Saudis Consider Banning Women From Mecca

[n2doc]

Saudis Consider Banning Women From Mecca
By DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, September 7, 2006

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(09-07) 11:25 PDT JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) --

Officials are considering an unprecedented proposal to ban women from performing the five Muslim prayers in the immediate vicinity of Islam's most sacred shrine in Mecca. Some say women are already being kept away.

The issue has raised a storm of protest across the kingdom, with some women saying they fear the move is meant to restrict women's roles in Saudi society even further. But the religious authorities behind the proposal insist its real purpose is to lessen the chronic problem of overcrowding, which has led to deadly riots during pilgrimages at Mecca in the past. It was unclear why the step was being considered now, but officials say they have growing concerns about overcrowding, particularly at Mecca's Grand Mosque. The mosque contains the Kaaba, a large stone structure that Muslims around the world face during their daily prayers.

The chief of the King Fahd Institute for Hajj Research, which came up with the plan, told The Associated Press Thursday that the new restrictions are already in place. There have been word-of-mouth reports of women being asked to pray at new locations away from the white-marbled area surrounding the Kaaba in recent weeks. But Sheik Youssef Khzeim, deputy chief of the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, a Saudi government organization in charge of implementing the proposal, denied the reports, saying the old arrangements that allow women to pray in the Kaaba's vicinity are still in effect. He said if any woman were asked to move to the back "it's only to maintain order."

"This is still a study and nothing has been implemented," Khzeim told the AP. Such discrepancies are not unusual in Saudi Arabia and could signal an attempt to introduce the controversial arrangements slowly. Many Saudis say the proposal, released two weeks ago in the form of a study, violates the spirit of Islam. "The prophet, who is the first leader of Muslims, didn't do it," said Mohsen al-Awajy, an Islamist lawyer and cleric. "Those who are proposing the change after him have to come up with legal justification for it."
more:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/09/07/international/i110329D14.DTL

[bif]

1. Saudis consider banning women from Earth

[DRoseDARs]

2. Erm, so they're un-converting Muslim women? Doesn't square with Islam. nt

[kurth]

3. Next: Saudis Consider Banning Women From Public Streets

"It's only to maintain order."

[WinkyDink]

4. So ban the men. THAT would ease crowding AND reduce mayhem.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. How can they ban Muslim women universally who come to

Mecca for the Haj as they are commanded to go once in their lifetime? Isn't that setting them up for a frustration of religious purpose?

[CJCRANE]

8. It's an exaggeration - read the first sentence of the article.

[Skidmore]

6. If there is ever a nation on earth deserving of sanctions, it is

Saudi Arabia. But not to worry...* is busy holding hands with all the al-Bushies and bin-Bushies.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Racism is not acceptable. Sexism is. That's the policy. nt

[Vidar]

7. Just ban women altogether & check in 70 years hence.

[Generic Other]

9. "to lessen the chronic problem of overcrowding"

all Saudi women of childbearing age should simply commit mass suicide.

[Captain Hilts]

10. This is one of the 'democracies' we're protecting, right? nt

[sweetheart]

12. apparently

Oh when renewable energies like solar are developed, the big fossil states will become fossiles again
instead of fissile.

[KamaAina]

13. Hey, at least they still let our women soldiers drive

while we're defending their country. :sarcasm: Too bad they didn't show the same consideration for our Jewish soldiers based there during the first Bush oil war; we actually had to chopper them out to a ship in the Persian Gulf lest Saudi soil be defiled by a Jewish service being held thereupon. :grr:

But what the hey, they've got tons of oil, plus they own a lot of really cool hotels and racehorses and stuff. We should be able to overlook mere details like these, and the fact that 15 of 19 9/.11 hijackers were Saudi, right? :sarcasm:

[GeorgeGist]

14. I laughed I cried...

"But the religious authorities behind the proposal insist its real purpose is to lessen the chronic problem of overcrowding, which has led to deadly riots during pilgrimages at Mecca in the past.

What a Way to Worship Vanity