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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 5, February 13-February 26, 2009

On the Path to Reforms in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah "weakened the hold of Islamic hard-liners…by appointing the first woman to a ministerial post and dismissing a leading fundamentalist cleric and the head of the nation's powerful religious police," reports The Houston Chronicle.

These moves indicate that "the 84-year-old monarch was frustrated with the pace of reform in a kingdom uneasily balanced between moderates and ultra-conservatives," continues the news site.

The recent government shake-up, according to STRATFOR, is "the boldest move by King Abdullah in his modernization efforts." Likewise, the Al-Hayat newspaper headline "Bold Reform," and the Saudi Gazette's description of a "boost for reform," summarized the tone in the Muslim kingdom, reports AFP.

In perhaps the king's most symbolic appointment, the first woman ever named to a ministerial post in Saudi Arabia, has "put a crack in the thick glass ceiling that the country's strict version of Islam sets against her gender," comments AFP in another article. US-educated Nora bint Abdullah Al-Fayez was made deputy education minister in charge of the department for female students, "a significant breakthrough in a country where women are not allowed to drive," notes The Guardian.

"The women's education ministry is regarded as highly corrupt," reports AZcentral, "and Fayez's appointment appeared to be the king's response to increasing lobbying from women's-rights groups to stem discrimination."

Fayez described her appointment as "a source of pride for all women," according to the AFP and that "[the appointment] is a successful step."

"A woman knows what problems and challenges her peers face. It's a change for the better," continued the newly-appointed deputy minister. "We've always suffered from having a man occupy the position."

Reaction to the appointment was widespread across the kingdom. Editor-in-chief of the Al-Watan newspaper Jamal Khashoggi remarked, "the reshuffle signals a major change in his country," according to CNN. "This is a huge step forward, in education, women's place in society," he continued.

The AFP adds that Saudi women called the appointment of Fayez a landmark step forward in the kingdom. Legal expert Nawal Al-Mazem told Al-Riyadh newspaper, "This is an occasion to push a number of recommendations to begin empowering women." Likewise, legal consultant Asmaa Al-Ghanim commented that "this decision shows the direction toward allowing Saudi women to work in high positions in the government."

Despite the announcement of Fayez's appointment, many activists are skeptical about the chances for reform. Hatoon al-Fassi, a leading Saudi women's rights activist and academic, remarked that while she was very happy about Fayez's appointment, this step was not enough. "What will one woman do alone in a crowd of men?" wondered Fassi.

Likewise, Saudi activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider questioned whether Fayez will wield any real power, according to CNN's Inside the Middle East Blog. "Even this minister now … she is not really in control of her life," continued Huwaider in reference to designation of women as the property of men under Saudi law.

In terms of reshuffling of the religious establishment, King Abdullah has "brought in a new group of officials and scholars who are younger and more in tune with the diversity of cultural Islam than their predecessors," reports the AP.

Specifically, the king dismissed Sheik Ibrahim Al-Ghaith as head of the Commission of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. This position oversees the religious police who arrest people considered impure, such as women not properly veiled, notes The Houston Chronicle.

According to The Guardian, Al-Ghaith has "earned a reputation for brutality." While many Saudis say they support the idea of the Commission because "its mandate is based on several verses in the Quran," many say that its members "exploit their broad mandate to interfere in people's lives," continues the AP.

Furthermore, King Abdullah has ordered the re-establishment of the body of religious scholars known as the Grand Ulama Commission. With representatives from all branches of Sunni Islam, the Commission gives "more moderate Sunni schools representation in a body that has always been governed by the strict Hanbali sect," notes the AP.

These changes, according to the International Herald Tribune, "help dilute the influence that hard-liners have had for decades." Similarly, John Burgess comments in the New York Times Blog that the move diminishes "the monopoly power of the Hanbali School, the foundation of Saudi Arabia's conservative, 'Wahhabi' establishment."

In addition to these replacements, King Abdullah also removed the chief of the country's highest religious tribunal, Sheik Saleh Al-Lihedan. Last year Lihedan issued a fatwa saying it was permissible to kill TV executives for broadcasting "evil" and immoral programs (See PR IV.20: Fatwas in the News).

Lihedan's replacement, Abdul Aziz Al-Khoja, said "he plans to reform the local media landscape so that it reflects messages of peace, tolerance and moderation worldwide," according to Al-Arabiya.

"The most important thing is that the Kingdom's voice should reach the entire world, convey the message of peace and stability and portray the Kingdom's stance of moderation, tolerance and flexibility," remarked Al-Khoja.

Al-Arabiya also reports that Al-Khoja said he would "cooperate with Saudi journalists and intellectuals to develop the local media and design a strategic vision for the development of media production."

Blaming Saudi hardliners for their own undoing, Burgess concludes in the New York Times Blog that "conservative religious authorities have managed to shoot themselves in the foot and thus weaken their own positions. Whether it was a fatwa condemning Mickey Mouse or one that seemed to authorize the killing of TV broadcasters for bringing down social and religious values, the religious leadership had been hurt." Back to articles.