Al-Riyadh Conservative people focus mainly on women and tend to marginalize them and their role in society and development. They want women to be isolated from society and out of men's sight because they believe women are the main cause of sedition and should always be isolated even if such action harms women psychologically, socially and economically. Conservatives have succeeded in alienating women socially. Members of the Riyadh-based Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) recently completed a course on how to deal with women in public places. A number of social media activists criticized the Haia for delivering a course specifically focusing on women. Activists wondered whether women are the main source of sins. A scholar also criticized the Haia for treating women as if they were aliens from a distant planet. He called on the Haia to focus on other issues related to women's rights. The focus should not be on how to keep women away from malls and public places. Why do Haia members consider women who go to malls as doing something wrong? Why do they think this is a vice? We all know that there are things that have been determined by the Shariah in terms of being permissible and impermissible. But there are other things that scholars differ on; some view certain matters as permissible while others view them as impermissible. The only thing Haia members criticize about women is the abaya. What does it look like? What is it made from? What color is it? Some Haia members consider it a vice if a woman does not cover her face although there is a difference of view on this issue. They make such judgments based on social norms and traditions, not on Shariah rules. There are several similar examples. If a woman sits with a man in a public place, it is a suspicious act in the eyes of Haia members even if the woman is the man's sister, mother or grandmother. If a woman is in a car with a man, she is a source of suspicion for Haia members. But it is okay, according to Haia members, for a woman to ride with a driver. We all remember instances which ended in tragedy because the Haia suspected a woman and a man riding in the same car and asked the man to pull over but instead he sped off and refused to stop. Why do Haia members not do anything about the drugs that are killing our young men? What about the crimes committed by expatriate drivers? What about the crimes carried out by expatriate workers who sell rotten canned food and outdated juice? Why do Haia members not crack down on those criminals? During the time of Caliph Omar Bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), around 1400 years ago, nobody could buy adulterated milk or food. Why are Haia members not doing anything about such traders? I would like to remind Haia members that Allah did not order us to make the lives of women difficult and crack down on them. Our country is governed by the Shariah and is keen to ensure that the Shariah is implemented. Haia members cannot be keener than the government in this regard. We cannot call or consider something a vice unless the majority of scholars unanimously agrees that it is and makes a judgment based on Shariah. Unfortunately, reality says otherwise. It has been years since many members of the public called on the Haia to establish work mechanisms for its field members. I am talking about mechanisms that control and correct the behavior of anyone who does wrong in a kind way without dishing out punishment. It is our responsibility as members of society to promote virtue and prevent vice. I remember that Shoura Council member Abdullah Al-Sadoon called on the Haia to define what the word vice means. The draft decision won a majority of votes because it called for a unified mechanism to regulate the fieldwork of Haia members. On the other hand, some are against such mechanisms and the listing of vices. These people have forgotten that Haia reports indicate that there were 30,000 cases that happened in the last few years. Many of these cases related to driving with loud music. That is a huge number of cases. Two female members of the Shoura Council have called for allowing women to join the Haia because they are better than men in talking to women in public and giving them advice about bad practices that women might engage in. In fact, it was reported in the news that the Haia was considering setting up a unit for women that would be run by women. Their main role would be to promote virtue among women and they would be allowed to enter places like women's tailor shops, women's entertainment areas and wedding halls. I think if women were allowed to join the Haia, the problems would increase because women, by nature, love to control and domineer. Also, religious women are known to be very strict and to take hardline positions when it comes to dealing with other women.
