Tawfik Hamid, a former member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, writes that recent changes in Saudi Arabia makes him question whether (as the title of his piece says) “Is Saudi Arabia leading a reformation of the Muslim world?”He points to this development:
For years the religious police in Saudi Arabia (”Haiat Al-Amr Bil-Maaroof Wa Al-nahei An Al-Munkar”) was advocating separation between men and women in education and daily life activity. Many other parts of the Muslim world and Islamic societies have gradually adopted the same gender separation approach.
Since the most unexpected things often happen, last week Sheck Dr. Ahmed Ibn Khasem Al-Ghamdy the head of the religious police in Mecca (that used to punish people for mixing with the other gender) has announced that mixing between males and females is completely Islamic and permissible in the religion.
The Sheikh then justifies his ruling by using stories from the Koran to make the case for women’s rights!
Hamid also says that King Abdullah has approved the first university in the country to not be segregated based on gender.
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