Combined post. Comments by Faraz Omar appended below.

Not being able to drive has been a bone of contention with me ever since I arrived in Saudi Arabia three and a half years ago. It frustrates me beyond belief because I am an independent person. I don't like to depend on others nor do I like to wait around for them when something needs to be done and it needs to be done right that moment.

I have always felt the Saudi law forbidding women to drive is against Islam. It is purely cultural and without merit, I don't care what kind of excuse is given to justify it. One of the excuses is that it is to protect women. In my case, I feel more protected not walking in the streets alone or in a car alone with a non-Mahram stranger but behind the wheel of a car.

Shaykh Nasir-ud-deen Al-Albaani (rahimahullah), one of the great scholars of our era who passed away a decade ago, was asked:

Question: Is it permissible for a woman to drive a car?
Answer: If it is permissible for her to ride upon a (female) donkey then it is permissible for her to drive a car.
Question: But there is a difference between a donkey and a car.
Answer: Which is more concealing – riding upon a donkey or in a car? I would suggest (riding in) a car.

(Translated by Adnan bin Salam)

Shaykh Muqbil Al-Waadi'ee (rahimahullah) another giant of our era issued a similar ruling:

Question: What is the ruling on a woman driving a car, and what is your view in making it similar to a woman riding a beast (i.e. Horse)?

Answer: If the woman is righteous and is safe from fitnah and she needs something in the market then this is no problem (driving) and I do not see any prevention in this. For the car is a machine made of iron and we do not make this Haraam upon her.

So there you have it! It is not Haraam for a woman to drive a car. But some men don't want their women to drive for personal reasons. That is fine with me but nobody has a right to prohibit me from driving if I have a valid driver's license, the capability to drive and my husband's permission to go outside of my house and drive my/our car.

Susie of Arabia Thinks It's Time For Women To Drive. She related her own frustration not being able to drive while undertaking a grocery shopping trip with a very sick husband. Because of his heart condition, he's not allowed to drive so the two cars sitting out in their driveway are unused since they have no full-time driver, they waited in the heat a total of 35 minutes for non-existent taxis and the MEN driving their cars didn't even bother to give them a lift to the grocery store. I wish that the MEN who banned driving for women and those who support it had been there to witness Susie and her husband's suffering that day. Islam is supposed to be easy for the people. Yet there is an un-Islamic, no-women-allowed-to-drive law making things harder for the people.

But things are changing now. Eman Al-Nafjan (aka Saudi Woman's Weblog) thinks the April 14 article by the conservative Al-Riyadh newspaper signifies "a turning point" soon. She graciously translated the Al-Riyadh article into English for her readers on her blog, Women Driving Cars, How Do We Start Its Implementation?

It is a remarkable article and indicates that there is a genuine effort to lift the ban on women driving. I wish that those in authority would realize that the day they allow women to drive, the whole world will celebrate and elevate Saudi Arabia a bit further up on the human rights record.

MORE READING:

Interview between King Abdullah and Barbara Walters concerning Women Driving

WALTERS: A flash point for Westerners is that Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world in which women are not allowed to drive. It seems to be symbolic of women's lack of independence. Would you support allowing a woman to drive?

KING ABDULLAH: I believe strongly in the rights of women ... my mother is a woman, my sister is a woman, my daughter is a woman, my wife is a woman. I believe the day will come when women drive. In fact, if you look at the areas in Saudi Arabia, the deserts and in the rural areas, you will find that women do drive. The issue will require patience. In time, I believe it will be possible.

WALTERS: You cannot just make a decree that women drive? You're the king!

KING ABDULLAH: I value and take care of my people as I would my eye.

WALTERS: Is that an answer?

KING ABDULLAH: Yes. I respect my people. It is impossible that I would do anything that is not acceptable to my people.

Shaykh Ahmad bin Baz On His Father's Fatwa Banning Women To Drive

"My father's fatwa came under certain circumstances a lot of people may not know about,"

Sheikh Ahmad told Al-Arabiya. "At the time, in 1990 to 1991, the region was witnessing some of the most significant events since the two World Wars, with Saddam's invasion of Kuwait and the arrival of the US army and the joint forces, and fear of an unknown future pervading the region, as well as the beginning of satellite television."

According to Sheikh Ahmad, these and other factors came into play when a "group of women in Riyadh got into their cars and drove and announced the breaking of restrictions imposed on them regarding driving cars."
The event caused, the Sheikh said, a "shock by any standards."

"That form of behavior in addressing issues and expressing opinions is not the done thing, especially by women, and goes against social customs. I'd add that the political atmosphere was charged at the time and fear was in the air, and as some would remember gas masks were being distributed."

"But more importantly than that," Sheikh Ahmad continued, "there was the fear of internal division in facing the external enemy that was at our gates, and after what might be called the demonstration by the women came, by a day or two, the gathering of thousands of whom are known as 'mutaawa'a' at the front of the Dar Al-Iftaa' while a group of scholars, my father among them, was inside."

It was in that context, Sheikh Ahmad said, that his father's fatwa declaring the driving of cars by women as Haraam was issued. "So one can't remove fatwas from the contexts and circumstances under which they were issued," he said.

Putting the issue in perspective

By Faraz Omar

Thank you, Tara for your valuable article. The article makes it very clear that driving is not Haraam in Islam and it also goes deeper and gives us a perspective of why this situation exists.

The historic background is very important and it is hardly talked about. Women's driving issue is probably one of the most politicized issues in KSA. The problem is not women driving per se, as all Islamic scholars know fully well that driving is not Haraam.
The real problem, sensed by them, was from people who hijacked this issue. The issue is definitely legitimate but those who became its official spokespersons had their own agenda to achieve. So it made them think twice and it has unnecessarily pit common people against each other.

Unfortunately, when an issue is politicized hardly anything good is achieved.
To prove this point, look at the towns and villages in Saudi Arabia that are far away from political propaganda and the spotlight of international media. Women there DO drive. They have been doing it for decades. Wait a minute! Aren't Bedus supposed to be even more backward?
So, all the international charge against "hardline" "Wahhabi" "Saudi" "clerics" (all negative connotations) trying to take the country back to "the middle ages" and who "oppress" women needs to be reconsidered.

These clerics, at the time of need, actually provided stability to the country. They brought the country to normalcy when there was fear of internal division. They respected the local customs and traditions. But ask any foreign journalist who the stumbling block is – they'll tell you it's the clerics, while in reality it is the society and culture that includes the clerics. And the local custom and tradition still does not look in favor of women driving. To prove this, here's what Prince Mit'eb Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Commander of the National Guard for Executive Affairs, said in Jan. 2010:

"I'm not against women driving cars, but personally I wouldn't be comfortable with my wife or daughters driving. I hope that it is not interpreted as me being against women driving cars, it's just a personal view due to the ideas, customs and traditions that pervade society and need to be improved for the better."

He also said: "It all depends on the acceptance or refusal of society at large."

And: "Women driving is something which requires steps to pave the way for it. Perhaps we could first permit the recruitment of women drivers from abroad and then assess the positive and negatives. People's current views have to change, and they have to regard women in a different light so that women don't face further problems."

He is the son of King Abdullah. And let me tell you the royal family is much more advanced and broadminded than the rest of the populace. How then would you expect the remaining people to be?

Agreed, the present situation is quite irksome to many who do want to drive. But is there anything called as respect? How come there has been so little respect to the background of a society and its norms? Trust me, if this issue was not politicized for a veiled attack on Islam and if it was not used as a base to launch the nefarious attacks Saudi Arabia has faced, who knows women would have been driving by now, just as they are doing in outside villages. There would have been special considerations. Laws would have been shaped in line with Islamic teachings and local customs.

There is a way of getting things done. Problem solving is done through mutual cooperation of all people concerned – if indeed problem solving is what one is hoping for.

In the end, I hope everything sorts out well for Saudi Arabia Insha Allah. I hope there's a genuine coordinated effort to arrive at solutions. I hope women's driving ban is lifted in a manner that would have a very good and positive effect on every section of the society. No doubt there have been several negative effects of this ban, which was suited for a particular period of time. The Al-Riyadh article is quite positive because it seriously is looking for localized solutions, Alhamdulillah.

And Allah knows best.