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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Two More Steps Back

There are times when I feel that Saudi Arabia has made great strides - especially with regard to women's issues - in the past five years that I have lived here.  And then there are other times when I can only shake my head in disbelief when I see that Saudi Arabia is still a very misogynistic society and with each step forward, the country seems to take two steps back.  

The latest headline coming out of Saudi Arabia that is quite troubling and disturbing concerns a Saudi author named Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood, who unfortunately has 97,000 followers on Twitter.  He recently tweeted a call to action for Saudi men to sexually assault working women in Saudi Arabia, especially those working in supermarkets. His “logical” explanation is so the women will stop working and stay home where they belong and thus “protect their chastity.”  Al Dawood writes self-help books (God help us!) and has also been called a Saudi cleric in the past.  In fact this is the very same guy who popularized the term “Burqas for Babies” when he made the ridiculous suggestion a while back that baby girls here should be veiled so perverted men won't be tempted to molest them.  He is obsessed with sex - He sees baby girls as sexual objects. 

Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood (Twitter photo)



So now, on the one hand, he's supposedly "protecting" little girls from perverts, and on the other hand he's calling for their mothers and older sisters to be sexually assaulted.  What kind of world is this guy living in?  Or better yet, as Waleed Al-Khawaji, another Saudi tweeter responded, “What kind of person urges the youth to commit debauchery?”  It seems that Al Dawood’s objections to women working are based on his belief that men and women mixing in the workplace will lead to western-influenced immorality and corruption.

Another disturbing part of this story is that Al Dawood tried to use Islam as the basis for his wicked idea.  He cited an old obscure story about Al Zubair, a famed warrior, who wanted to stop his wife from her habit of leaving home to go pray in the mosque.  Apparently Al Zubair chose to teach his wife a lesson by hiding and attacking her as she walked by on her way to the mosque.  Unaware that her own husband was the attacker, she ran home frightened and swore she would never leave the safety of her own home again.  

Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood (YouTube/approach channel photo)
 
By the way, allow me to interject here that this story that Al Dawood cited projects what is to me a very confusing contradiction of Islam.  Clearly Islam forbids anyone from trying to prevent someone else from going to pray in the mosque, while at the same time, saying that it is better for women to pray at home.  I have read texts that say that women should ask their husbands for permission to go pray in the mosque.  Yet if the husband says no, isn’t that actually preventing her from going?  So to me, this is a murky Catch-22 situation, with no clear meaning one way or the other, and one part contradicting the other.  And dear readers, please don't bombard me with your explanations of this and how it makes sense to you.  It will never make sense to me. 

But encouraging men to sexually assault working women?    Right - Let’s molest these women to protect their chastity!  Makes perfect sense to everyone.  Is this really a “religious tactic” that Saudi Arabia wants to use and promote?  Many of the women working in Saudi Arabia are working because they have to work, to help support their families.  Many are divorced, or widowed, or deserted by their husbands and need the income to feed their children.  Many working Saudi women are married and are working to ease the stress on their family’s financial situation.  What do their husbands have to say about this loony bird’s call for men to attack working women?   I honestly can’t recall the last time (if ever) that I heard of a woman being sexually assaulted in a supermarket, yet here is this pervert in Saudi Arabia promoting that very idea.

Men like Al Dawood are doing absolutely nothing for Saudi Arabia's image to the rest of the world and are giving Islam a black eye by spouting absurdities like this.  Sexually assaulting women is a crime.  Inciting men to violate women is a crime.  Abdullah Mohammad Al Dawood should be promptly arrested for promoting violence against women.  And in my opinion, he should be castrated too.  Maybe neutering him will calm him down and he won’t be so obsessed with sex all the time... 










24 comments:

  1. This kind of thinking is right up there with the Egyptian police who performed virginity tests on women so they would not be accused of sexually assault and rape. So they apparently opted to sexually assault them and digitally rape them as to vindicate themselves of the accusation.

    Truly this makes anyone who follows this low life to being equated to a non-thinking destructive douche.

    I am trying to be as nice as I can...... really.....

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    1. Hi BigStick - Oh geez, I had almost forgotten about those "virginity tests" in Egypt. I appreciate your attempt at being nice - I was trying to be nice in my post too, but guys like this don't make it easy!

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  2. This should make you feel a little better though.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22705573

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  3. Saw this article earlier and just didn't want to believe it. The man is sick.

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    1. Hi Gaelyn - Yes, it is something one reads and we want to please "Say it isn't so!" Such stupidity and backward thinking just can't possibly be true in this day and age. But unfortunately it appears to be accurate *sigh*

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  4. Dear Susie,
    I am a Muslim woman and a social worker. I think that this guy is using Islam to be powerful and famous by misrepresenting it. He could be either a pedophile or a pervert. Our prophet Mohamed (S.A.W.) advocated fairness and kindness towards women and children and no way whatsoever would he promote what this guy is saying. Prophet Mohamed (S.A.W) also said that, "Before the end of time comes, my Ummah will be many, but most of them will be the SCUM of the earth", he also predicted that the worst and most untrusted will be those who will hold the positions of religious sheiks and 'Mullahs', they will be used to light the fire in " The Jahanam"/ Hell.

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  5. From what I have seen, Islam is constantly being misrepresented and misinterpreted to further evil causes no matter how one looks at it. If all Muslim men believe the same way this guy does, they how can they think any honest, God-fearing person would ever want to embrace Islam? Any one with any sense of truth and righteousness anyways. With these sorts of people spreading such hatred and violence throughout the world, there is no way anyone, unless they are sickos, would want to be Muslim.

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  6. Things like this coming out of the KSA show just how backward and perverted life can be. It also is another symptom of the sickness that happens with such total segregation of the sexes IMHO.

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  7. Hey Susie. You are our window to the SA world. Holy Moly! Nothing surprises me anymore. All I can do is shake my head.

    Hope everything is going well with you.

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  8. What is the reaction in Saudi news media...or is there a reaction?

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  9. Even though he has 97000 followers on his twiiter account, I think that if you put this on your joint blog with Layla Blue, etc., and ask for a concerted response to him (tell people what you want them to say or simply ask them to express their disagreement), then ask them to share it with all their friends and ask them to do the same, people would be very willing to help do that. Do you think it would do any good or would it just give him the notoriety that he is looking for?

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  10. I think that the response has already started :)...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22705573

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  11. Depressing, shocking, frightening, sick, sad, downright scary. Can't anyone stop this man from voicing such utterly unacceptable advice?

    I'd ask the same question as Veeds of Arabia. Are there many voices around raising the same concern as you?

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  12. this false cleric says this kind of fatwas to have a stunt advertising. he is weak that's all! all these women working at supermarkets have their mahram's permit. it's not his business. and I don't think that policemen let molesting women by those who have nothing to do apart to keep a watch on working women.
    in Saudi Arabia and in all the Muslim world to be a cleric is nowadays a very profitable business.to bombard us with silly fatwas which brings lights on him is the best way to run his business. and we are helping him to do that... just ignore him, he isn't an important person, he is just trying to be one.

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  13. So much religious discussion is based on ideas without grounding in facts. That is certainly true in the US Christian world and it is true in Saudi Arabia. It is more relevant since religion is central to Saudi identity and culture.

    I doubt this gentlemen has the slightest knowledge of what goes on in places where women are cashiers. He should examine the experience of the West. Does a trip to Burger King become a tryst? The US and Europe have many many female cashiers. I can tell anyone here that I don't go to the supermarket to check out the babes. If this is a problem in Saudi Arabia, then I would look to the men and find out why so many who speak out seem to have sex on their minds all the time.

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  14. Hello, I also live in KSA. I the eastern province. It is a blessing that i do not watch saudi tv, or read the saudi based comic strips otherwise known as their newspapers. most people in saudi arabia do not take him seriously. yes saudi arabia is many things, but it does not allow harrasment of their women. this guy's statements are not giong to garner much attention. let me put if this way. Pastor Terry Jones was written off as a nutcase. I don't think he is, but that is besides the point. He wasn't given much attention. Same thing with alDawood. You all might want to believe that he represents Saudi society at large, but he doesn't. So don't expect much of a reaction from people who have written him off as a fool.

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  15. Hi Susie! I totally agree with you, this man is certainly making no logical sense and it looks like he is ready to do literally ANYTHING that will protect his orthodox views.. even molesting women, which is definitely against the will of God, be it Allah or Jesus.
    Love the way you keep updating and enlightening your readers about these incidents! One day I aspire to be a wonderful blogger like you

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  16. It isn't just this jerk. There is a bizarre focus on chastity that is now only a rationale to micro-manage the lives of women. I wonder if this is in part due to the fact the young women are now attending college in higher percentages than young men. I guess they realize the only way to stay in charge is to keep women in cages.

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  17. Your story is in the topest portuguese newspaper today:

    http://expresso.sapo.pt/escritor-saudita-incita-seguidores-no-twitter-a-molestar-mulheres=f810663

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  18. Nothing surprises me anymore, Susie. Yikes! It sounds, as usual, like a case of MEN not being able -- or willing -- to control themselves. What a disgraceful and absurd solution!

    I'm proud of the Saudi women who are out there working, whether by their choice or out of necessity. In any case, these women are usually in positions / jobs where they're in "family" check-outs and stores, so I honestly don't see the issue. *sigh*

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  19. Concerning your confusion regarding women going to the mosque, the prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wasallam commanded his male followers to not forbid women from attending the mosques. That is why the man in the story lay in wait for his wife, he didn't have Islamic grounds to prevent his wife from attending the mosque, so he used another tactic, to frighten her from going there instead!

    So whoever forbids his wife or female relative from attending the mosque is opposing the Islamic ruling given by Muhammad sallAllaahu alayhi wasallam, either through ignorance of it, or sheer disobedience to his Lord Allaah. Hope that makes it clear.

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    1. Thanks, Anonymous, for your explanation. The story still bothers me though. The man is trying to teach his wife a lesson to get her to abide by his wishes, which is for her to stay home so she will be "safe." Ultimately, he is trying to prevent her from going to the mosque. I'm also bothered by the method of his trying to teach this lesson.

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  20. That guy is still free ,tweeting crap ,unfortunately .

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  21. I am a Canadian who grew up here in KSA and I am fluent in Arabic. Please show me the ARABIC posts where he said women should be assaulted? I want to translate it myself. thanks!

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