الرئيسية
By AP
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A report given to a high-level
advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom
to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activist said
Saturday.
The ultraconservative stance suggests increasing
pressure on King Abdullah to retain the kingdom's male-only driving
rules despite international criticism.
Rights activist Waleed Abu
Alkhair said the document by a well-known academic was sent to the
all-male Shura Council, which advises the monarchy. The report by Kamal
Subhi claims that allowing women to drive will threaten the country's
traditions of virgin brides, he said. The suggestion is that driving
will allow greater mixing of genders and could promote sex.
Saudi
women have staged several protests defying the driving ban. The king
has already promised some reforms, including allowing women to vote in
municipal elections in 2015.
There was no official criticism or
commentary on the scholar's views, and it was unclear whether they were
solicited by the Shura Council or submitted independently. But social
media sites were flooded with speculation that Saudi's
traditional-minded clerics and others will fight hard against social
changes suggested by the 87-year-old Abdullah.
Saudi's ruling
family, which oversees Islam's holiest sites, draws its legitimacy from
the backing of the kingdom's religious establishment, which follows a
strict brand of Islam known as Wahhabism. While Abdullah has pushed for
some changes on women's rights, he is cautious not to push too hard
against the clerics.
In October, Saudi Arabia named a new heir to
the throne, Prince Nayef, who is a former interior minister and
considered to hold traditionalist views, although he had led crackdowns
against suspected Islamic extremists. His selection appeared to embolden
the ultraconservative clerics to challenge any sweeping social reforms.
Prince Nayef was picked following the death of Crown Prince Sultan.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A report given to a high-level
advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom
to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activist said
Saturday.
The ultraconservative stance suggests increasing
pressure on King Abdullah to retain the kingdom's male-only driving
rules despite international criticism.
Rights activist Waleed Abu
Alkhair said the document by a well-known academic was sent to the
all-male Shura Council, which advises the monarchy. The report by Kamal
Subhi claims that allowing women to drive will threaten the country's
traditions of virgin brides, he said. The suggestion is that driving
will allow greater mixing of genders and could promote sex.
Saudi
women have staged several protests defying the driving ban. The king
has already promised some reforms, including allowing women to vote in
municipal elections in 2015.
There was no official criticism or
commentary on the scholar's views, and it was unclear whether they were
solicited by the Shura Council or submitted independently. But social
media sites were flooded with speculation that Saudi's
traditional-minded clerics and others will fight hard against social
changes suggested by the 87-year-old Abdullah.
Saudi's ruling
family, which oversees Islam's holiest sites, draws its legitimacy from
the backing of the kingdom's religious establishment, which follows a
strict brand of Islam known as Wahhabism. While Abdullah has pushed for
some changes on women's rights, he is cautious not to push too hard
against the clerics.
In October, Saudi Arabia named a new heir to
the throne, Prince Nayef, who is a former interior minister and
considered to hold traditionalist views, although he had led crackdowns
against suspected Islamic extremists. His selection appeared to embolden
the ultraconservative clerics to challenge any sweeping social reforms.
Prince Nayef was picked following the death of Crown Prince Sultan.
