; I watched the whole scene of coupling till they reach orgasm, my mother walked to the bathroom and I ran to my room aroused.3

The quote above shows a sick pleasure in peeping at her parents in their most intimate moments, and she benefits from it by masturbating with no respect to their privacy. The mother is not blind; she has noticed something abnormal in her daughter, which is why she is relieved on Thuria’s wedding night. She thinks marriage will calm Thuria and satisfy her; she is unaware it is the door to hell: “I have never felt comfortable as today, our daughter has a rebellious nature.”4 Hence, Thuria does not go with the guidance her mother provides, though her mother is attentive to her spiritual weakness and provides a role model for her. She respects her mother and hides her sins from her. Her friend’s bad influence on her and her natural ill intentions help in her fall, as Baumeister and Twenge explain: A variety of other studies confirm the existence of same-gender peer influence... found that young women tended to go as far sexually as their friends have gone.5

This goes hand-in-hand with Thuria’s early encounter with sex through her friend Noor. However, in Saudi Arabia, sexual behaviour of any kind is governed by three things: Islam, civil laws, and social codes; this fits with

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what Michel Foucault describes, although he speaks in a European context: They determined (canonical law, Christian pastoral, and civil law), each in its own way, the division between licit and illicit. They were all centered on matrimonial relations: the marital obligation, the ability to fulfil it, the manner in which one complied with it, the requirements and violences that accompanied it.6

Thuria is an adult and is aware of all these laws and the consequences of abandoning them or going against them. The knowledge of them is not absent from Thuria’s mind, as she must know them from religious classes in school and at home and/or her immediate society. Therefore, the author is not siding with the accused woman as she stands against the man. Hufni rejects the accusation in a paper she delivered at the American University in Cairo on 14 May, 2011: I am always accused of presenting the man in my novels as tyrannical towards the woman but the truth, I believe, is that I have never been against the man as he really presents a support in my life, but at the same time he is a big question mark in my thoughts! I criticise and reject social custom that submits women, which is an outcome of the masculine way of thinking, which seeks to give the man a lot of rights.

Based on Hufni’s explanation, another accusation may fall down: the accusation that she writes for publicity and a large income. In this way, the novel should be outside of the erotic canon, especially if it is studied through a cultural approach, as Abdulah Algethami, one of the prominent Saudi critics, states: “If we look at such literary work (meaning erotic novels) through the cultural approach rather than the literary one, its effect will be positive.”7 This is applicable to Malamah, as the cultural approach is the most suitable one to tackle the issues raised in it: Cultural studies analyse not only the cultural work that is produced but also the means of production... One of the most challenging features of the culture wars is the assault on traditional categories of gender and sexuality.8

The novel revolts against the custom of hushing sexual behaviour violations within society and accuses society of having two standards, judging men and women differently although they both commit the same sins.

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The author does not, as she states, wage a war on men in her novels. She merely presents two people tempted by wealth, and both fall. The difference in their falls is that the woman’s sin is socially unredeemable. Men do not mind having fun and sharing sex, but they will never take the relationship beyond that. The heroine has lost her son, family, and reputation. Her death at the end of the novel is a miserable one and the ultimate punishment: As usual every morning, the maid came in to give her mistress the medication, she found her laying on the corridor floor face down in between the bedroom and bathroom ... she died few hours ago alone ... her fortune is estimated to be billions of riyals and all, according to law, will go to her family ... Hussain became a prominent businessman based in London ... happily married to his 25 year old English secretary with whom he fathered a baby boy.9

Hussain has lost nothing and started a brand new life with a new family after divorcing the woman whose fall he encouraged and participated in. Her body was their way to wealth and position for him.10 In the beginning, he explained to Thuria the importance of being nice to his boss. Both of them paid no attention to either religious teachings or social custom in their pursuit of money: Listen carefully to me Thuria, this man is my boss, my future is in his hands. He can appoint me a manager at one of the ministry’s branches, he has many relations. Am not asking you to sell your body but think about what could happen if you just be extra nice with him? Do you want to be poor for ever? We need to sacrifice a little.11

He knows her weak point and presses on it, but she could refuse; instead she embraces it. The initial struggle she feels is because she is not used to such open relationships. That is why, once she embarks on the path, she never stops. It becomes her own choice, even after divorce, and securing herself financially, she never repents; on the contrary, she even tries lesbian sex and befriends a lesbian. Thuria’s indulgence in sex with males and females alike, although she prefers men,12 emphasises the woman’s natural desire for sex and contradicts William Acto’s quoted statement: Love of home, children, and domestic duties, are the only passions they feel ... as a general rule, a modest woman seldom desires any sexual gratification for herself. She submits to her husband, but only to please him, and, but for the desire of maternity, would far rather be relieved from his attention.13

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Hence, accusing Hussain of prostituting Thuria is partially true. Hussain, once he is capable of standing by himself, rejects and divorces her, pretending that he is unaware of all her ill conduct, and he is excused socially, as the norm amongst most men is that they want their wives to be faithful to them: Men seem to want their wives to be sexually faithful to them. Sexual possessiveness is well documented and appears to be close to universal ... It seems safe to say that both men and women want their mates to be faithful to them.14

At one point in their lives, she was a resource, necessary to build a wealthy life, and sex was the medium, as it has always been considered: A social exchange analysis of sex would begin from the assumption that sex is a resource that men desire and women possess. To obtain sex, men must offer women other desired resources in return such as money.15

Nevertheless, the woman hardly gains much in this trade as exemplified in the novel; the husband gets bigger and bigger in the business world, while Thuria, at the time of their divorce, owns nothing under her name, not even the house she lives in, as the reader understands when Hussain asks her to leave: I have registered Alraudah villa under your name, you can move there today. I will also leave for you the new Cadillac that I recently bought. Besides I just deposited this morning in your bank account a big sum of money.16

This goes hand-in-hand with what Baumeister and Twenge state regarding women being kept starving for money so they will provide more sex: “The less money (with other sources) women have the lower the price they will accept for sex.”17 Another important point Hufni is tackling is chastity, which is stressed even before marriage, not only to be faithful to one’s husband during marriage. That is why, before her marriage, Thurisa does not go as far as complete intercourse. The virginity and the ability of the maiden to prove her chastity is not confined to Saudi society only: Many cultures place strong pressures on men to maintain public esteem and reputation, often called honor. Promiscuity on the part of a wife or daughter is taken as a disgrace to the man. Even today, some countries allow parents to require their daughters to submit to medical examinations to establish virginity.18

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Of course, in Saudi Arabia, this does not go to the extent of medical examination, as almost all Saudi women act according to the Islamic ethics which condemn adultery, but it also reveals that the emphasis put on chastity and men’s honour being tarnished by his wife’s reputation is applicable in most societies. But Hufni is criticising this stress on virginity, as Thuria has experienced sex way before marriage. However, this study does not view Hufni as using sex for the sake of eroticism, but, as Hussain Almanaserah says in his analysis of Saudi women who use sex in their writings: “the eroticism in Saudi female novels functions to build a deep insight into the woman’s dilemma from a female point of view in the world she lives in, especially when this world is inhabited by masculine strict ethics.”19 As the reader has seen in the discussed novel, both the man and the woman have paid high prices for the sexual drive of their wealth. Both are condemned, but the difference is that the man is not socially exiled, unlike the woman, whose fall is beyond any redemption. Hufni succeeds, in the course of the narrative, in building a bond with the female reader through sympathising with such a woman, as Judith Gardiner explains in her analysis of Jean Rhys’s heroines: Although we readers do not want to be like these women, we are forced to recognise that we are or could be like them in similar circumstances. We become angry, then, both at the women and their oppression.20

The oppression here is from the materialistic world, the demands of which put pressure on individuals to gain wealth and live like the rich even if the person is poor or middle class. As for the bond created, Hufni creates it through the narrative technique she uses. The narrative is very interesting; it is based on photographic shots while using the stream of consciousness technique. The narrative consists of dialogue, monologue and description. The narration shifts from third person to first, where the narrator takes the reader into his/her confidence and confesses very intimate details. The novel starts with first person narration; the narrator is not introduced to the reader. It starts with a description of the weather: “It is not a cold winter as in other countries.” Why is not cold? It is an indication that there is something unusual happening. Also, the reader is informed that the relationships among the characters do not survive to the present. The first pages express a hate and disgust between the wife and husband, before the reader is invited to dive deep into their past. The cause of these passions is stated in these pages so as to shock the reader and tempt him/her to read more.

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The novel’s conclusion is narrated through the omniscient narrator. It conveys a sad, lonely ending. The body has failed the woman, as it was her only capital. Hufni succeeds in using psychological eroticism as an accusation of the materialistic society. The person loses his/her ethics, soul and immediate family in his/her search for wealth, without stopping to consider his/her lost soul. The only things that are still there are the pale features of innocent memories before the fall and the dive into the meadows of sin: The deformed images accumulated inside me through different affairs. Men crossed my body, some left soon while others stayed longer but all left. Their fake finger prints on my body are still there. I have reached 40 but do not know how all these years passed without being aware of time.21

Notes Zainab Hufni, Malamah (Features) (Beirut: Dar Alsaqi, 2006), 27. Ibid., 47. Ibid., 33. Ibid., 14. Roy F. Baumeister and Jean M. Twenge, “Cultural Suppression of Female Sexuality,” Review of General Psychology Vol. 6, no. 2 (2002): 179. 6- Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality (New York: Vintage books, 1990), 37. 7- Hussain Almanasserah, “The Erotic Question in the Feminist Saudi Novel.” The Third Saudi Intellectual Conference (Riyadh: Ministry of Culture and Media, 2009), 6. 8- Wilfred L. Guerin et al., A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. (Oxford: Oxford U.P., 1999), 241-243. 9- Zainab Hufni, 160. 10- Ibid., 48. 11- Ibid., 50. 12- Ibid., 33. 13- Sally Ledger, The New Woman (Manchester: Manchester U.P., 1997), 101. 14- Roy F. Baumeister and Jean M. Twenge, 196. 15- Ibid., 170. 16- Ibid., 8. 17- Roy F. Baumeister and Jean M. Twenge, 172. 18- Ibid., 185. 19- Hussain Almanasserah, 12. 20- Judith Kegan Gardiner, “On Female Identity and Writing by Women,” Critical Inquiry Vol. 8, no. 2 (1981): 358. 21- Zainab Hufni, 117.

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*Jahliah (Pre-Islamic Era) by Layla Aljahni: Women and Social Taboos In December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the following: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”1 With this statement, from that date on, all people are supposed to be equal and have the same rights all over the world. The cosmopolitan world has been keen on giving all people, including women, their full rights since the last century, but the Islamic world is not supposed to have this perplexity, for Islam gave women all their rights 1400 years ago. Islam deals with men and women on an equal basis. Quranic verses address both sexes as two responsible beings with similar if not identical obligations; sins are the same for both, and their punishments too. Universally speaking, women were and are still the weaker sex, even in first world countries. Everyday news, articles, and literature confront us with a variety of abuses exercised on them. Women are the receivers of violence either in the work environment or their domestic surroundings. Over the centuries, men have determined whether violence towards women is acceptable or not. The study “Abused Women Who Kill Their Partners” registers that Augustine, usually considered the greatest theologian of the ancient church, lifted up his mother’s submission to abuse as a model for all women and their husbands, and centuries later, another theologian, Thomas Aquinas, deemed that men had the right to beat their wives as long as they did not murder them.2 However, the Arab nations’ culture, not religion, has a similar view of domestic violence and man’s superiority. In the past, violence against women was overlooked by local culture and was an integral part of most women’s lives. They were not happy with it but it was not criticised or judged from religious or humane angles. Tradition is full of proverbs that express the appreciation of women’s patience, and always place the woman in the marriage context, as if she does not exist outside of its boundaries. The social point of view of the battered woman is very cruel and painful. There are many myths that society holds on to even nowadays; the study “Abused Women” notes that many myths in society surrounding battered women still hold reliability today. These include that abused women constitute only a small percentage of the population, that lower class women are more likely to be abused or that battered women frequently deserve the beatings, and this last belief excuses the abuser for his cruelty. It also adds that in many cultures, the sentiment that domestic abuse is a private matter, occurring at night behind closed doors, survives.3

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However, husbands were viewed as the supreme rulers of their household. This point of view extends to literature, and there is a certain judgment of women who go beyond their supposed true nature and take serious action or commit crimes. For example, Lady Macbeth is often connected to images of witchcraft, ravens, blood, demons, and infanticide. She herself acknowledges the transgression of her femininity when she conjures demons to: “unsex me here; And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty”4

And her end is equally terrible and tragic. The message is clear: women who dare to cross accepted boundaries of the female role await a terrible end. These violent behaviours keep reoccurring in women’s literature. The male always symbolises the ultimate authority that has no limits or boundaries, as Boada-Montagut remarks about Catalan literature, but which is applicable to Middle Eastern literature as well: *part of this analysis was presented in 2008 at the Minia University conference “Cultural Dialogue: Communication Channels among Nations” These scenes of violence are frequent. Once a person takes power over another (husband-wife, coloniser-colonised) there is no resolution, no means of control. A partial-explanation might be that within the territory of the marriage and the home men regress, becoming child-tyrants again.5

However, it is worth noting that most women’s literature in all parts of the world, including Saudi literature, is about marriage and the relationship of the sexes. Women are brought up to put marriage and family first and contributing in the workforce and public affairs at best secondary, and at worst undesirable. This view of women and marriage is not limited to the Arab nations, but is shared by others, as Boada-Montagut declares: The term “compulsory marriage” refers to the necessity, almost the obligation, on women to get into the system of marriage. Even if times are changing and marriage is now in crisis, there is still the force of tradition which impels women to become wives and to regard other activities and interests as of secondary significance.6

This social importance of marriage in a woman’s life explains why 90% of the recent Saudi women’s novels written by women deal with marriage. Saudi women novelists are concerned with domestic violence, which I think is one of the most important issues among other forms of violence against women. This importance is derived from the fact that the home is

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the first habitat of the female and children, and women’s reactions and personalities will be based on its atmosphere. Moreover, children are the members and builders of future society; they may live in a normal environment and be responsible, healthy members, or they may be destroyed and crushed figures, depending on the upbringing they receive. Saudi society is in great debt to those women who have had the courage to openly discuss the anguish caused by violence against them. More women are now willing to share their own experiences of violence behind closed doors. For ages, women all over the world were abused violently and the universe was deaf to most of their cries. Lately, there has been an awareness of this crisis, especially in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, which were the first two countries in the Middle East to respond and establish centres for abused women. In Saudi Arabia, charitable foundations have also taken an interest in this phenomenon, as exemplified by the King Khaled Charitable Foundation. In 2013, the foundation launched a campaign called “Wa ma Kafee Can AAzem” (The Unknown is Even Worse). The campaign realised the problem and used a very symbolic picture, which was a woman wearing a burka; her face is covered, except for her eyes, which show bruises. The campaign has three goals, as stated by HRH Princess Albandary Al-Saud, the executive director, in an interview with Laha magazine on August 4, 2013: to highlight the issue and call the attention of specialists to studying it; to increase and spread awareness among society’s members, especially women, of the wrong done to them, and to confront the issue and activate the roles of associated institutions to deal with it. The major problem of domestic violence was brought to public attention in Saudi by the famous television anchor-woman Rania Al-Baz. In April 2004, she was brutally beaten by her husband. Gruesome photos of her injuries were featured in national newspapers and worldwide, and she was the first Saudi woman to publicly show her battered face.7 Her story encouraged many writers to condemn such violence and was inspiring for many novels, not in the sense of writing about the same kind of violence, but in diving into that stream. Rania’s case is a landmark of major change in Saudi Arabia on different levels: social, cultural, and press. There was complete approval on all the mentioned levels for condemning such practices and an admittance that it was time to fight such humiliating, abnormal behaviour. The novel is an echo of daily life’s episodes, and fictional writing in this sense is a literary narration crossing over into real facts. It expresses a self

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unsatisfied with what it witnesses or lives. It seeks to rebuild and construct things according to their moral and virtuous states. Such writing aims at revolting against the stable, accepted, well established male authority over women. One of these works is Jahleeah (Pre-Islamic Era) (2007) by Layla Aljheny. It is the author’s third novel; her first novel is still a manuscript, and the second, Alfardous Alyabab (The Barren Paradise) (1998), was published in Germany. After 10 years of silence she published Jahleeah. The novel consists of eight chapters. It starts with a flashback of past events, from the misery of the moment to the anguish of the past, drawing on the hindrance of tradition. It is about a successful, working young woman, Leen, who works as a social worker at an office for abused women or those who suffer from psychological displacement. She falls in love with a black African man, Malek. Her society and family refuse to accept him as a suitable husband for her. The tyranny of her failure of a brother is highlighted through his abuse of Malek. The reader peeps into different kinds of abuse that are directed at women through Leen’s story and her patients. Aljheny goes straight to her theme, which is the social abandonment of Islamic teachings, in the choice of the title, which means “pre-Islamic era”. The title reveals psychological and cultural implications. Though it consists of one word in Arabic, its connotations are countless; it is the key to duplicity in life in the modern world: morals, man’s authority, the neglected, honourable traditions. In the course of the events, the personal is connected with the public; the disappointment and frustration of the major characters are connected to the frustration and disappointment of the Middle East region during the American and British invasion of Iraq. Aljheny chooses Almadinah almonourah, a place known long time before Islam and continues to exist, for her story. The places, modern cars, tall buildings, and street names mentioned are those of modern times, but the irony lies in the months she chooses to use. These months belong to the pre-Islamic era. The novel’s cover is meaningful too; it is a picture of a semi pre-Islamic idyll, which gives a strong implication that the world is still suffering from the ancient ethics of power. This world presents itself as modern but it is not. The story takes place in the prophet’s city, but the principles exercised are not what he preached. Racism and violence exist and women are not given their rights; men dominate the whole scene. There is a throwback to the Arabic pre-Islamic days. The implication takes on an international arena, which is very rare in a Saudi women’s novel, when it connects the theme with the invasion of Iraq. A strong power

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invading a weaker country brings to the reader’s mind the ancient preIslamic times, when the victory was always with the powerful, and consequently all the international calls of equality are clichés with no real implementation. The weak and innocent always suffer. The last chapter’s title, “Shiar the 19th of Almoutemer (month) of the Year of Shock and Terror”, can be translated to a modern date as follows: “March 20th 2003 Operation Enduring Freedom”, but one notices that the title of the invasion operation is changed to “the Year of Shock and Terror”, which is the date of the American invasion of Iraq and the surrender of Baghdad under the pretense of searching for weapons of mass destruction. However, the novel does not preach political views nor attack the Americans and the British, as done by many Arab novelists, but leaves the reader to view the events and analyse them as he/she perceives them: either as part of the abuse of the weak nations and racism, or just an event that adds credibility to the novel’s plot. The novel’s narrative mostly takes the omniscient point of view and the narrative technique is very arresting; each chapter is not dedicated to the chapter’s major persona, but time, events, and other characters are all interwoven to bring about the idea of “pre-Islamic” ethics through recalling events from the past and connecting them with the present. The narrator is not the only voice the reader hears, as he/she is in continuous contact with the characters through dialogue, which reveals the character’s opinions, status and beliefs. The narrator does not comment on events and remains neutral. Women’s psychological abuse of their own sex manifests in Leen’s mother’s cry: "When will God bless me with a son? I want a supporter; I do not want to die among strangers. I want a son to take care of me; Leen is not ours.”8 The mother’s supposed empathy does not extend to the daughter; she looks at her as an outsider and not part of the family. The mother looks at her daughter as a traveller, passing by till she marries and moves out. The narrative emphasises women’s weakness and dependence on men, for example when Leen’s mother comes back from the hospital carrying a baby boy in her arms and says to the little girl, Leen, “kiss your conservator”.9 This supporter turns out to be a dependent, failing in both education and career. The reader becomes aware of the crisis of Shereefah, a case under Leen’s supervision, when she expresses it to Leen:

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You do not know what pain is, when your younger brother has never beaten you just because you refused to bring him and his friends a pot of tea and you did not hear your mother shutting you up and order you to lower your voice in your younger brother's presence.10

Unfortunately, we as readers know that Leen experiences the same crisis and shares this hell with Shereefah. Being an educated and working woman does not save her from her brother’s tyranny. The novel also discusses violence by married men. Violence reaches an extent where a woman would rather commit suicide, preferring death to living with her abuser, as in Shereefah’s case in Jahleeah. She fails to find an escape from her family’s tyranny except through setting herself on fire.11 This brutal act is a response to the family’s abuse. She might have valued herself better if she thought they would listen to her and that is what Boada-Montagut points out: “Women only use violence after madness or in extreme cases as a desperate response to long running abuse.”12 The denial of divorce is one of the abuses that are practiced on females in this novel. Meznah, in Jahleeah, a child of 15, is married to a man older than her father. She runs away when she cannot put up with his brutality. At that young age, she thinks running away is a solution because she knows if she goes back to her family then they will return her back to him.13 The strangest thing is that she is unaware of her rights. She does not realise that she is the only one entitled to accept or reject a marriage proposal, stay in a marriage, or just walk out of it. Meznah vocalises her family’s thoughts: he paid a big sum of money as her dowry, bought her father a car. She is aware of the fact that he is too old, but ignorant of what that may lead to. Instead of blaming her father’s selfish choice, she blames herself for not putting up with the pain that the husband causes her at night.14 However, many actual Saudi studies emphasise the difficulty facing women in attempting to flee the marriage institution when abuse occurs. According to a study done by Dr. Abdullah Al Yousef for the Ministry of Social Affairs, the most important factors that stop women from leaving violent surroundings are: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The wish to change the abuser’s behaviour. To protect the family structure. Not to leave children alone with the abuser. Financial need.

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5. The complete dependence on the man (husband, father...) in all life aspects. 6. Fear of the unknown. 7. Lack of education and skills. 8. Fear of the social categorisation of a divorced woman. 9. Family pressure to continue married life.15 Besides, as the reader can see, more than one reason is applicable to Meznah’s case. This acceptance and surrendering to tradition and social, unreligious principles go hand-in-hand with what the study “Abused Women Who Kill Their Partners” mentions: Surveys have shown that a high percentage of women think it acceptable for a man to beat his wife for one or more specific reasons ranging from burning the food, arguing with him, going out without telling him, neglecting the children and refusing sex.16

Meznah, here, is a demonstration of this sick acceptance. The abuser breaks the woman from inside and destroys her to the extent of having low self-esteem, feeling excessively guilty, and adopting a tendency towards feeling helpless.17 The study adds fear, dependency and psychological pressures as part of the reason that abused women stay in abusive relationships. She believes that fear immobilises abused women, paralysing their reactions and most aspects of their lives. This fear extends to worries about the safety of their children.18 The novel’s ending is not easy to understand. The reader has to look for keywords within the text and it demands multiple readings, as it ends with many poetic lines from contemporary and pre-Islamic poetry, mixing different eras of Arabic poetry, and ends in one mysterious repeated line from a poem attributed to Saddam Hussein minutes before the collapse of Baghdad: “Raise your sword with no fear or cowardice.”19 This may mean Leen will stand up for her rights and fight for them, and in her battle she will be fighting all the accumulated historical wrongs done to women; that she chooses to fight for what she believes in; or, it may mean surrendering to the accepted norms, as reflected in Baghdad’s collapse, or it may mean victory goes to the dominant power in any age. Optimistically, these literary works reflect a change and a cry of revolt against domestic violence. More women are willing now to reveal the violence that takes place behind closed doors and raise their voices in protest. It is about time to end the cycle of violence which dominates many homes.

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There have been and still are many social debates about domestic violence and the emphasis on the concept of sponsorship in Islam. Though this revival of women’s rights might be regarded as a feminist movement, it is actually a call to respect women’s dignity and to secure their religious rights. Some of what are labelled as “feminist movements” in the third world are connected with religious revival movements, as Geraldine Heng mentions: Historically, almost without exception, feminism has arisen in the Third World in tandem with nationalist movements- whether in the form of anticolonial/anti-imperialist struggles, national modernization and reform movements, or religious-nationalist cultural-nationalist revivalisms.20

Hence, the main stream is against this brutality and calls for a return to the major principles of human rights in Islam. There is a call to take action and protect women and children. Official protection is there, established as a partial duty of the obligation of the Ministry of Social Affairs as a governmental department authorised to deal with domestic violence. But of course it is not really enough, as society must take interest and be aware of the danger of violence to its members. Women are becoming bolder in expressing their struggles with it on a daily basis. There are also other charitable societies that deal in part with domestic violence, like the Alnahdah Society, mentioned earlier. This society is a very active one, and in April 2008, it launched a very important and influential campaign to confront domestic violence in cooperation with the Media and the National Family Safety Program (NFSP). The campaign took place in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Riyadh; Gubeerah. However, these two establishments are not the only forums operating to defend human rights; in 2004, 41 social activists formed the “National Society of Human Rights” based in Riyadh. The society aims at: 1. Protecting human rights in accordance with the Islamic teachings that are applied in Saudi, and human rights as stated by the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and the UN. 2. Cooperating with international organisations with similar aims to confront oppression, cruelty, conviction, and tyranny. In 2006, the Saudi Government established the Human Rights Commission. It is important here to know that these establishments are not limited to dealing with domestic violence, but it is part of their scope. Not only these establishments, but also the scope of and interest in human rights and eliminating the vices of domestic violence, is growing, and in 2005, the

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National Family Safety Program was established by a royal decree. It consists of three faculties: x Directory of medical, social, and psychological services. x Directory of training and scientific researches. x Directory of awareness and media. Its basic regulation shows its aims to be: 1. Standing against domestic violence through spreading and motivating awareness among the population of the danger and the unreligious act of domestic violence and how to overcome it and deal with it. 2. Launching programs and solutions to help the abused (trainees already graduated from these programs. These programs target doctors, police men, judges, and nurses). 3. To make membership available for any good citizen who is 18 years old or above. There are other charitable societies working on domestic violence issues, but these are the major ones. Society supports their work and appreciates their deeds; many people are now volunteering at these charities to help and to spread morally accepted behaviour. The first conference on domestic violence was organised by NFSP in March, 2009. It was a step towards a better understanding of the issue. The conference was distinguished for its revelation and transparency in highlighting social problems and old taboos. This wide awareness of domestic violence is motivated in part by women’s literary writing, which is flourishing this century. The novel discussed reveals a longing for change. Women’s personas, to varying degrees, are presented as suffering the restriction of conventional marriages as self-awareness of injustice and seeking to readdress the issue of oppression both increase. Boada-Montagut shares the same view of the recent feminist literature mentioned here as searching for solutions: “Women writers... are clearly rejecting older, repressive models of behavior and, at the same time, trying to find new ways in which they can represent fulfillment.”21

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Notes 1- Sharon Anderson-Gold, Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights (Cardiff: Wales U.P., 2001), 10. 2- “Abused Women Who Kill Their Partners: A Psychological Study.” www.etd.rau.ac.Za/theses/available/etd-05042007094323/restricted/proefskrif.pdf. 7. 3- Ibid., 30. 4- William Shakespeare, Macbeth (Oxford: Shakespeare Head Press, 1999), Act 1, sc V. 5- Irene Boada-Montagut, Women Write Back: Irish and Catalan Short Stories in a Colonial Context (Dublin: Irish Academic press, 2003) 71. 6- Ibid., 46. 7- Rania Al-Baz, Al-Moshauahah (The Distorted) (Beirut: Oidat Press, 2006). 8- Layla Aljheny, Jahleeah (Pre-Islamic Era) (Beirut: Dar Aladab, 2007), 89. 9- Ibid., 90. 10- Ibid., 85-6. 11- Ibid., 87. 12- Irene Boada-Montagut, 72. 13- Layla Aljheny, 82-83. 14- Ibid., 83. 15- Abdullah Al Yousef, Al-Enf Alusery ala Mustawa Almamlakah (Domestic Violence in the Kingdom) (Riyadh: Ministry of Social Affairs, 2005). 16- Abused Women, 32. 17- Ibid., 338. 18- Ibid., 47. 19- Layla Aljheny, 181. 20- Julie Rivkin, and Michael Ryan, Literary Theory: An Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), 861. 21- Irene Boada-Montagut, 74.

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Alwarfah (The Lush Tree) by Omaimah Al-Khamis: The Woman and Mass Culture The question of identity is not common in most Saudi women’s novels, and that is what differentiates the novel Alwarfah, as discussed here, from the other early and contemporary novels published by Saudi female novelists. Most of these novels are constructed around a man and woman’s relationship and love. In Al-Warfah, the reader views an authentic setting; the place is familiar to the local reader, which gives credibility to the issues tackled. The heroine, Aljohara, is a successful endocrinologist; nevertheless her identity is shattered between what she is supposed to be according to culture and what she becomes through education and experiences. She tries to create her own identity without wholly abandoning her tradition and culture; an identity that responds to modern life, her new social scientific status and her achievements; the identity that represents the real Aljohara, not the one constructed by norms and social boundaries. Omaimah Al-Khamis, the author, is known as a Saudi novelist and columnist who focuses on the negative and unfair sides of Saudi women’s life without confronting the censorship or using revolutionary language that might irritate the conservative readership. Although Al-Khamis is criticising the accepted social norms, she acknowledges the importance of readership and illuminating censorship as much as she can to reach the targeted reader. In her writing, she immensely contributes to the ideological construction of a woman’s identity, stating that it is also safe to say that Al-Khamis is a feminist writer according to this description of feminism: “Feminism is concerned with the marginalisation of all women: that is, with their being relegated to a secondary position.”1 That is exactly what Al-Khamis does in all her novels. She focuses on women’s struggles, their endless endeavours to be set free from patriarchal authority and the traditional boundaries drawn for them. It is noticeable that Al-Khamis’s works all discuss women’s issues, as in this particular novel. She is a serious, responsible novelist with a mission, ready to explore different important issues, and her way to do that is to write a good story to attract the reader’s attention and not bore him/her with preaching, naked condemnation or idealisation of the situation. “Al-Khamis is thought of as someone who depicts Saudi society in a clear and honest way.”2 She writes from within the culture, creating convincing characters who move, act, think and talk in ways that are true to the Najdi culture, in which the

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story takes place, and where the reader easily recognises the place, dialect and custom. As a woman’s identity is one of the major issues in feministic writings, it is almost impossible to erase the prevailing typical image of “the woman” which has been long established by masculine culture. Al-Khamis defines female identity in this novel by highlighting the feeling of inferiority, as Andrea Puska states in her comments on the feminist approach, giving examples of Afro-American writers. Representatives of this approach are the Afro-American writers Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, who seem to be involved with analysing the effects and influences of the dominant patriarchal culture and its “oppression of women...” Their objectives are probably rooted in their own experience of subordination in society and culture, and they presumably aim to change this unfair condition through a better understanding of female identity, which leads to the creation of more self-aware, determined and independent women.3 This is obvious in the case of the guardianship granted to the young brother over his older, more mature endocrinologist sister. Here, the woman does not have the right to make her own choices without the interference of a man, even if he is younger than her and below her in education and status. The woman is shaped even in her future destiny by man: Children and adolescents learn various social roles and group identifications around which their sense of their identity, that is, their selfconcept, consolidates. These social roles are highly polarized by gender, with a broader variety of acceptable options available to boys than girls. The two main roles available to women are those of wife and of mother. They assume occupational status as well as denoting personal relationships.4

The question of identity is a major theme in Omaimah Al-Khamis’s novel Al-Warfah (Lush-Tree) (2008). The question haunts the reader from the first pages, where the heroine, Aljohara, removes her traditional attire, an Abayah, in the car on her way to work and replaces it with a physician’s lab coat: Slowly, she removes the abayah from her shoulders so no one notices from the other car riders around, she retains the niqab on her face and the lab coat, folded her abayah and places is it on the car seat preparing for the evening return trip, as a woman without an abayah in Alyashah would cause a scandal.5

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Here the reader views a mature woman who is pulled between two worlds: each is completely different from the other. The traditional community is represented in her neighbourhood, Alaysha, where she takes into consideration the inhabitants’ attitudes towards her going out without an Abayah; the other open world contains the hospital and its mixed-gender life. This confusion of belonging springs from the semi-mixed environment of the hospital, which was difficult to find in Saudi Arabia in the late 1980s and 1990s, in which the story takes place. Saudi society tends to view gender belief as two sexes inhabiting separate but complementary orbs. Each sex is qualified for certain activities and disqualified from others. Hence, based on this view, women are best suited for home, teaching and certain delicate jobs as the weaker sex, while men are to enrol in the workforce. These facts raise a question which has been present in other societies as well: what is a woman? Many books, lectures, sermons and writings indicate woman’s importance and her social status, claiming her complete independence. But the realistic novel reveals something different and delivers a message regarding women’s status and struggles within a conservative society. The question of identity is not new; it has occupied the mind of many thinkers, like Simone de Beauvoir, who writes in the opening of book II of her famous book The Second Sex: “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”6 This means that a woman’s identity is constructed and formed by that woman’s own society. Society assigns her certain attributes and roles; therefore, the woman’s identity is derived from man. The author writes for her time and documents for generations to come how the Saudi woman was shaped, and how she manages to construct her own identity through her journey in life and education. The novel has one major story, Aljohara’s story, but within it the reader peeps through other interwoven stories, all dealing with women’s identity construction. The choice of the heroine’s name is very significant, as it means in Arabic a precious stone, a gem. Most conservative writers, journalists, religious scholars and even some activists on social media have the habit of describing the Saudi woman as a gem. They believe that a Saudi woman is precious and delicate, to the extent that she needs protective treatment so as not to expose her to any danger that may harm her mentally, socially, or physically. Of course such beliefs undermine women’s potential and great strength, and gives excuses to those opposing any advancement for women. The novel talks about Aljohara, a Najdi endocrinologist and divorcee who is a resident of one of the oldest elite neighborhoods of Riyadh, Alyashah.

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The story is about a Saudi woman in the 1980s and 1990s who chooses to confront boundaries and to make her own choices without being revolutionary either in tools or the language used. She has an aim, and at the end of the novel she succeeds in achieving it. She has chosen a nontraditional career as a doctor in a traditional society that still categorises the jobs suitable for each gender. The narrative traces the changes that affect her family members and how modern female identity is constructed among various beliefs and limitations. Her life in the hospital and her acquaintances there are hugely different from Alyshah, where she retreats at the end of the day. There, the Najdi norms and views are strictly followed by everyone. Therefore, the heroine, as mentioned earlier, is living in two different worlds: the hospital and the family home. But she is able to find her way through her resoluteness, as the first lines state clearly: When she was able to stand up by herself and take her first steps, she refused to lend her hand to anyone to help her. She is the kind of person who insists on holding the big hand or leaning on furniture rather than lending her slender fingers to anyone, maybe she was trying to overcome her early challenges.7

Hence, Aljohara’s construction of identity started early, before the beginning of the narrative, and does not end with the novel’s conclusion. Unlike most Saudi heroines, Aljohara Almesair is neither a beautiful nor a rebellious woman. She also does not define herself within the marriage institution, but does not reject the idea of marriage altogether. Aljohara represents the contemporary, ordinary, successful educated Saudi woman. Aljohara has achieved what she aspires to in work through patience and hard work. The author, who is true to her society and knows that the majority of Saudi women would not want to confront tradition or revolt against custom or family authority, does not portray a different character from those of real life. Saudi women are not known for leading demonstrations or strikes; nevertheless, they work surreptitiously to achieve their goals. The title of the novel is the key to understanding the work’s message. In a desert country, the tree represents life and wealth for those who own it. There has been always a connection between women and trees: The Tree, in the world, symbolizes the feminine principle, the protecting, sheltering, nourishing aspects of the Great Mother and it is largely from the tree that this sheltering and protection is provided. Wood gives shelter in

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the house; at birth in the cradle; in adult life in the bed; in marriage in the bridal bed and at death in the coffin.8

This study believes that the author was targeting and addressing a larger aim than just entertainment when she chose the title “Lush-Tree” for her novel. She addresses the whole community, questioning its custom, tradition, and beliefs and how all of these affect women’s construction of identity. In that sense, the tree becomes a symbol of a wider context. The tree is not only a world axis but a world image; it personifies the whole of the manifest world. Its roots are in the depth of the earth, in contact with the underworld and the waters and so can draw upon the powers of both. The trunk grows into the light and into the world of time and records time by adding a ring to its growth each year.9

The woman in the novel is like a tree, extending its branches beyond its immediate boundaries. Its extension brings with it greenness, prosperity and shade for whoever takes refuge in it from the heat. The novel tries to establish a history of Saudi women and the construction of modern identity within a national context, as Juliet Mitchell describes: They wrote novels to describe that process – (becoming independent women within the society) novels which said: “Here we are: women. What are our lives to be about? Who are we? Domesticity, personal relations, personal intimacies, stories...”10

The woman in the novel, in her endeavour to construct her identity, does not obey blindly or bend for chastity, religion, or tradition, but she makes decisions based on her own experiences. She is a human being; the reader sees her vicious, racist, playful, miserable and pious aspects, in a sense. She gets into relationships with two men, which is against religion and tradition, but even in that she knows her limits. She is cautious and weighs up her steps and actions. She takes the time to recall and reflect on her adventure; with one of her colleagues, she smiles, as she is amazed by how she indulged in a relationship with someone like Ahmed Shabely: Nothing was special about him except his personality which was like a huge a vehicle raiding all rough places with courage that is almost rude, and he saved her many endeavours to attract his attention. Her heartbeat increases as she hears his steps in the corridor.11

This quote is about one of the male characters, who are not involved in the action or the novel’s events. All the other male characters are also viewed

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or commented on through the woman’s perspective, as the novel is about women, as Ruth Robbins says: Women writers share feminine content or feminine coding in their works. This femininity of writing is the quality that the feminist critic of women’s writing might seek out and analyse.12

As is this novel’s subject, Saudi women deal with various issues regarding tradition and social law. One of the key problems facing most ambitious women is the male guardian, as the reader sees in Aljohara’s training trip to Canada. The family agree under one condition: if one of her brothers accompanies her. The guardian is her younger brother, whom she fed and brought up, while she is the mature, educated endocrinologist: Abdulrahman, her young brother, whom she shared with the ruler, wrote his English homework for him when he was late in writing his mathematics homework. He was Aljohara’s first doll, when he wet himself after his mother’s death he used to enter her room asking her to change his clothes.13

However, while the above passage reflects an inner bitterness and injustice, in another, later passage there is a different attitude toward and partial satisfaction with that unfair role applied only to women. It is according to tradition and out of love and protection that the law of guardianship is applied to women, as they are viewed as delicate people. This is emphasised in the description of Aljohara father’s face at the airport before her departure to Canada: her heart bleeds for the memory of her father’s face darkened and distracted, his eyes sunk in a cloud similar to that she saw in them when she was a freshman at the college of medicine, he was worried that someone might deceive her at the hospital’s corridors or be alone (aktlat) with her or even worse kidnap her during her night shifts. Such worries used to make her laugh but they were engraved on her spirit forever.14

This is part of the construction of a woman’s identity as being different from a man. Aljohara does not revolt against tradition or try to compare herself to her brothers. She accepts this guardianship as her destiny and that goes hand-in-hand with what Ellen Mores says about women writers: they do not usually submit to what they are raised on but fight with the word: They are raised as girls, and thus have a special perception of the cultural imprinting of childhood. They are assigned roles in the family and in courtship, they are given or denied access to education and employment,

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they are regulated by laws of property and political representation which, absolutely in the past, partly today, differentiate women from men.15

Being the product of this environment, she refuses or hesitates to sit with her Hijazi friend as she smokes a cigarette because: “she was afraid the smell would hang to her clothes.”16 In Najed, a decent woman does not smoke, so here she is following custom. In contrast, she does not mind having an innocent affair with one of her colleagues, which is denied by both religion and tradition, but as these adventures are kept secret she does not mind - she is afraid of social stigma and being labelled. These relationships are a threat to her reputation as a physician and a woman but they give her psychological satisfaction and a sense of being desirable, especially after being rejected by the only male who knew her: her exhusband Talal, who cried to his mother after their return from their honeymoon: “I do not want her.”17 This rejection has a deep impact on her womanhood and identity, but the tale starts at a later time. The omniscient narrator starts the novel in the present, viewing Aljohara as a brilliant endocrinologist who has just returned from training in Canada. Her inner thoughts are revealed to the reader along with her reaction towards tradition, hence, it is not surprising that she releases herself in the car from her traditional attire (abayah) and keeps on the lab coat, denoting her professional scientific identity. But that also denotes her fear of tradition and society’s point of view, as she does not walk from the house in such dress. At work in the hospital, she enters a different world where the traditional segregation between the two sexes melts down, but the traditional roles and views which shape a person’s identity are there as an extension of one’s own home: Home is about identity. As Gaston Bachelard (1969) indicates, it is our first cosmos, the location of memories, of identity itself; indeed, all space is imbued with ideas about home. But the notion of home - its meanings and associations – is never fixed and static but it is instead fluid and multiple, changing over time as inhabitants leave, perhaps never to return, as their views alter and change over the life cycle.18

That is why the reader senses the Alysha neighbourhood, with all its laws, present, watching Aljohara’s steps. She has been trained abroad and tried different societies and lived freely, except of her own innate principles, but she chooses to come back to the house in Alysha. The place seems to have had a strong impact on her identity, with all its yeses and nos, and rules about how to behave and act; no matter what she has achieved, she is still a woman in a conservative society. She is a Saudi woman of the 1980s; a

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woman who cannot break free from tradition and custom even if she has achieved success and recognition. Aljohara is situated in her identity construction process in the context of a larger historical transition period of Saudi women’s progress and development in the 1980s and 1990s. She is one of the generations who searched for their real needs without giving in to the social stereotype and image of “the woman” or revolting against culture and heritage. Aljohara never speaks directly to the reader; her inner thoughts and memories are simply revealed to the reader, as abstracts and not actual words. This absence of language indicates an inability to confront the world vigorously, and it is also associated with Aljohara’s social background as a self-restrained person, but she manages to smoothly break free of many social restrictions for her own well-being. The construction of one’s identity includes personal experiences, relationships and “figuratively involves metaphorical or symbolical representation of thoughts or emotions in an expressive way, creating a conceptual visual representation”.19 A person cannot construct her/his identity in isolation from social codes, family, beliefs and tradition, as Susan Dowling states: Identity is linked to racial and cultural heritage, sexual preference and issues of gender, age, and social class. Early socialization and the enduring force of expectations also shape one’s identity from family, friends and community. Some aspects of our identity are constructed for us while other aspects we construct ourselves. Sometimes we quietly hide parts of our identity and other times we loudly project it.20

The people around a person and long-established customs have major roles in shaping that person’s identity and their attitude towards many issues, especially new, unfamiliar ones. Here, Aljohara is in the process of shaping her own individual identity as a modern, educated, working woman. It is not easy for her generation, who saw their mothers socialising only with relatives and submissively accepting men’s guardianship without questioning their own rights in the face of such boundaries and roles. Now that Aljohara is working in a mixed gender environment, she is still not familiar with it and confuses friendly relationships with emotional ones. In her adventurous relationships, she does not seem selective or as if she is searching for a real partner; rather, she just accepts praise and enjoys it. Obviously, she enjoys the space of the freedom allowed to her and invents excuses for herself if she is ever caught, banishing from her head any expected punishment: The phone is her third lung, sometimes it intimidates her sensing Naser’s, her brother’s, hands playing with its wires ... tries to convince herself ...

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that she is their daughter and my father is not strong enough now to ascend the stairs with a gun in his hand as before.21

She is well aware that no excuse will be accepted, and she will not escape the punishment for such adolescent affairs but she cannot resist the temptation to flirt. Her pictures are the tokens of her betrayal of tradition and custom, which view pictures and of a woman’s face as taboo and say that pictures should not be exchanged with strangers. This awareness of the role of covering the face makes her wear her niqab during her working hours, although she knows that, religiously speaking, nothing forces her to cover her face as her female colleagues from other regions do. She knows that covering the face is not a must according to religious principles and she acts accordingly during her stay in Canada. This duplicitousness proves there has been the construction of a new identity other than the usual traditional one. In order to present this construction of a new identity, the heroine at the centre of events is a highly educated, divorced woman of the middle class, and through this semi-beautiful heroine the significance of women’s limitations are evaluated as well as how she reacts to them as a woman with potential. How she overcomes the gender barriers erected around her is significant. Even as she succeeds as a physician and a woman with a mind of her own, she is rejected as a proper wife. Being economically independent means to some people that she has “freedom” of “sexual choice”, because of her work in a mixed gender environment. Kate Millett describes such a situation being a threat to men: Economic independence was consciously as well as unconsciously perceived to be a direct threat to male authority. The freedom of sexual choice, the competence and self-sufficiency of a skilled woman worker, single and receiving top wages…22

Men could not accept women as their equals yet. Medicine is one of the academic majors in which, at some point, it is necessary that male and female students work together at hospitals, and even today, many families hesitate in enrolling their daughters in medicine colleges because of that mixing of gender and the long years of study. Also, there is the social point of view that art and languages are more suitable for girls while boys are encouraged to study medicine and engineering, as Salwa Al-Khateeb states: Eileen Byrne, in her seminal work Women and Education, argues that the educational system is responsible for women’s subordinate status and claims that boys and girls are channelled into subjects of study determined by society as appropriate for their gender. Girls are encouraged to study

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Saudi society still does not accept women working night shifts or working amongst men, even if they are physicians. However, there has been a change in the social view towards work in the medical field; still, there are many people who believe that teaching or staying home is better for women. In fact, some supposedly highly educated women have this view although they work. Of course, the social view varies from one place to another, as Saudi Arabia is a large country with huge distances between its regions. To show this variety and the differences in social pressure levels, Aljohara is contrasted with Cariman, another Saudi female doctor, who comes from the Hijazi region. She is outspoken and assertive. She has gone as far as choosing a foreign husband, which is almost outrageous in Najed. She does not cover her face, while Aljohara is restrained and caught in the web of her tradition. She cannot attend “a medical conference on her own but she wants to be a part of a folk dance society,”24 as Cariman ridicules her dreams. This does not mean Aljohara is completely submissive and is inspired in her identity by that of the accepted stereotype of a traditional woman. Her identity is constructed in different ways through experience, education and work. Aljohara is also contrasted with her two sisters, Hind and Ruqaiah. The eldest, Ruqaiah, attended a female educational institute for teachers. The whole family rejoiced at her decision and start to call her Abla, a Turkish word used to mean teacher. Everyone was waiting for her graduation, but she abandoned her educational career path, preferring to get married. The other, beautiful sister, Hind, a close friend of Aljohara, has been always a source of sadness and jealousy for Aljohara, as she was always the centre of attention with her delicate features and feminine body. Hind was not keen on education and did not seem to see herself within the workforce. Unlike the two sisters, Aljohara did and still does see herself within the science, education and work context. Her family opposed her choice of major, as the idea of studying in a mixed gender environment was not accepted, but she was keen to continue on the path she had embarked on. She spends hours studying; sometimes she fails, other times she succeeds. She was not encouraged by anyone except her mother, and this was criticism rather than encouragement, therefore she has to depend on herself: This unique stubbornness is what pushes her to repeat her courses many times, repeating a course more than once. Her GPA in the preparatory year

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drops low and bravely she manages to raise it with hard work. She was keen on writing details and notes.25

Nevertheless, she is hesitant, and suspended between the traditional female identity and her identity as an educated young woman. This hesitation was clear on her first day in Toronto. She was confused about what to wear, as attire is part of one’s identity and how a person introduces him/herself to the world: She hesitates as she gets ready to leave her room to go to the hospital; what should she wear? Of course not the niqab as she will appear like a batman that she has seen pictures of in the comics, but I should cover my hair and appear decent. Shall I wear a wool hat, but the weather outside is cool and nice.26

Here the reader notices that she has done a great deal to construct her own identity. She chooses not to wear the niqab, which she was keen on doing while she was back in Riyadh, where she puts up with all Cariman’s ridicule of it. She has made a life choice which goes hand-in-hand with her beliefs as a Muslim and with her tradition as a Saudi woman, and wears a scarf around her face, covering only her hair. Hence, there is an emphasis on clothes covering the body, which to Aljohara, has been always a focal point, as Judith Gardiner remarks: A woman’s sense of her gender, her sexuality, and her body may assume a different, perhaps a more prominent, shape in her conception of herself than these factors would for a man. Women are encouraged to judge their inner selves through their external physical appearance and to equate the two. At the same time, they are taught to create socially approved images of themselves by manipulating their dress, speech, and behaviour.27

Gardiner continues to explain that the manipulation mentioned above is a result of the following: In a male-dominated society, being a man means not being like a woman. As a result, the behaviour considered appropriate to each gender becomes severely restricted and polarized. I have postulated that the primary identities of women remain relational throughout life, and girls from the gender identity that defines them as women easily, securely, and permanently.28

This explains her confusion and hesitation about the dress code she will use and which will stay with her as long as she is abroad. As a Saudi and a Muslim she has always followed the proper, accepted physical appearance. With her advanced construction of identity and decisive status, for the first

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time she does not think of the male’s point of view or consent for what she wears: She thought, out of respect, of asking Abdulrahman (her younger brother) and giving him a sense of guardianship but she changed her mind, she knows that she would confuse him with a non-answerable question.29

She does not really need his opinion; she just wants to show her appreciation for him and his assistance in accomplishing her training, as without his company, she would not go. The dress choice is simple, but it indicates the independent identity of a mature woman capable of taking her own decisions. The training becomes a journey of identity discovery and construction free from all social pressure. She steps further, and accepts an invitation from a stranger, the Jewish director of the hospital, to have coffee. Here she steps on two taboos: cultural and religious. She is testing the new freedom granted to her by being away from all familial and social restrictions. Surprisingly, she does not misuse her freedom, and holds the man back, drawing professional lines in their relationship keeping it strictly on a work basis, dealing with him as a hospital director only, when she senses his real intentions are of a sexual nature,30 unlike back home where she has innocent affairs that would not be accepted socially and is under the family guardianship. The reader is aware now of a mature, constructed identity; Aljohara’s journey is not only educational but also one of self-discovery. Being educated helps this woman to realise her priorities in life and retain her self-respect. Her involvement in the labour market also does wonders for her identity construction, as Al-Khateeb observes: Women from rich and middle-class families in Saudi Arabia have benefited from education and employment, while women from working classes are pushed out of the labour market.31

Aljohara comes from a patriarchal society where the culture is based on male authority, either the father or a male family member has the upper hand in most matters, but Aljohara was able to set herself free from this patriarchal heritage gradually through her endeavours to build her independent female identity, as Zsofia Barczi and Gabriella Csizmadia state: self-discovery, the discovery of female identity, can only be realised through liberating women from this inferiority complex, protesting against the prevailing modes of the dominant tradition, and eventually defeating the dominant standards and values 32.

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Now in Canada, she is liberated from the social and traditional restrictions; she draws her own lines which show a great respect for the tradition she was questioning earlier and struggling with. Her attitude towards marriage emphasises her new free identity. Marriage is highly valued among Saudis, both by males and females. According to Al-Khateeb, it is more than just a religious duty: According to Islamic teaching, marriage is a religious duty, a social demand, and a biological necessity. . . There is strong pressure on Saudi women to get married. Marriage is not a matter of settling down, but a decisive requirement of living and enjoying life 33.

Also, most women are obliged to have their male guardian’s permission to travel alone, and still it is not appropriate for a woman to travel by herself, but that can be overcome if her husband accompanies her: A woman cannot travel without her guardian’s permission. Even if she is financially independent, it is not appropriate for a Saudi woman to live in a separate house by herself. A woman therefore is made to feel that she cannot survive without a man. In that regard, many Saudi women look upon marriage as their only way of finding freedom. Marriage is an identity card for a Saudi woman to enjoy her rights as a human being. She feels that marriage improves her status in the family and in society. Marriage gives her the chance to fulfil her motherhood role, which is considered very important for a woman. Also marriage gives a woman the opportunity to fulfil her sexuality in a socially sanctioned way 34.

Things have improved recently, but the social pressure on the importance of marriage is still felt for many reasons. The most important one is to have children, as Dr. Salwa Al-Khateeb’s study shows: There is a great pressure on Saudi women to fulfil this need. Respondents’ words emphasize the importance of children for them. A woman feels that she completes her femininity when she has children, and satisfies her instinctive desire when she becomes a mother. . . I can say that there are different factors that encourage Saudi women to have many children: The religious belief that children are precious gifts of God, and that having them is a religious duty. Women get more power and a higher status in their families when they have more children, especially male ones. Many women believe that having many children maintains the stability and unity of the marital relationship 35.

Aljohara did not remarry throughout the novel. True, she suffers from the social stigma of being a divorced woman, and everyone around her is

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encouraging her to have a second marriage, especially seeing as she does not have children, which is very important in the Saudi culture. Even though I assume her first marriage is there to show the shortcomings of traditional arranged marriages, perhaps more importantly it is difficult for any Saudi novelist to recommend anything other than marriage. Hind, her sister, encourages her to try marriage one more time as she believes that even a half husband with children shared with another woman is better than nothing. As a second wife is an accepted status in the society, especially for divorcees, her sister finds it a solution for Aljohara. In that sense, she was merely searching for the positives in a man: what are his educational qualifications, his background, his principles do not matter. With the accumulative experiences that Aljohara has gained, she rejects the man, Abu Dari, who proposed through a connection with her sister Hind. Her rejection of him is based on her knowledge that his only merit is his wealth, which was gained suddenly: He worked in the early 1970s, at the time of the oil boom, as a truck driver, but with his innate intelligence mixed with a deep rooted desert malice, he bought his own truck. . . by the late 1970s he owned his own business with four trucks, married two more wives, and his bank account rose above six figures 36.

Marriage means more than a child and a husband to mature Aljohara. In contrast with her own recommendations, Hind herself is consistently worried that her husband might have another wife, which exposes the strain in which the Saudi woman lives because of polygamy, something which Al-Khateeb discusses in one of her researches: “the fear of having a co-wife still threatens many Saudi women, and makes them feel worried and insecure in their lives.37” Of course, part of the fear is due to the woman’s economic dependence on the husband which makes it difficult for her to leave, but the choice of women’s work in itself is not new to the Saudi society or other societies. Kate Millett states that: Women have always worked. They have generally worked longer hours for smaller rewards and at less agreeable tasks than have men. The issue of employment during the period of the first phase was simply their demand that they be paid for their efforts, had an opportunity to enter the most prestigious fields of work, and when paid be allowed to retain and control their earnings. . . women had always done menial labour, most of it physically exhausting and tedious, much of it agricultural 38.

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But education has made a difference, as women are now paid better than they were in the old days, thanks to the spread of knowledge through education. Modern jobs for women have given women more power and weight in family decision making, and that has led to the decrease of the man’s social authority to a certain extent, while women’s powers have relatively increased. As one can see here the married sisters’ lives are centred around the husband and how to keep him faithful to one wife, whilst ideas of being independent, loving the self, and believing in their rights as independent human beings are not things which cross their minds. Aljohara, though, does not look at the marriage proposals as a must, but she reflects on them and considers the men as partners for an independent, educated woman. The novel belongs to a realistic tradition, therefore the author places her carefully portrayed characters in a precise social-setting and era, and not only that, but she gives them also a history and family relationships. The novel mixes comedy with melodrama. The author does not explain, she only explores matters of great importance to her women such as patriarchal authority, women’s independence and individuality, and the effects of education on women and society. It is amazing the degree of consciousness the reader finds in the novel, the clarity, and frankness of its analysis, the fairness of the observations, the real self-criticism of social culture and how it deals with women. This paper concludes with this quote, which aptly summarizes the whole novel’s aim: “Female identity is a process,” and writings by women engage us in this process as the female self seeks to define itself in the experience of creating art. “The hero {heroine} is her author’s daughter”: bonds between women structure the deepest layers of female personality and establish the patterns to which literary identifications are analogous 39.

Notes 1- Wilfred Guerlin, Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne Reesman, and John Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature (New York and Oxford: Oxford U.P., 1999), 196. 2- Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia (London: Cambridge U.P., 2013), 191. 3- Zsofia Barczi and Gabriella Csizmadia, ed., Narrative Construction of Identity in Female Writing (Budapest: Eotvos U.P., 2013), 12-13.

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Chapter Five 4- Judith Kegan Gardiner, “On Female Identity and Writing by Women,” Critical Inquiry, 8, no. 2 (1981): 353-354. 5- Omaimah Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah (Damascus: Al Mada P., 2008), 6. 6- Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (London: Vintage, 1997), 295. 7- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 5 8- J. C. Cooper, Symbolism (Wellingborough: The Aquarian P., 1982), 45. 9- Ibid., 42. 10- David Lodge, ed. Modern Criticism and Theory (Essex: Longman, 2000), 388. 11- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 131. 12- Ruth Robbins, Literary Feminisms (New York: Palgrave, 2000), 73. 13- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 225. 14- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 234. 15- Robbins, Literary Feminisms, 80. 16- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 105. 17- Ibid., 19. 18- Mary Eagleton, ed. Feminist Theory (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), 15. 19- Susan Dowling, “Constructing Identity - Identity Construction” Master Diss., Georgia State University, 2011. 1-2 20- Ibid., 2. 21- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 113. 22- Kate Millett, Sexual Politics (London: Virago, 1977), 87. 23- Salwa Al-Khateeb, “Muslim Women’s Perceptions of Equality: Case Study of Saudi Arabia,” Mediterranean Quarterly. 9, no. 2 (1998): 111. 24- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 33. 25- Ibid., 52. 26- Ibid., 231-2. 27- Judith Kegan Gardiner, “On Female Identity and Writing by Women,” 360. 28- Ibid., 359. 29- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 232. 30- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 259. 31- Salwa Al-Khateeb, “Women, Family and the Discovery of Oil in Saudi Arabia,” Marriage & Family Review. 27 (1998): 170. 32- Zsofia Barczi and Gabriella Csizmadia, ed., Narrative Construction of Identity in Female Writing. 13. 33- Salwa Al-Khateeb, “Women, Family and the Discovery of Oil in Saudi Arabia,” 174. 34- Ibid., 174-5 35- Ibid., 178. 36- Al-Khamis, Al-Warfah, 219. 37- Salwa Al-Khateeb, “Women, Family and the Discovery of Oil in Saudi Arabia,” 183. 38- Kate Millett, Sexual Politics, 85. 39- Judith Kegan Gardiner, “On Female Identity and Writing by Women,” 361.

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*Zyarat Saja (Saja’s Visit) by Omaimah Al-Khamis: Condemnation of Materialistic Society Crime fiction writing that deals with death and blood, or detective stories of such a nature are produced and published in many parts of the world. It mainly started in the early 19th century, when crime fiction gained its literary status and became a genre recognized by readers as well as librarians at bookstores and libraries. But if we look at the Middle Eastern writings, specifically those of Saudi Arabia, we will not find any crime fiction dealing with crime as its major subject. True, some novels have crimes as an aspect of man’s evil nature, but this is not placed as a major theme. Interestingly, Saudi society tends to view itself as a crime-free one. This tendency puts pressure on the novelists if they ever want to write on such a subject. None of the profusion of novels published either before or after the turn of the millennium can be called a crime fiction. Looking closely, the recent novel by Saudi female columnist and novelist Omaimah AlKhamis, Saja’s Visit (2013) makes use of a crime scene to explore a hidden silent social crime. It is the crime of culture and society towards women. The author represents the real world without aggravating or altering censorship of many who would consider women’s demands of asserting their rights a revolt against all tradition and accepted social codes. She is cautious not to challenge them in the open or she might be accused of opposing all accepted social norms. The feminist approach is the best approach by which to closely analyse the novel, as it is the most suitable one to study the novel’s aims. The novel’s subject is the criticism of some social and cultural wrongs done to the woman and also it condemns the patriarchal culture, and that responds well to the definition of the feminist approach: Most feminists believe that our culture is a patriarchal culture: that is, one organized in favour of the interests of men. Feminist literary critics try to explain how power imbalances due to gender in a given culture are reflected in or challenged by literary texts 1.

It is a feminist novel and that clearly shows, as its main subject is gender imbalance. It is a continuation of the author’s sequence of writings on women and the awareness of the female identity and demands in the society.

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The author succeeds by choosing a crime scene to tackle the social problems and gender relationships, and by placing the crime within a privileged social class. Her choice of the genre is new to Saudi writings, as writers tend to prefer love stories or to dramatise the current Saudi social problems in their depictions of some of the economic or social shortcomings of the country. Al-Khamis, as usual, has her own distinguished experimental narrative technique which captures the reader’s attention, and applies the rule of Tom Wolf’s remark on crime fiction: “the purpose of the fiction was, among other things, to chronicle a society’s “status details2” (Palumbo), meaning to make the reader aware of the social, cultural and political states of the world described. The role of the crime and the events that follow is to reveal something about the society in which the story takes place, and the pressure it places upon its members. *Earlier published in the International Journal of English Literature and Culture with the title {The Crime of the Elite} The novel is simply a family drama dealing mainly with women and the social pressure on them. It lasts for three generations, its narrators are mostly women from different generations to reflect the cultural and social changes and how the woman deals with them according to her time and personality. Female characters are essential to the plot’s development, the women’s struggles to cross invisible boundaries and their own ways of overcoming them are described in great detail. The female presence is heavily felt, in fact male characters are hardly seen until the crime is committed. This summoning of the male is a necessity, as detective and police force postings are purely male jobs in Saudi Arabia, and these characters are used to show the man’s strong authority. The reader finds him/herself in Riyadh and is introduced to the customs, traditions and the rich lifestyle. The reader is also made aware of the society’s treatment of women and its conventions so as to help the reader understand the circumstances and motivations that lie behind these conventions. Also, the sense of place is important to give a sense of credibility to the story and its events: many real neighborhoods, stores, cafes, and shopping centers in Riyadh are mentioned and the reader is made familiar with all the locations. Al-Khamis writes beautifully and reflectively about this frustrated, fractured family, who live in a huge mansion headed by the father, a business tycoon, and his relationships with his family members. Right

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from the first few pages the reader is greeted with the enclosed women’s world. The novel takes place in Riyadh city, as mentioned earlier, the most conservative part of the Kingdom. However the reader is introduced to a rich, powerful elite, and as with most Saudi families, an extended family. The center of this drama is a prominent male, Abu-Mansour, who is the head of the family, but his actual presence is denied, as it is for most of the male figures in the novel. The readers learn and meet him through the female’s narration and points of view. The family lives in a big compound that has many villas for the wives and children, many servants are mentioned. The mansion is a hell to some while to others it is a salvation. The life there seems to be a modern, luxurious one. Hind is one of AbuMansour’s many daughters from a previous marriage. She is an intelligent, beautiful college student, but lacks warmth from the family and parental love, although her grandmother, Lwulwa, is doing her best to compromise for the lost natural home. Suddenly, this quiet, cool atmosphere is shattered by the news of a crime within the compound, specifically inside Hind’s garden. The victim is Ibrahim Asery, Abu-Mansour’s household financial man to his women, he has been brutally injured and 5 million Riyals that were in his briefcase have disappeared. No one saw the crime or the criminal. Everybody is waiting for his recovery, and to make things even worse for Hind, in the middle of this chaos are the traces of shoeprints found at the crime scene: they are from a man, but there’s a high heel print too! Who are the male and female that were there on the night of the crime? Hind’s villa is not inhabited by any man, so how did the shoeprint come to be there? While Ibrahim is in a coma, many secrets and passions are revealed: pain, sorrows, fears, illegal love affairs, imprisonment, hopes, and the struggle to become something else. The reader is now aware of a different crime that is committed but not condemned, questions arise: is the woman a free being in this family? Whose responsibility is it to free her? Is it a cumulative cultural crime? Is she capable of stepping over these cultural boundaries and asserting herself? The author carefully utilises the plot and story to show the woman’s fear of the man and the power he embodies, which the culture and society grant him. It also exposes the social changes in a certain part of the kingdom. As a crime novel, Saja’s Visit goes in hand with what the novelist L. J. Sellers says:

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Chapter Five Crime fiction confronts the realities of life across various cultures more often and more honestly than mainstream literary fiction does. Crime novels are suited to exploring provocative social issues and showing how those hot-button subjects affect various people's lives, often from diverse perspectives 3.

What he says is applicable to the novel we are dealing with. The familial relationships are tested, examined and many emotions are exposed: passion, deceit, neglect, jealousy, and many more. The reader cannot but sympathise with these elite women who have multiple relationships with the past, present and life itself. The youthful Hind, who does not have a mother’s presence to provide her with love and protection, has a loving grandmother, who, nevertheless, pulls her back to the enclosed female backwaters. Hind is a child of divorce and does not experience family life, also she lacks security as her father is a polygamous man. He furnishes her with money and luxury but not with love. These facts introduce the reader to one of the social victims, the mother, Alanoud, after her disappointment in her first marriage she embraces religion in a blind passion after marrying a supposedly religious man. She submerges herself in charitable deeds, and financial ones for the sake of her second husband. Religion to this mother, Alanoud, seems to be about obeying and seeking the man’s approval. She rarely asks about her daughter and mother. Although her religion instructs her to be attentive to her mother’s needs, she neglects that. She is scared of asserting herself and her past life and gives in to her husband’s instructions regarding her actions and visits. To understand her cold attitude towards her mother and child, the narration through the grandmother’s stream of consciousness gives an account of her past. Alanoud stood on alien ground in her first marriage to AbuMansour and her social surroundings imposed upon her a certain way of acting and behaving, she seems to view herself as dislocated because of the lack of love from her spouse, and their difference in age and social class. She was part of a bargain, her youth in exchange for wealth. As she came from a lower middle class background with no education or job, her mother’s only hope to secure the family’s future was to use the traditional way of climbing the social ladder: marriage. Her picture was sent to AbuMansour and her approval was not important. In that marriage there was bitterness and inner frustration as she failed to capture his full attention and passion. She did not choose to marry him, her mother says about her reaction towards the proposal: “when Abu-Mansour proposed to Alanoud, her father and I were very happy, we did not even try to listen to her

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murmurs or whatever they were, or see the terror in her beautiful eyes”4 She blames her mother for all the pain she went through. She could not ignore or swallow the insult to her femininity that while he was in her room he was calling the other wife and planning to pay her a visit on the same day. Although she never says a word to her mother, she also never forgives the wrong done to her5 She punishes her mother by ignoring her femininity and she knows that hurts the refined older lady: “she visits with eyes with no trace of eyeliner, she pays no attention to her appearance or hair, her cologne bottles are always empty”6 She took refuge in religion, but as she comprehends it, it is mingled with finance and jealousy. She has escaped from Abu-Mansour’s life of multiple women, to another man who is also shared with another woman. Her first experience left her a body without a soul, as Hind puts it: “he {Abu-Mansour} has sipped her youthfulness and left her a cold, dull cup of coffee”7 She complains of her daughter’s attitude towards her, but she forgets that she has lost her the minute she consents to another tyranny in her life, her second husband. The supposedly religious man forgets the fact that she is a mother before her marriage to him and does not allow her to stay long with her children, or even take them to visit their grandmother or their other relatives. The reader does not know them or hear about them. Nevertheless, Alanoud never complains about that, as if he is her ultimate fate that she must give in to. The disappointment of the first marriage left her a wreck. She seems to be a victim of her society’s standards, her life revolves only around her husband and how to please him: She {Alanoud} does not regret leaving her children scattered among their relatives’ houses, every year she accompanies her husband’s campaign to the holy land during the pilgrimage season, making the best to have him for herself two whole weeks without his first wife. She calls him tens of times pretending to ask questions regarding the female pilgrims with her while all she wants is to hear his voice 8.

Therefore, the reader does not know why she rejects the father of her child, because of the other women sharing him with her, or why she accepts another who has a first wife. Is that an accusation against a society that does not accept divorce, or is it another punishment to the mother, especially that he is below the expectations of the ambitious mother? Hind presents wealth and security to the grandmother who is very conservative. She is a university student, rich, and is well served by modern technology. She does not have the frustration which the two ladies from previous generations have. But she always feels like an outsider; she

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is not close to any of her numerous brothers and sisters, not even to her parents. The grandmother, in her fear of losing or hurting Hind has, unintentionally, damaged the girl’s relationship with her half-brothers and sisters, and she comments on why she never disciplines her “the world is tough on her {Hind} and I cannot be too, she is just a child”9 She enforces her feelings of loneliness and of being forsaken by both her mother and father. The grandmother, out of ignorance, implements in the child the fears of all those around her. The choice of Hind’s name is meaningful. It stands in Arabic language for wealth. However, it is not the modern wealth, but it refers rather to ancient heritage, it is to own 100 camels or more. This illusion has an echo in the modern Hind. She embodies the traditional expectations of a woman: pretty, descended from a good, wealthy family, and obedient (at least seemingly) to the male figure, either father or brother. She is surrounded by three circles; reputation, gender, and her grandmother’s fear. The strongest of these circles is the gender; as Mansour Almohous explains the restraints put on women in the Arab world because of their gender: “Islamic law is not applied on the social world as the woman started to lose her freedom and gradually chains were added on her, that led to man’s overpowering and social status”10 The cause of that in the Saudi society, as Almohous states, is the: “social and traditional background besides the economic motivation as the family used to depend on the man as the only bread-winner for the family”11 Also, as Friedrich Engels explains: “In the great majority of cases today . . . the husband is obliged to earn a living and support his family, and that in itself gives him a position of supremacy”12 . Of course to many that has changed, especially to middle class families, but not to all of the elite. To go against the man’s will means to lose all luxury, the comfortable life and any influence. Hind knows that, especially being an only child, and the unspoken fear of losing her luxurious life is transferred to her from the grandmother. Hind is in love with a young man from a prominent family; this love affair is exposed to the reader in the course of the crime’s investigation. However, love affairs are not socially acceptable in Saudi Arabia, and most likely will destroy a woman’s reputation. The grandmother sacrifices Hind in order not to alarm her, and takes a side against her in a move that leads to the loss of the house, and Hind has to move in to her father’s house. Hind’s fear of her father and brothers is tremendous. Unlike the grandmother whose fears are based on financial needs, she is worried

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about her reputation and being a respected person. This fear springs from the fact that society connects sexuality and love affairs, although the two are different things. What Sally Ledger wrote is applicable to Hind’s circumstances: “sexuality had to be family-based and for procreative purposes only”13 . Of course such sexual relationships in the Saudi society are out of the question, as it is a religious community that condemned such acts, but some people like to believe that one thing leads to another. Her fears are understandable as it is not only the wider social view, but also those of her father and brothers; the overwhelming male authority. It does not occur to her to explain to them her feelings or the seriousness of the relationship, and what makes it even worse is the fact that she let her beloved in on the night of the crime. The crime reveals all the secrets. The grandmother’s longing for a man’s warm presence in her life, and the mother’s neglect of her daughter, as she is absent from the whole struggle of her mother and daughter’s dilemma. Hind is the product of social changes, and society’s process of growth and development. She is aware of the man’s imposed power over her. Unlike her mother and grandmother, she does not accept it or take it as natural but she revolts against it softly in her own way. Her thoughts on women and men and their roles in her immediate family are exposed to the reader. Her intelligence is clear to see, as she deals with Sultan on an equal footing and does not show weakness or submission in their relationship. Even when she goes beyond herself and agrees to meet him, it was only once, and she was the one who set the rules. Hind, surprisingly, manages to keep her secret and reaches the shores of marriage with the blessing of all the family. As a member of the younger generation she is educated and aware of the suffering of the other women around her, especially her stepmothers, who come and go in her father’s life as it pleases him. Hind does not consent to the traditional arranged marriage, and refused to be chosen by her potential mother-in-law. She made her own choice, and in doing so she asserted herself and emphasized her own rights. She overcomes the fears of the social fabric which were expressed by Sally Ledger about Victorian society, but I find the words are also applicable here: “the . . . desire to defend marriage as an institution was underpinned by a belief that, without conventional marriage and domestic arrangements, the social fabric . . . would begin to crumble”14 . She chooses someone close to her age and social class, but that would never have been possible without modern technology. The reader hears of her use of Bluetooth, Facebook, and text messaging. She is capable of virtual meetings with her beloved at any time they want. This pervading

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use of technology which is rare in Saudi literature is used to show that the new Saudi female, through education and wide knowledge of the world, has become stronger in the face of conventions and old myths. She is capable of asserting herself without being frustrated or going to extremes. The novel, like fairy tales, ends happily, emphasising the author’s optimistic view of the future and the woman’s struggle which rises from being secondary to the man. However, a hopeful view of a change in the social relationships and a call, or a demand for women to assert their rights is reflected in the chosen closing words. Political power has been supporting women, as Donna Abu-Nasr states: The king has sped up the changes. He granted women the right to vote and to run in the 2015 municipal elections . . . and in January (2013) appointed the first female members to the consultative council, naming 30 women to the 150-member advisory body 15.

But it is still an issue for women, to deal with the social pressure and make use of the political powers of support. In conclusion, the novel tends to suggest an optimistic view of the future. It is also a female response towards a tradition that has been powerful for centuries. Nevertheless, the response is not violent but it shows a woman with full awareness of her rights and duties towards her society, one who acts patiently to achieve what her aspirations.

Notes 1- Guerin, Wilfred, Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne Reesman, and John Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature (Oxford: Oxford U.P., 1999) 196. 2- Palumbo, Dennis. "Through a Glass Darkly: Crime Fiction as a Window on American Culture". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-palumbo/througha-glass-darkly-cr_b_494065 3- L. J. Sellers, “Crime Fiction Collective”. http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-i-read-and-writecrime-fiction.html 4- Omaimah Al-Khamis. Zyarat Saja (Saja’s Visit) (Dubai: Dar Madark, 2013), 79. 5- Ibid., 75. 6- Ibid., 73. 7- Ibid., 11.

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8- Ibid., 74. 9- Ibid., 46. 10- Ibid, 79. 11- Ibid., 78. 12- Irigaray, Luce. Trans. Gillian Gill. Speculum of the Other Woman. (Ithaca: Cornell U.P., 1985), 121. 13- Sally Ledger, The New Woman. (Manchester: Manchester U.P., 1997), 113. 14- Ibid., 12. 15- Donna Abu-Nasr, "Saudi Women More Educated". http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-04/saudi-women-more-educatedthan-men-are-wasted-resource.html

CHAPTER SIX SAUDI WOMEN’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES

Worldwide, women are not represented enough in leadership positions. As Zinyemba mentions, only 7% of the universities in the world are managed by women.1 However, women are now competing for higher positions, and among them, Saudi women. Hence, the recent political achievements of Saudi women have attracted the world’s attention as if they were the only achievements of these women. In fact, Saudi women have registered various successes in the educational, social and health fields. As the reader has seen in Chapter One, Saudi women have had key roles in social and political decision making processes. Being an active member is not new to Saudi women, but in modern Saudi Arabia, women’s active political role has entered a hibernation period for social and custom-related reasons. However, Saudi women’s achievements have matched Saudi men’s in various fields, especially in science, where they also surpass world statistics on women researchers: The Ministry (MoHE) states that 17% of all Saudi researchers are female. This figure seems to be higher than that in Germany (12%), Japan (12%) and Korea (11%), and the same as Luxembourg ... also Saudi women outnumber Western women in worldwide university enrolments and graduation rates.2

Most advancements of Saudi women have been in the educational and medicine spheres. That does not mean Saudi women are satisfied with these two fields alone. Saudi women have registered great progress in different careers; some are new to society. Besides this, women’s social roles have registered a strong presence in the past 50 years. The number of female university graduates has tremendously increased. Some of those graduates pursue their higher qualifications within the Kingdom or abroad, mostly on governmental scholarships. Many Saudi women practice non-professional work as volunteers in various social, educational, cultural and health organisations. A major

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volunteer job, which was a breakthrough in Saudi society, was carried out during the Gulf war in the 1990s. The volunteer women were both young and mature, and worked in hospitals to help in soldiers’ treatment. Women were ready to help and provided workshops to train others. That was one of the major changes that affected women’s traditional social roles. The role of women has also been greatly influenced by the modern transformation of the country, which Annemarie Profanter describes as follows: The Saudi Arabia of 2012 is vastly different from the Saudi Arabia of a century ago that lay dormant with nomadic tribes criss-crossing the land. This country is like a sleeping giant that is just awakening and beginning to exert its influence in a rapidly changing political, economical, and social world. Its growing economic wealth is helping to transform all aspects of living and is particularly evident in the area of education.3

It is true that the introduction of women’s official education is one of the aspects of modernisation which has affected all society’s members. Therefore, major developments, whether social, political, or economic, have influenced the conservative role of Saudi women. That is not to say their progress has been fast and dramatic, but it has been steady and constant. Women have achieved remarkable progress without abandoning the deep-rooted tradition and Islamic principles which might hinder their progress if they did. Therefore women have entered a new arena in education, politics, sport, media and other spheres that did not exist in the past. This chapter will try to highlight their major achievements in those spheres and the new jobs that are now available to Saudi women in the governmental or private sectors, as well as the obstacles they face. Some names will be mentioned, but that does not mean these are the only women involved; they are only representatives of others who follow in their footsteps.

The Educational Field The right to education of both male and female citizens is stated clearly in the Saudi constitution, hence the Saudi government has invested in women’s education. As mentioned in chapter two, women’s education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, which consists mainly of men planning females’ education. In 2009, for the first time in Saudi education history, a woman, Nora Alfayaz, was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Female Education. Saudi women made their optimal achievement when a woman was entrusted to be the rector of the first

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female university, Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University, with all the responsibilities and challenges of such a position. Dr. Aljohara AlSaud, one of the best-known female figures working in education, was appointed in May 2006. PNU consists of 15 colleges, labs, a hospital, and a scientific research centre. There is also student housing within the university, which serves up to 12,000 students. This governmental appointment encouraged other universities to give women important posts. The first to do so was King Faisal University in the eastern province, and Dr. Fayza Al-Hammadi was appointed as the university’s Vice President for Female Student Affairs in December 2014. These posts are very important as they express appreciation and trust in Saudi women who have excelled in the education field. In many private universities, women are more advanced and have been recognised as deans with full responsibility for establishments just like their fellow men. Moreover, new majors are open to female students at universities which were once exclusively for men, like archaeology. The door was opened in 2009 for the first Saudi woman, Dr. Aljohara Al-Sadon, to gain a Master’s degree in archaeology from the College of Tourism and Archaeology at King Saud University, one of the most prestigious universities in Saudi Arabia. In 2011, Al-Sadon became the first woman in the college to be the Vice Chairperson of the Archaeology Department’s female section. With that appointment, the major was opened up to female students. In 2014, Al-Sadon became the first Saudi woman to hold a PhD in Archaeology (Islamic Art) from a Saudi university. Of course, it was not easy, as she explained to me. She had to insist on her right to be admitted to the higher studies program, as there were no female students before her. Besides this, it is almost impossible for a Saudi female to work on excavation sites, but having graduate students will enable the new generation to be hired there. Another achievement is in theatre. One of the most sensitive issues in Saudi society is the theatre and acting, due to the social point of view towards it. There is no real theatre except at certain universities and a few organisations where plays are held during celebrations, but that did not stop Halima Mutheffer from researching and writing a thesis in 2007 on the Saudi theatre and the obstacles facing it to obtain her Master’s degree. The thesis title was “The Concept of Drama in Saudi Theatrical Texts from 1980-2004”. Her thesis is the first to explore the Saudi theatre. Mutheffer explores the Saudi theatrical world from various different angles. Such a study was difficult, as no references were available, plus there was widespread social condemnation of it. Dr. Melha Abdullah is another woman who is a playwright. She has been acknowledged and

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recognised in Saudi Arabia and abroad, and many of her scripts have been performed and are praised by critics. The number of women in education in Saudi Arabia is increasing, as it is abroad. As part of the government’s endeavour to support women studying abroad and to overcome the mahram issue, which conservatives use as a pretext to hinder women from pursuing higher degrees in majors that are not available in Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Education pays all expenses for men accompanying the women until they graduate. According to the Alhayat newspaper on December 27, 2015, the number of female students studying abroad surpasses the number of their male colleagues by 12%. The international achievements of Saudi women studying abroad are wellknown. For example: Gada Almutairi and Elham Abu Aljadayel discovered the cloning of embryos for therapeutic purposes in 2001; Huida Alguyhami is the only consultant in the Middle East who specialises in cardiology; Salwa Alhazaa is another famous name - she was the first woman to be appointed as the Chairperson of the Optics Department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital. Princess Dr. Mashael Alsaud is the first Saudi woman to work at the Space Research Institute in King Abdulaziz city for science and technology (KACST). This institute is the one that launched the two Saudi satellites. Dr. Mashael is the first Arab to be awarded the GIWEH for water in 2011. The international society also acknowledges Saudi women and appreciates them just like the Arab world. An example of a recipient of this recognition is Dr. Maha Al-Saud, who the American College of Physicians (ACP) has appointed as a member of the International Council for the year 2016-17. This appointment involves huge responsibility, as it has a vital role in the development of policies and programs that benefit the public and the profession of medicine. These are only examples of Saudi women’s achievements. The Ministry of Education has recruited a distinguished female faculty as consultants and they are now part of the educational decision making process.

The Political Field For a long time, Saudi women almost did not exist in the political institutions of modern Saudi Arabia. The modern political role of women was introduced in 2006 with the appointment of six women as councillors on the Alshura Council (the Saudi Parliament) representing the major regions of Saudi Arabia. The year 2013 offered the complete political

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empowerment of women: the late King Abdullah made a historical appointment and opened the door for women to be part of Saudi political life. He appointed 30 women to the Alshura Council. This royal decree gives women a 20% quota in the council. It was a strong supporting move for empowering women and women made the best of it. Women’s participation in this consulting council was vigorous when the council voted for a law on violence against women in May, 2013. The proposed law includes 17 articles defining different protections and procedures against all kinds of abuses. In September 2015, the council also voted for women’s right to have their own Difter Alayalah (family booklet), which will enable women to handle all their and their children’s affairs as long as they have a national ID, without being at the mercy of the male guardian in many cases, like registering children at schools and issuing children’s birth certificates. On March 17, 2016, the law was activated, as stated in Almadinah newspaper on the same date. This law, which was proposed by four members (three women and a man), saved women and children from many problems they used to face due to male guardians’ abuse of their rights. Another achievement is when the Saudi women, as represented in the Shura’s female members, participated for the first time in Saudi history in 2015 and were active as members of Albaiah for King Salman Bin Abdulaziz. They were not excluded to a female area, but were among men and were received by the king and his crown princes. The municipal election was a success for Saudi women as they had been demanding to be part of it. After the first election it was announced that women had the right to be elected and nominated, but due to the lack of infrastructure, they had to wait four more years. In 2015, Saudi women were granted the right to be nominated and become candidates. Women were eager to prove themselves and many volunteers, for example as part of the initiative “Baladi”, aided and provided workshops for those interested, as such elections were new to Saudis in general. However, the elections went smoothly, with few difficulties; I will talk more about this later. Saudi women embraced this opportunity and more than 900 women candidates all over the kingdom participated. 20 women won seats through the elections, while 17 were officially appointed, so the number is now 37. The importance of municipal council membership, besides its empowerment of women, is in the fact that this council is responsible for the people’s daily demands regarding local neighbourhoods’ need for light, gardens etc. Women, although they started relatively late compared to men, have surprised communities in their campaigns. They have made

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use of new social media technology in promoting their agendas and were able to compete with men who had more experience. Unlike them, men depended on lectures at certain locations. In 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened its doors for women for the first time, with 26 posts. In 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved forward in empowering women with the establishment of the Women’s Centre. That does not mean women are common within the ministry, as the percentage of Saudi women working in diplomatic posts is 4.5% in 2015, according to Alriyadh newspaper on 21 April, 2015. Of course this is low, but the ministry has opened the door for women to be employed overseas in two new positions: attaché and first secretary. Saudi women have embraced this opportunity and many have applied; some have already been employed.

The Sport Field Sport has been always a neglected subject in Saudi Arabia; when it comes to female sport, as I explained earlier, this is a controversial issue. However, Saudi women did not give in. The first female organised football team, “Kings United” was established in 2009. The members sponsored the club. Reem Abdullah, the team coach, explained to Alarabiya Net on 13 February, 2009, that the team’s matches find acceptance and encouragement from the many people who like to attend. Kings United was recognised by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who invited the team, received them at his office and sponsored them with SR115,000 (around $32,000). According to Alarabia Net, on 26 April 2008 there were 11 female teams for basketball and volleyball. Some private schools and universities are encouraging their female students to practice sports like swimming. In 2009, Effet University organised a basketball tournament for eight Saudi women’s teams to compete with the American University in Cairo. Now there are 26 sport teams: three football teams in Riyadh, 20 different sport teams in Jeddah, and three in the eastern province for basketball, volleyball and football. In 2013 the first female club in Alkubar was opened. But still the importance of sports clubs is not yet generally accepted within Saudi society. Arwa Almutbaqani is the first woman to work as a member of the Saudi Equestrian Union, which now has a section for women interested in riding horses. However, in 2012, two young Saudi women participated in the London Olympics. Sarah Attar completed 800m in 2 minutes, 44 seconds, and

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Wojdan Shahrkhani completed 32 judo matches. They were celebrated widely and many consider it the first step for Saudi women’s sport. In the same year, Delma Mohsen participated in the Singapore Youth Olympics, but she was only representing herself. Before Delma, in 1997, there was another woman who won international recognition: Alia Alhuaity. In 2013, the young Saudi woman Raha Almuharaq became the youngest Arab woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The trip took 60 days from Raha. She was hailed in the Saudi media, and 10 more Saudi women tried to climb the mountain for a humanitarian cause: breast cancer awareness. In 2015, the idea attracted another Saudi female, dentist Nesreen Alhuqail, who aimed at supporting the ADHD society. This increased interest in sport, which has spread to include humane acts to serve communities and the world, exposed a more comprehensive interest in sport in general, and sports have been celebrated and championed in most social circles. Universities have taken the initiative to provide gyms for their female students and faculty. PNU has the biggest gym of all universities. It opened its doors in 2013 and was criticised by conservatives, who waged a war against it on social media. Also, KSU launched its gym in 2015 and a few other universities have done the same. These gyms have many facilities, and some include clinics; unfortunately, some of these demand parental consent for the female student to register. Many sports clubs are available for women, but due to the sensitivity of the issue, they are mostly not called clubs: instead they are known as beauty or nutrition centres. Nevertheless, recently these clubs have been licensed and can operate in their own field. There are a few sports that are recognised and Saudi women take interest in them; for example, Tai Chi, which even has a Saudi female trainer, Amatallah Ba Hatheq, who conveyed to Okaz newspaper on 4 May, 2016, that there are many Saudi women interested in it. Some people still resist women’s sport and some even went to the extent of approaching the royal court in protest. These people have a habit of connecting sport with abandoning religious teaching, which is not true.

Mass Media Saudi women, as the reader has seen, work in the press under both their real names and pseudonyms. Nevertheless, in 1980, Fatinah Shaker became the chief editor of Sayadty (My Lady) magazine, which is published in London. In 2014, Somayah Jabarti became the first Saudi female editor-in-chief of the Saudi Gazette. This appointment is not the

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first achievement in mass media, as two Saudi women had earlier graduated in Mass Communication; both studied abroad in the 1960s. About the first, I could not find much information, even her name, but she studied in Cairo and worked for some time at the Kuwaiti magazine Alnahdah. The second is Shareefah Alshamlan, who became a columnist and a short story writer. She graduated from Baghdad University in 1968. Shareefah is a very well-known voice in Saudi. She writes a weekly column where she expresses her views on political and social issues. At the time the two women graduated, it was not acceptable for a woman to work in mass media, but the scene has changed since Jizan University, a newly established university, opened the doors for women students to study the major in 2009. Women’s achievements in this field continue: in 2006, Dalal Diea became the director of the second program at Jeddah radio – the first woman director in the history of radio. In the same year, women became members of the General Assembly of Alyamamah Press, one of the largest press establishments in Saudi Arabia: five women with full membership were listed. Dr. Fouziah Albeker and Manal Alshreef were elected in 2004 as members of the Aseer Council of Journalism. Another victory was secured in 2008: Nourah Alhutii was elected as a member of the Saudi Journalists’ Commission. In 2010, Haya Almanea became the first woman councillor at a Riyadh press establishment. Saudi women do not only work within offices; in 2009, during Alkurbah’s war with Huthi Yamni on the southern borders, two Saudi women correspondents were there covering the war on the battlefield: Sameerah Madni and Jihan Alhadawi from MBC. The journalist Fatmah Alenzi also wrote about her observations of the soldiers’ daily life on the battlefield. Also in 2009, Sana Mumeenah was appointed as the director of the TV channel Alajial. These are major achievements in the mass media, but not all of them. These achievements paved the way for many different careers which were not available for women before. In 2011, Nashwa Taher chaired the Jeddah Second Commercial Forum, which was attended by both men and women, and concentrated on helping the young people to start their own businesses and enterprises. Gada Alsubai became the executive director at the Saudi General Investment Authority (SAGIA). Alsubai arrived at this position after 13 years of experience at banks. The importance of Alsubai’s employment is that it contradicts the belief that women are incapable of handling big companies and financial issues. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) is one of the establishments that are keen on employing women. It was established in 2004, and in 2007 women were

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first employed. The number of women working there at the beginning was 14; by 2015 the number was up to 64, in various positions and departments (except surveillance; this exception is due to the Ministry of Labour’s regulations which prohibit mixed-gender environments). The organisation’s law does not differentiate between genders when it comes to positions or salaries; all appointments are based on qualifications. Another important organisation where women are equal to men is the Institute of Public Administration (IPA). It was established in 1961 and it is a governmental entity. The scope of the work is to train and tailor programs for the private and public sectors. It also includes a research centre and library. It was exclusively targeted at men until 1982, when there was a demand to train the increased number of employed women. It started with a small office and few staff. The first director was Ruqiah Alduhain. By 2016, the women’s section had its own building with all the required facilities and it is involved in planning and forming policies. Women participate and are involved in all committees and they are an integral part of the decision making process. In February 2016, Almadina newspaper wrote that women were to be employed in the National Guard as security guards, which is a new form of employment that has never been available to women. This opportunity was preceded by the hiring of women at airports to help identify and verify covered women, comparing with the pictures on their ID. In 2016, 30 women who work at prisons were trained to use weapons. Moreover, the Ministry of Transportation opened its doors for women and employed Dr. Asma Bahermiz as a councillor; before that it gave the young generation a chance to be part of the new Riyadh project, Riyadh Train: Rima Alrubian is the first female engineer to work on this project. The Ministry of Labour works hard to employ women: although only 40% of governmental employees are women, this 40% is mostly employed in the education sector. The ministry enforces the ‘Saudization policy’ to empower women. In 2012 it provided 50,000 jobs for them. In April 2016, Alhayat newspaper wrote that the Ministry of Labour had announced that 47,000 women were working in industrial institutions and the number was to be increased, as working in a factory is most suitable for those who do not have degrees, as it does not require advanced education. The ministry was a target of criticism from those opposing women’s empowerment, both male and female, when it implemented a law that had been neglected for a long time: only women are to work in lingerie stores and they are also allowed to work as cashiers. The Ministry of Labour, according to

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Alhayat newspaper from March 4, 2015, in its efforts to support women, has issued many regulations and laws. There is a financial penalty for business owners if they do not obey the law or contracts with working women. During maternity leave, the organisation is to pay full salary for women who have been working in the establishment for three years or more, and half salary if they have worked there less than three years but more than a year. In the private sector, women have taken even more advanced steps: employment has been provided for the educated as well as those with only primary education. As an example, women lawyers were employed first at law suit forums, but they are now licenced to present cases in court (but only to represent women clients). Hotels and furnished apartments are to employ women soon, according to the Deputy of the Ministry of Labour, who informed Alriyadh newspaper on 14 March, 2016. More opportunities are open for women as cooks in restaurants and bakeries; the number of women employed in bakeries was 10,000 in 2015. Most of these appointments are supported by the government, but Saudi women did not depend on that alone, especially the young generation, who do not wait for employment either in the private or the public sector. The young generation is creative, and so are their initiatives. Although Saudi Arabia does not have public movie theatres, as part of the population is still against them and fights them, that did not stop one woman from directing a movie. In 2012, Haifa Almansour became the first Saudi woman to direct a movie. Her film “Wadjda” received national and international recognition. It summarises the average Saudi woman’s daily dilemma with transportation, as women are not allowed to drive. Ironically, in 2016, a young woman won the gold palm tree prize at the Saudi Film Festival for best scenario for “The Wedding Gown”. This is ironic because no movie theatres exist in Saudi, but this young woman tried her luck and through talent she made it. The young generation use social media to promote themselves, working mostly from home. They work on different things, ranging from catering to organising events and conferences and business training. Aleqtisadih newspaper wrote in August 2015 that Saudi women owned 20% of the business licences in the country. Of course this percentage included only those who had opened a business officially and applied for a licence; there are many more who work within their homes. As of June 6, 2016, according to Okaz newspaper, 5,625 Saudi women are trained and ready to enrol in mobile phone stores, not just as saleswomen but also as phone repairers and maintainers. This is the newest job available to women. It may seem very simple to others, but it is a

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development and a new path for Saudi women, as they usually do not work in such jobs.

Obstacles It is true that Saudi women are gaining new territories and advancing every day in many fields, but it is also true that they are still encountering many barriers in their endeavours to progress. Some of these barriers are not limited to Saudi women, but are shared by other women worldwide. As Malak Abu nar puts it, there is a “persistence of stereotypes of gender... unfairness in processes of recruitment and selection... the lack of female role models, and the limited training opportunities”.4 One of the major differences between the barriers that Saudi woman encounter and those faced by other women in the world is that these barriers are not legally stated. There are other international barriers. Abu nar continues: women face more challenges in their careers when compared with their male counterparts, which has been identified as one of the preventing barriers towards women being promoted to senior managerial positions. These barriers include the commitment to balance home life and their career.5

Saudi women encounter socio-cultural barriers that are very strongly implemented within the system. Saudi society highly values the family bonds among its members; however, as Saudi women advance into different, unfamiliar jobs, some of these jobs come with high importance and a wide scope of responsibilities. Nevertheless, the family continues to pressure women and bind them to their traditional home responsibilities and social duties, which are almost a must in the Saudi society, as Mark Thompson comments: At the social level, Saudi women play different roles simultaneously. They are active members of their extended families and equally responsible for the smaller nuclear family. At the national level, their work performance is under constant scrutiny. Additionally, women are expected to upgrade and reshape their professional skills in order to improve outcomes.6

That puts huge stress on women, as they have to balance work and life duties, otherwise she is to be blamed for any imbalance. They are always in competition to prove themselves to those who doubt their abilities or are against women’s employment in general. Two of the problems that these women face, especially in the industrial field, are the lack of nurseries at workplaces and long working hours. This field is preferred by those who

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have not completed an education, as it does not require a degree or advanced skills. The male guardian (mahram) is a major obstacle for Saudi women, as many establishments require permission from such a person in order for a woman to continue her education or to work. This guardian can be a woman’s father, brother, uncle, or husband, and in some cases, her son. I have discovered through my work experience that it is not a legal regulation but a custom. Private universities, for example, do not require such approval for enrolment or employment. That proves it is not inherent to the system, as companies and banks do not ask for it or make it a requirement while they work within the kingdom. It is a custom that has become so strong because the people in charge have not revised or rethought it, although many are calling for it to be dropped. Unfortunately, many women are not aware that such requirements have no legal grounds. Another important impact on Saudi women’s development is that of conservative religious scholars. They perceive any unfamiliar development as a gate to “Westernisation”. They always create confusion and use the women’s issues to control society. Columnists who call in their writings for women’s empowerment are attacked on social media, as it is the conservatives’ favourite medium. These conservatives create hashtags on Twitter accusing the columnists of abandoning Islamic principles, social customs, and tradition. Among those who have been attacked are Mohammed and Hussah Alshaik, Turki Alsudairy and Turki Alhamad. It is likely the average person will take their word for granted and react according to it, as the Saudi society is a pious one. Electronic blogs are another arena for conservatives, where they discuss their favourite subject: “the woman”. Abdulmuhsen Alabad published on his blog an article with the strange title “the westernized continue their attack to loose women in the two holy mosques’ country”. The title has a religious implication to emphasise what he thinks is a sin. The country is not the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but the country of the two holy mosques. Another accusation is that those calling for women’s empowerment or empowering them are against their country and are unpatriotic. He has even attacked the official appointment of women to the Alshura Council and warns against municipal elections for women. This goes hand-in-hand with Amani Hamdan’s description: Some Saudi conservative religious scholars often use the ‘women’ issue as a pawn in the struggle between tradition and modernisation. The chief aim of this group is to control not only women but also the entire Saudi society.

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This also explains the continuous rejection by some conservative religious scholars of any progress relating to women’s issues, and the constant references to the ‘Westernisation’ of women by Western “infidels” and ideologies.7

Many jobs for women have been halted or had their implementation delayed because of such people, like cashier jobs and working in lingerie stores. Fatwas have been called by some conservative scholars against such things. Although such a fatwa is far from the Islamic spirit, which calls for equality between genders, when it comes from pious figures, it has its impact on simple people, which makes many apprehensive about such jobs. There have been fatwas from some conservative scholars stating that women are not to work in such places because such work demands interacting with men. Many women have been hindered by such fatwas, and have been hesitant to go ahead with employment or decided to search for a more acceptable job. It took the Ministry of Labour a few years to implement the rules that allowed this employment. Such interference from conservatives creates a paucity of available jobs. This point of view seems to stem from a misunderstanding of Islam, as Islamic principles do not stop the women from interacting with men on a business basis and history is full of examples of women merchants. This guardianship, which some conservative religious scholars enjoy practicing, does not pass without being criticised, as many columnists and social media activists have defended the women working in such jobs. These writers and Twitter users explain their defence of women’s right to work in different jobs, and used the same argument as the conservatives, using examples from Islam to enforce their point of view. The conservatives are not always men, as there have been women fighting against other women’s right to work. Many of these conservatives are working women, if not all. They are against many things that would be for women’s benefit, for example issues in regard to women’s health; there are even those fighting against implementing a law against sexual harassment. Many support the columnists’ views regarding women’s issues, but it is difficult to support them openly, as religious scholars use religion in their debates and many are afraid of the social stigma. According to Okaz newspaper on 16 March, 2016, the Commission of Promoting Virtue and Prevention of Vices has prevented private pharmacies from employing women pharmacists even if there is a partition between male and female customers. Such prevention discriminates against women as male pharmacists are allowed to deal with both sexes, unlike their female colleagues. This interference with employment will negatively affect pharmacy graduates, as it will limit the jobs available for the women amongst them. However, such debates have encouraged the

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average woman to rethink and consider the conservative views in a different light and start to discuss and ask for proof, unlike before, when they used to accept religious conservatives’ views and take them for granted. The only problems that still persist are customs and traditions, which restrict women and are deeply rooted. It is difficult to change these, although things are better than they used to be. An example of the power of custom is women’s national ID. This ID emphasises women’s individuality and citizenship, but it was rejected by many because it has their photos on it. It was issued for the benefit of women and to protect them from any fraud that might happen, like her identity being impersonated in the absence of any document. It was first issued in 2001, and in 2013 the Council of Ministers decided that the ID was a must for all adult females. It was to be implemented gradually within seven years, and it will be mandatory to have after that. Many people (unfortunately most were women) rejected the idea and find it repulsive to have to have their photo on such a card. Many encouraged others to protest, especially women students at universities. However, it was also welcomed by other men and women who appreciated the protection of their rights and emphasis on their individual identity and independence. Even today, ‘photo phobia’ still exists, as many women and personnel at institutions cover ID photos without even asking women if they mind before they take copies for a work purposes due to the belief that a woman should cover her face. This tradition of covering the face may lead, as I mentioned above, to impersonating the identities of women if photos are not verified with the person on the spot. Transportation is another problem the Saudi working woman faces. Saudi lacks public transportation, although the Riyadh Train will solve the problem in Riyadh (but, of course, not in other cities). The solution for many is a private driver, which is costly, but is the best choice now, as women are not allowed to drive yet. The extreme conservatives try their best to marginalise women, especially during intellectual and cultural events. In March 2015, during the Riyadh book fair, a woman speaker was banned from sitting on the stage with men to give her speech. This action was considered racism by many intellectual women and that led to protests on their part. The author Omaima Alkhamis refused to participate due to this segregation, and so did the artist Najla Alsaleem. This awkwardness in the presence of women keeps recurring whenever a woman is about to embark on a new experience or job opportunity which conservatives do not approve of or do not

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understand. A good example of this is the municipal elections. This is a new experience for both women and men. Women took the chance seriously, organising themselves and providing workshops for those interested. In this election Saudi women broke a glass ceiling and were nominated and elected. However, during the experience they faced many challenges, which they complained about in the press and social media. Again, conservative religious scholars interfered and issued a fatwa stating that elections are against Islamic teachings and women are not to take part in them. Some responded to this fatwa and refused to participate; others were sceptical about it while many went forward. Unfair regulations were issued, maybe to calm those conservatives, but were criticised and discussed by many. Women were not to talk to men except through male representatives; otherwise she would pay a penalty. One of the requirements was an identification letter for the woman participant from the mayor, and the problem was that some mayors required a male guardian’s presence at the mayoral office with the woman, which made it difficult for her. Women to be candidates were to submit a list of their activities, lectures, agendas and signs of their campaigns including the colour, size and location before they were considered confirmed candidates. Based on Huton Alfasi’s article, published in Riyadh newspaper on 11 October 2015, the list of candidates was not available for all and was difficult to access. The women candidates were not allowed to contact women in their area to explain their programs and agendas, and were not given any information about them. Many people were distressed and expressed it on social media and in newspapers as well. In these expressions, the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs was criticised for the segregation policy at municipal council members’ meetings and an explanation for this policy was demanded. This questioning came because there are many mixed committees that work together in various fields. Ginan Alghamdi discussed the issue at length in Alwatan newspaper on 10 February, 2016. Women reacted to this policy, and two women members, Lama Alsuliman and Rasha Hefzi, who were members of Jeddah Council, resigned as a protest against the policy. Many supported the two members in their decision, as Maha Akeel wrote in Saudi Gazette on 2 February 2016: I was disappointed, dismayed and depressed to say the least. Before the news came out, many women and men supported the stand taken by the two elected women to Jeddah municipality council, Lama Alsuliman and Rasha Hefzi, of their right to sit in the same room with their male colleagues. The fact was that there were no regulations on the seating arrangement in the main bylaws of the council.

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Other municipal councils were silent about it, as they were happy with the women’s participation and they believe time is capable of overcoming many challenges. An important challenge that is imposed on Saudi women is in court. There is no documented Personal Status law in Saudi Arabia, and it is left to the judgement of the judge. This creates a lot of problems, as the verdict taken is influenced by the judge’s background and tradition.8 Another problem is that some judges require the presence of a male guardian with the woman, which may create a problem, as he might be the opponent.9 Women suffer from social stigma if they raise cases against their husbands or members of their family for infringing upon their rights. Mohammed Bin Saeed found that 82% of women, including some university students, were unaware of their legal rights.10 These challenges do not mean that the Saudi woman’s road is blocked, as many issues have been solved and many achievements are secure, with more on the way. All they need is awareness and the will to continue their progress and development in life.

Notes and References for Chapter Six 1- A. Zinyemba, “Leadership Challenges for Women Managers in the Hospitality and Financial Services in Zimbabwe”. International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social Sciences. Vol. 2 (2013): 51. 2- Annemarie Profanter, “Achievements and Challenges in the Educational Realm in Saudi Arabia”. European Scientific Journal. Vol. 1 (2014): 211. 3- Ibid., 207. 4- Malak Abunar, “Challenges in the Career development of Women in the Private Organisations in Saudi Arabia” (London: Brunel University, 2010): 3. 5- Ibid., 7. 6- Amani Hamdan, “Women and Education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Achievements”. International Education Journal. Vol. 6 (2005): 58. 7- Muhammed Bin Saeed, “Mauqat Altagadi fee dua maqased Alsheryah Alislamiah” (Litigation Obstacles in Light of Islamic Law Ultimate Objectives). PhD, KSU, 2012. Vol. 1, 86 8- Mark Thompson, “Saudi Women Leaders: Challenges and Opportunities”. Journal of Arabian Studies: Arabia The Gulf, and the Red Sea. Vol. 5 (2015): 8. 9- Ibid., 273. 10-Ibid., Vol. 2, 36.

CONCLUSION

I have tried in this book to verbalize and explain Saudi women’s accomplishments and obstacles, some of which they have overcome, others with which they still struggle. The book also aims at highlighting the journey of this woman over a period of 100 years. Throughout the book, I have concentrated on the major fields and achievements, and mentioned pioneering women’s names who have left their footprints on the Saudi woman’s developments to come, as the Saudi woman has contributed greatly to her society in all aspects available to her. She has taken all posts seriously and proved herself in all jobs available to her. She has been a crucial factor in modern Saudi society’s development. The Saudi woman today stands up firmly and confidently to the challenges and restrictions of her social customs that do not always treat her fairly. This book’s chapters involve facts originating from Saudi history and society. The book presents a document to the reader who might not be familiar with the Saudi woman’s life, achievements, and struggles. This woman struggles with conservative traditions and social structures that have a huge impact on the woman’s life and choices, like the family’s impact. As in any society the Saudi woman faces many obstacles in her journey of development, but they do not stop her from making accomplishments. She is inspired by the active, bright role models of women in Islamic history and by their ancestors as well. The preceding analysis where the reader was engaged in a journey of the past, passing to the present with a glimpse of the future of the Saudi woman confirms the progress and development that she has secured. Obstacles are always there but in the present they are more challenging as her demands have grown too, and also because of many complicated factors like customs, religion, economic and social status. But how is this woman capable of achieving despite the fact that she encounters many difficulties? One possible explanation is that it has been proven that the society in the long run accepts what the government decides, especially the resolutions regarding empowering women, as most of the women’s achievements have been empowered and supported by the government, starting with allowing education when part of the society was rejecting it. Another reason is the spread of women’s education which increased the

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number of women graduates, indicating the presence of skills which are required for many jobs in the modern economy. Besides, Saudi women now have better access to new opportunities and they are more aware of what they want in life. They are more individualised than their grandmothers and their demands are higher than they used to be. The Saudi woman now enjoys the privileges that she has acquired. Her road was not easy as many things were hindering her, especially the family’s restrictions which still persist, but not as in the same way that they used to. The indicators of change for the better are clear as the reader has seen in this book, especially in the novels’ analysis in chapter five. What used to be taken for granted regarding women’s ways of life is not accepted any more. The Saudi woman has two strong points that help in her empowerment: her education and the reforms within the country as a whole. The political will also supports the woman, especially with the presence of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, who is known among his nation for being one of the wisest and smartest men and a very well informed leader. This political support plus the awareness and ambition of the new Saudi woman who believes in herself and her capabilities, as she has proven herself in various posts, encourages the woman to raise the limits of her demands. It is not a secret that the idea of having a woman minister is discussed now in many female circles. The same idea was ridiculous to talk about in the past, or even to think about. I remember eighteen years ago I was discussing some students’ issues with my daughter’s school principal, back then I mentioned that the new generation should be dealt with differently and should be prepared for a different time and new responsibilities as some of them might become ministers, at the moment I uttered these words I saw a sarcastic unbelieving look in her eyes. I am sure if I ever meet her again she will take the idea more seriously than she did at that time. According to Alsharq newspaper on 3 September 2015, the women participants in the second national forum of businesswomen, which was held under the auspices of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, demanded more empowerment for women and to involve them in the higher management of big companies like SABIC and ARAMCO. Such demands were unthinkable in the past. Women are now also demanding to be part of the decision making in economic strategies. Not only that, but women discuss openly in the press their demands and criticise the customs that do not do them right. Some even went the extra mile and started by themselves to enable change, like the issue of the face cover, which is mainly a custom issue, but used to be forced upon women. Lately, on 10 May 2016, the Alshura council and security scholars called for enabling women to be part of the training to be qualified for more jobs within the

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security sector. All of the above emphasises the change within the society towards women’s empowerment, and also the woman’s readiness for the changes which promise more opportunities for the Saudi woman. Another sign of change is clear from the views regarding the issue of women drivers. In 1990, some women took the initiative to drive but were condemned by most of the society and were harshly criticised. The issue died for the next decade as the society was not ready to accept and change the custom. In 2005, the call for women driving came back with more supporters on both sides: men and women, and was met with a wider social acceptance, although it should be said that the resistance is still strongly felt. Therefore, the future seems to be brighter and more promising.

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GLOSSARY

Abayah: traditional black attire which Saudi women wear outside their homes. Abla: originally a Turkish word, used for female teachers. Aktlat: the mixing of genders. Alarbeetah: plural of Rabat, a place used for charity and religious teaching known mostly in Mecca and Medina. Albaiah: the official Islamic ritual of the citizens pledging their loyalty to the new King. Alhadeeth: the prophet’s sayings and the second source of law for Muslims. Alhija: Arabic alphabet (the vowels) and writing using vowels. Alkhawa: (brotherhood) an exchange between the Hader and Bedouin where the Hader pays the Bedouin for protection from other tribes. Almaalamah: derived from the noun ‘Alm’ meaning knowledge, a teacher. Almaqraa: derived from the verb ‘qaraa’ meaning read, the place where teaching takes place. Almeelamah: another name for a place of teaching, or a school. Almutuaa: a female teacher. It has a religious implication as she only teaches the Quran. Almuqreea: a female teacher. Alouqilat: Najdi men who travelled to the north of the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt for work in the 19th century and early 20th century. Al-Rabat: a place used for charity and religious teaching, known mostly in Mecca and Medina. Alraudah: a neighborhood. Alshaika: a female teacher. Alsharqia: the Eastern woman. Alshuraa Council: the parliament. ARAMCO: a Saudi Oil company. Baladi: my country. Baiz: a pot holder. Bedou: nomadic tribes. Burqa: a black face cover with two holes for the eyes, used mostly by Bedouin women.

140

Glossary

Dalalah: a peddler, a woman who carries her goods in a bundle over her head and goes around the rich houses. Difter Alayalah: ID transcript which has all official information of the family members. Faqeeh: usually religious scholars, and sometimes used for teachers. Hader: Sedentary, the people living in villages or cities. Imam: to head others during prayer, must know religious teachings well. Iqt: homemade biscuits made of milk. Kadah: a partition, one side for the man and his guests, the other for the woman, the children and family life. Kutab: a kind of school at which children are taught. Kutbah: the sermon that is delivered before Friday’s noon prayer. Mahram: the male guardian. Mehar: dowry, the groom’s gift to his bride. Mualem: a male teacher. Mula: a male teacher, this word has a religious implication. Mujabab Alkutbah: a roofed place to listen to the Friday preaching. Muqra: a male teacher. Mutuaa: a male teacher, this word has a religious implication. Nakhwa: a war cry, pride. Niqab: a black face cover with two holes for eyes used mostly by Hader people. SABIC: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation. Shemer tribe: one of the tribes that live mostly on the northern Arab peninsula. Surahs: Quranic verses. Ustath: a male teacher. Wejar: Where coffee is prepared with wood or a charcoal fire, they can have different shapes. Yashmek: a white half face cover, believed to be a Turkish custom. Zimam: a piece of jewellery worn on one side of the nose.

Acronyms ACP ADHD CMA Fatwa GIWEH IPA

American college of Physicians. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The Capital Market Authority. Islamic Religious Opinion that should be issued by religious scholars. Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health. The Institute of Public Administration.

Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

KACST KSU MOE/MoHE NCAAA PNU SAGIA Saudization

141

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. King Saud University. Ministry of Higher Education. National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation. Princess Nora University. Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority. The official Saudi policy that aims at employing Saudis in the private sector.

INDEX Abdullah, Melha, 163 Abdulaziz, King, 11, 13, 25, 28, 51, 187 Abdullah, King, , 1, 47, 58, 164 Abdulmalik, Warda, 164 Abdulrahman, Nora, 5, 11, 24, 25, 38, 162, 185, Abir Al-Sahra, 60 Abu Aljadayel, Elham, 163 Abu Gahas, Fatemah, 15 Abu Khaled, Fawziah, 30 Abunar, Malak, 177 Abu-Nasr, Donna, 69, 114, 115 Abused Women Who Kill Their Partners, 80, 86, 89, 183 Acto, William, 76 Adila, Princess, 58 Aedrous, Mohammed, 29, 39,183 Aein Aljwa, 16 Afeef, 19 Ajman tribe, 13 Alabad, Abdulmuhsen, 173 Al-Akroun, 67 Alarbeetah, 50, 191 Alaref, Yousuf Hasan, 26, 183 Al-Attar, Sarah, 44 Al-Awzan Al-Bakiya, 60 Al-Bar, Mohammed, 48, 53, 183 Al-Baz, Rania, 82, 89, 183 Al-Beker, Fouziah, 31 Al-Bisher Badriya, 8, 9, 24, 65, 183 Albraziah, Mouidi, 55 Al-Dabaq, Fayzah, 38 Al-Dakheel, Wafeeqah, 49 Alduhain Ruqiah, 169 Alem, Raja, 64 Al-Essa, Ahmed, 42, 53 Alexandria, 30, 62 Alexandria university, 62 Alfaisal, Lateefah, 32

Alfaisal, Sarah, 51, 52 Alfaisal University, 45 Al-Faiz, Nourah, 48, 59 Alfao, 18 Alfardous Alyabab, 83 Alfasi, Huton, 176 Al-Ghtani, Sultan, 69 Alguyhami, Huida, 163 Alhadawi, Jihan, 168 Alhafouf, 46 Alhamad,Turki, 172 Alhammad, Dahia, 41 Al-Hammadi, Fayza, 162 Al-Harbey, Dalal, 24, 25, 38, Al-Harthy, Randa, 59 Alhaydary, Ibraheem, 24, 184 Alhazaa, Salwa, 163 Al-Heriz, Seba, 67 Alhuqail, Nesreen, 166 Alhutii, Nourah, 168 Ali, Abdullah, 184 Alice, Countess of Athlone, 184 Aljarallah, Fauzia, 56 Aljheny, Layla, 83, 89, 90, 184 Aljoharah Bint Al-Imam Faisal Bin Turki, 28 Aljoharah, Princess, 28 Aljouf, 14 Al-Juhaiman, Abdulkareem, 32 Alkeder, Abdulaziz, 39, 53, 184 Akeel, Maha, 176 Al-Khateeb, Lateefah, 38, 57 Al-Khateeb, Salwa, 10, 24, 26, 100, 104, 107 Al-Khamis, Omaimah, 66, 90, 91, 92, 106, 107, 108, 109, 184 Alkhubar, 51 Al-Kuthailah, Hind, 47 Almadinah almonourah, 83 Al-Mana, Suád, 55, 68

144 Al-Mana, Aziza, 61 Al-Manasaerah, Hussain, 67 Almanea, Haya, 168 Almansour, Haifa, 170 Al-Masoud, Abdurazag, 26, 184 Al-Median, Modie, 29 Al-Mesned, Abdulaziz, 37 Almuharaq, Raha, 166 Almusalm, Mohamed Saeed, 184 Almutairi, Gada, 163 Almutbaqani, Arwa, 166 Al-Nasser, Hala, 56, 59, 69, 184 Al-Olayan, Gumashah, 64 Al-Othemeen, Abdullah, 184 Alouqilat, 14, 191 Al-Owain, Mohammed, 69, 184 Al-Qasemy, Abdullah, 32 Al-Qahtany, Eman, 59 Al-Qashamy, Mohammed, 39, 69, 184 Al-Quthami, Sarah, 58 Alqateef, 19, 25, 184 Al-Rabat, 65, 193 Al-Rasheed, Homoud, 12 Al-Rasheed, Huda, 62 Al-Rasheed, Madawi, 6, 13, 17, Al-Rasheed monarchs, 7 Al-Rashed, Naser, 37 Al-Refaie, Hashem, 185 Al-Refay, Khaled, 185 Al-Rehany, Ameen, 16, 25, 185 Alrubian, Rima, 169 Al-Sadon, Aljohara, 162 Al-Shaaer, Haia, 29 Alsaggaf, Khayriah, 56 Al-Saif, Hailah, 29 Alshaik, Hussah, 172 Alshaik, Mohammed, 172 Alsaleem, Najla, 175 Alsanaa, Raja, 66 Al-Saud, Albandary, 82 Al-Saud, Aljoharah, 49 Al-Saud, Maha, 163 Alsaud, Mashael, 163 Al-Shamak, Mohammed, 31 Alshamlan, Nora, 5, 24, 25, 38, 185

Index Alshamlan, Shareefah, 167 Alshanqitiya, Khadija, 55, 60 Alshareefah Nur Al-Hashemi, 30, 39, 185 Alshathliah, 30 Al-Shehry, Faiz, 13, 25 Alshreef, Manal, 168 Al-Shubaiki, Aljazi, 52 Alshuraa Council, 44, 191 Alsudairy,Turki, 172 Alsubai, Gada, 168 Al-Subaie, Muneerah, 66 Al-Sudairi, Sultana, 57, 60, Al-Sybai, Ahmed, 60 Altorki, Soraya, 47 Al-Walaayee, Abdullah, 25, 185 Al-Warfah, 66, 90, 92, 106, 107, 184 Al-Washmey, Abdualah, 29, 39, 40 Alyaqadha Society, 51, Al Yousef, Abdullah, 86, 89 Alyousef, Nuorah, 42, 53 Al-Alzahem, Ibraheem, 24, 54, 186 Al-Zahry Abu Abdulrahman Bin Ageel, 186 Amal Almaraah Fi Almeezan, 48, 183 Ameen, Qasem, 48 The American University, 74, 166 Anderson-Gold, Sharon, 89, 193 Anqaui, Fuad, 56 Aquinas, Thomas, 80 Arabian Peninsula, 2, 5, 191 Aseer, 15, 18, 20, 25, 27, 35, 168, 188 Ashour, Radwa, 69, 70, 186 Augustine, 80 Awad, Muhammed, 32, 39, 185 Baashen, Lamia, 68 Babsaeel, Alsaid, 30 Bachelard, Gaston, 98 Baghdad, 24, 84, 87, 167, 184 Ba Hatheq, Amatallah, 167 Bahermiz, Asma, 169 Banat AlRiyad, 66 Bareek Ayneeak, 62

Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Barczi, Zsofia, 103, 106, 107, 186 Baumeister, Roy, 73, 76, 78, 79, 186 Bedouin woman, 2 Beeshah, 18 Beirut, 58, 60 Bell, Gertrude, 17, 19 Beny Sheher tribe, 13 Bin Abdulatif, Abdullah, 11 Bin Abdulwahab, Mohammed, 11 Bin Saeed, Mohammed, 176, 177, 186 Bin Talal, Alwaleed, 166 Bint Al-Jazira Al-Arabia, Samira, 61 Bint Saud, Fahdah, 34 Bin Zagr, Safiya, 34 Boada-Montagut, Irene, 81, 85, 89, 90, 186 Bu Humaid, Sara, 35, 39, 186 Buridah, 29, 32, 33 Campbell, Donna M, 69, 186 Catalan literature, 81 The Centennial Fund, 50 19th century, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 14, 22, 23, 30, 107, 191 21st century, 6 Challenges, 3, 94, 160, 162, 175, 176, 177, 179 Chamber of Commerce, 50 Charity, 50, 51, 52, 65, 191 Charitabl soiety Cooper J. C, 106 Cradle of the Arab Race, 5, 24, 186 Daharan, 33 Darat Almalk Abdulaziz, 28 Dar Al-Hanan, 34 Dickson, Violet, 11, 13-14 Diea, Dalal, 168 Dowling, Susan, 98, 106, 186 Dowry, 22, 23, 85, 192 Dr. Faust, 72 Dubai, 34 De Beauvoir, Simone, 93, 106, 186 Eagleton, Mary, 106, 186 Effet, Princess, 34, 51, 166

145

Employment, 38, 42, 45, 46, 48, 49, 66, 97, 103, 105, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174 Engels, Friedrich, 113, Fatat Alkhaleej, 51 Foucault, Michel, 74, 78, 187 Gabriella, Csizmadia, 103, 106, 107, 186 Gaden Saecoon Alkhamees, 62 Gardiner, Judith, 77, 79, 102, 106, 107, 187 The General Assembly of the United Nations, 79 The General Presidency of Girls, 35, 37 Gender, 5-6, 8, 17, 19, 21, 36, 48, 63, 66, 68, 92-94, 100, 108, 112, 168, 171, 173Ghammed, 20 Ghazoul, Ferial, 69, 186 Gill, Gillian, 115, 187 Grace, Daphne, 56, 69, 186 Great Britain, 62 Gubeerah, 88 Guerlin, Wilfred, 106 Gulf region, 60 Hader, 7-8, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 191-192 Haider, Khaleel, 67 Hale, Dorothy, 69, 187 Hamdan, Amani, 173, 177, 187 Health Education, 46 Heng, Geraldine, 87 Higher education, 2, 36-37, 40-41, 43 Hijaz, 18, 22, 27, 29-31, 35, 50, 60, 65, 97, 100 Hind Wa Alasker, 65 Hufny, Zaineb, 64, 71, 78, 79, 187 The Human Rights Commission, 88 Hurgronje, Christiaan, 19, 22-23, 26, 30,39, 187 Hussein, Saddam, 87 Hussa, Princess, 34 Husney, Hussain, 19-20, 25, 26187 Ibn Besher, 5,16, 25, 187

146 Ibn Ghannam, 11, 24, 187 Ibn Laboun, 12 Ibrahim, Bin Mohammed, 33 Imam Abdullah Bin Faisal, 11 Imam Mohammed Bin Saud, 11 Iraq, 14, 55, 83-84 Irigary, Luce, 115, 187 Islam, 22-23, 30, 74, 79, 83, 87, 173-174 Islam, Sameerah, 30 Jahleeah, 83, 89, 189 Jeddah, 30, 34,36, 45-46, 50-52, 59,63, 67,166, 168, 176 Jizan University, 45, 59, 168 Jordan, 82 Jubah, 14 Euting, Julius, 18, 25, 187 Kamaly, Suliman, 20, 26, 183 Kashem Dashlah, 18 Kayal, Faizah, 44 Khashugjy, Sameerah, 51, 58, 62 Khawatir Musarraha, 32 Khayyat, Najah, 61 Khazindar, Mona, 49 King Abdulaziz city for science and technology, 163, 193 King Abdulaziz University, 36-37 King Faisal, 32, 34, King Khaled Charitable Foundation, 82 King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, 164, 180 King Saud, 33-35 King Saud University, 30, 36-37, 162, 193 Kings United, 166 Kutab, 27, 29-30, 193 Kuwait, 34, 55, 167 La Ash Qalbi, 65 Labor, Earle, 106, 115 Lady Ann Blunt, 5, 17, 24, 25 Lady Macbeth, 80 Lebanon, 58, 62 Ledger, Sally, 79, 113-114, 115, 188 Lippens, Philipe, 18, 25, 188

Index Literary clubs, 68 Lodge, David, 106, 188 Lorimer, John, 29 Luluah, princess, 12, 34 Madina, 29, 50 Madni, Sameerah, 168 Makhad Al-Samt, 61 Malamah, 71, 72, 74, 78, 187 Mass Communication, 45, 59 Mecca, 17, 19, 22-23, 29-30, 36, 50, 62, 65, 67, Millett, Kate, 100, 105, 107, 188 Ministry of Civil Service, 49 Ministry of Commerce, 50 Ministry of Higher Education, 42, 193 Ministry of Labour, 49 Ministry of Social Affairs, 50, 86, Mitchell, Juliet, 95 Moghissi, Haideh, 69, 193 Mohsen, Delma, 166 Moore, Barrington, 66 Mores, Ellen, 97 Morgan, Lee, 106, 115, Morrison, Toni, 91 Mousa, Ali, 22, 26, 188 Municipal Council, 1, 165, 176 Mutheffer, Halima, 163 Najed, 9, 14, 16-19, 21-22, 27-29, 31, 34, 38, 60, 97, 100, Najran, 18, 21 National Commission for Academic Assessment and Accreditation, 43, 193 The National Family Safety Program, 88 Nazli, Princess, 48 Nida, 57, 60 Niqab, 17-19, 49, 92, 99, 101, 192 Nisaa Eind Kat Alistewa, 72 Obaid, Thoaya, 47, 49 Palgrave, William, 16, 106, 188 Palestine, 37, 55 Palumbo, Dennis, 108, 115, 188 Philby, John, 18

Modern Woman in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pilgrimage, 112 Polygamy, 12, 105 Prince Sultan Fund, 50 Profanter, Annemarie, 161, 177, 188 Puska, Andrea, 91 Qabel, Thuria, 57 Qatar, 34 Quran, 27-30, 33, 191 Raunkiaer, Barclay, 9 Reda-Mekdashi, Hasna, 69, 186 Reesman, Jeanne, 106, 115 Rivkin, Julie, 90, 188 Riyadh, 16, 33, 36-38, 43, 45-46, 88, 166, 169, 175, Rhys, Jean, 77 Robbins, Ruth, 96, 106, 188 Ryan, Michael, 90, 188 Salamah, Rania, 30, 39, 53, 188 Saudi Arabia, 1, 20, 23, 27, 30, 33, 41, 44, 50, 58, 60, 62, 67, 82-83, 92, 100, 103, 161, 163, 170, The Saudi Equestrian Union, 166 Saudi General Investment Authority, 168 Saudi woman, 1-3, 5-7, 11, 14, 17, 41-44, 47-50, 52, 55-64, 66, 68, 82, 93-94, 98, 101, 104-105, 160, 162-163, 165-168, 170172, 175-177, 179-180-181 The Second Sex, 93, 106 Segregation, 22, 36, 46, 59, 97, 175176 Sellers, J. L, 110, 115, 188

147

Sexuality, 66-67, 71-72, 75, 113 Shabely, Ahmed, 95 Shaker, Fatinah, 167 Shahrkhani, Wojdan, 166 Sharawi, Huda, 48 Shata, Amal, 64-65, Shemer tribe, 7 Skaka, 22 Sport, 44-45, 59, 161, 166-167, 169 Syria, 14 Taif, 18, 31, 51 Tamisier, Maurice, 18, 25, 189 telk hee Al-Aqlal, 32 Thompson, Mark, 171, 177, 189 Tradition, 1, 3, 5, 7, 16-17, 20-22, 27, 29, 32-33, 38, 41, 44, 46, 52, 56, 60, 62-64, 67, 80-81, 83, 86, 90, 94-101, 103, 105, 108-109, 111, 115, 161, 172-176, 179 traditional education, 27 Twenge, Jean, 73, 76, 79, 186 Um Alhazaaa, 29 Vassiliev, Alexe, 24, 53, 189 Vocational training, 3 Wadda’t Amali, 61 Walker, Alice, 91 Wallin, George, 13-14, 24-25, 189 Willingham, John, 106, 115 Wolf, Tom, 108 Women journalists, 59 Yemen, 18, 20, 34 Zinyemba, 160, 177, 189 Ziyarat Saja, 66