Ladies, please feed the driver...

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Shaikh Abdul Mohsin Bin Nasser Al Obaikan, member of Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and adviser to the king, (don't you just love that 'adviser to the king' bit?) has solved one of Saudi's most pressing problems - how to allow women to travel by car. Some countries solved this one some time ago. It's called driving. But in countries where women are not allowed to drive or share a vehicle with an unrelated male (read Saudi) a more elegant solution within the law has eluded even the greatest minds- until now. In a flash of genius, Shaikh Abdul recognised that if a woman breast-feeds a man, he becomes her son, under the law, after which he need no longer be segregated from herself and her daughters (to whom he is now a brother).

This seems entirely reasonable. Even taxis are now accessible to the ladies, provided they first feed the driver.

However, there remains one tiny flaw in Shaikh Abdul's solution. It seems to have escaped his notice that most women cannot lactate at will. In fact, recent childbirth is almost a prerequisite. Still, it's a great leap forward for the rights of women.

I wonder if I can get a job advising a king...

Comments

  1. Anonymous22 June 2010 at 12:47

    A lot of guys have already started applying for drivers job in Saudi leaving their current jobs... I hope a lot of guys will also move from Dubai since they dont have any job there...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Para Glider22 June 2010 at 13:15

    Yep, and traffic's now all the other way on the Bahrain causeway!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Al-ain Rose24 June 2010 at 21:36

    he kinda withdrew his fatwa. he got a good amount of sarcasm by other Saudi islamics scholars.

    http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100607/FOREIGN/706069874/1002

    ReplyDelete
  4. Para Glider25 June 2010 at 05:50

    Hi Rose - your linked article doesn't say he withdrew it. It says he had been misunderstood (his clarification, in the earlier article was that he had meant indirect breast feeding: expressed breast milk taken from a cup).

    Anyway, however crazy his fatwa was, at least it was an attempt to help women get around the driving ban. To my knowledge Saudi is the only country where that is applied.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Al-ain Rose25 June 2010 at 20:09

    in the earlier article was that he had meant indirect breast feeding: expressed breast milk taken from a cup.
    ...
    In Islam, breastfeeding a baby who is above 2 years doesn't make him a son of the mother who breastfed him. The age is limited. how about a mature man and also through a 'cup'? if it's through a cup then why doese he call it a "breastfeeding"? How could this make him a family member? I would give anything to meet this al Ubikan and ask him.

    at least it was an attempt to help women get around the driving ban.
    ,,,
    yes, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of the soul islamic teachings.

    anyways, I like what one of the Islamic scholars said about that fatwa, he said these scholars should be arrested like any criminal for they're missing with religion and the God's teachings.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Al-ain Rose25 June 2010 at 21:05

    messing**

    ReplyDelete
  7. Para Glider26 June 2010 at 05:28

    Hi Rose - I won't address your last comment about how Islamic scholars should conduct themselves, as it's not my religion or my business.

    I do hope that Saudi sees its way to relaxing their position on women driving, but not by way of bizarre distortions of common sense.

    Thanks for the visit.

    ReplyDelete
  8. boutique hotels in paris27 June 2010 at 03:34

    Why people are leaving there current job and applying for drivers?I don't take it as agood decision.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Para Glider27 June 2010 at 04:18

    b h in p - I wouldn't take it too seriously...

    ReplyDelete

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