Saudi Arabia's Background History.!

*The Arabian Peninsula is the historic birthplace of the Islam religion. The eighteenth century teachings of a Muslim reformer, who did not wanted the glorification of men, saints, and prophets, were incorporated into the Saud family's political ideology. The Saudis brought most of the peninsula under their control.



*The Saudi state began in central Arabia in about 1750. A local ruler, Muhammad bin Saud, joined forces with an Islamic reformer, Muhammad Abd Al-Wahhab, to create a new political government. The modern Saudi kingdom was founded by the late King Abdul Aziz Al Saud (known as "Son of Saud"). King Abdul Aziz died in 1953 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Saud, who rule for 11 years.

*The mid-1960s saw pressures by Saudi-Egyptian differences over Yemen. When civil war broke out in 1962, between Yemeni royalists and republicans, Egyptian forces entered Yemen to support the new republican government, while Saudi Arabia backed the royalists. In 1967, the Egypt retires its troops from Yemen.

                                                  -Yemen in civil war.

*Saudi forces did not participate in the War of June 1967, but the government later provided support to Egypt, Jordan, and Syriato in their economies. In the War of 1973 Saudi Arabia participated. Then after the war, the price of oil increased, and so did Saudi Arabia's wealth.

 Saudi Arabia’s Women Rights:

• Much has been written about the abuse of human rights in Saudi Arabia ,because of the a strict version of the Islamic law.
• Women's right in Saudi Arabia is a controversial issue but there are different ways to see this controversy, it depends on your background and culture.

·      Saudi Arabia women need a guardian's permission to work, travel, study, marry, or have access health care or any public service.

·     Saudi Arabia recently announced its intention to issue, for the first time, identification cards for women. Previously, women were registered on their father or husbands' identification cards.

·    Saudi officials continue to require women to obtain permission from male guardians to conduct their most some basic things, like traveling or receiving medical care.

·    The Saudi government's refusal to let women vote in elections in September 2011 unlawfully deprives women of their rights.

*This is are some of the views of two women that live in Saudi Arabia:

1-The position of women in Saudi Arabia is often misunderstood by the outside world. I am studying for a degree at King Saud University in Riyadh. Although we attend separate classes to male students, more than half the students at the university are women. If the lecturer is a man, we watch and listen to the lecture on the university's video and audio system.

It is true that women are still restricted in their career choices but this is often exaggerated. Women run 15,000 commercial businesses in the country and some even work for the state oil company. Under Islam, women are given respect and rights which were denied to women elsewhere until fairly recently. We can keep our name when we get married, and our rights to property are protected whether we are single or married. Some Saudi women are very rich - 40% of the country's wealth is in our hands.

Reporters make a lot of fuss about the fact that women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, but it keeps 500,000 men in work as chauffeurs! Also, people from elsewhere go on about wearing the hijab (veil) but most of us are happy with it. Surely there are more important things to write about.

  

2- People are wrong to say that Islam restricts the freedom of women. It's down to the interpretation of Islam by different cultures. As strict Muslims, the Saudi royal family has interpreted Sharia (Islamic law) in ways that restrict our rights in this country. As a Muslim from another country, I think that some of the Saudi laws - like limiting women's career options - are anti-Islamic. Many people here now recognize that the problem of so many foreigners working in the country would be solved if Saudi women were allowed to contribute more in the workplace.

In the time of the Prophet men and women did interact, and the Qur'an states that men and women are equal in the eyes of God. Where I come from, I have more choices and freedom in the way I live my life as a Muslim woman. A growing number of women are being elected to parliament in my country, for instance. Nevertheless, I do feel that some of the reports written in the West about the way women are treated in Saudi Arabia are exaggerated. I work in the fashion industry with many smart, intelligent and well-qualified women - in fact, Saudi women are educated to the same level as, if not higher than, the men. Their grades are often better too. http://www.globaleye.org.uk/secondary_spring03/eyeon/women.html