The term mahram derives from the Arabic word haram (forbidden) and refers to those persons with whom sexual relations are forbidden. For a Muslim women, these include (1) close male relatives by birth, (2) close male in-laws, (3) men who shared the same wet-nurse, (4) men of inferior social stations, and (5) non-Muslim men.
In Saudi Arabia, a whole system has evolved whereby some man in the first category – grandfather, father, husband, brother, uncle, nephew, son, grandson – enjoys enormous control over a woman's life as her guardian. She cannot leave the house without his permission; if he is despotic, she lives like a prisoner.
 Wajeha al-Huweidar, a Saudi subject, journalist, and human rights activist. |
The Saudi woman "has no right to make decisions, and may not take a single step without the permission of ... her guardian." Specifically, Saudi women "need the permission of their guardian to leave their home, their city or their country."
A woman in jail cannot "leave her cell when she has finished serving her sentence unless her guardian arrives to collect her. As a consequence, many Saudi women remain in prison just because their guardians refuse to come and get them."
The men of religion, the ulema, bear much responsibility for this state of affairs, for "the state has authorized [them] to oppress the women. ... They suffocate [the women] in all areas of life by means of oppressive laws [enforced by] the religious police." They deny the Saudi woman "every opportunity to find a job, get an education, travel, receive medical treatment, or [realize] any [other] right, no matter how trivial, without the permission of their jailor, that is, their guardian – [all] based on oppressive fatwas sanctioned by the male [leaders] of the state."
"Although Saudi women are deprived of freedom and dignity more than any other women, they suffer all these forms of oppression and injustice in bitter silence, suppressed anger, and death-like dejection."
Things used to be better: "the mothers and grandmothers [of today's Saudi women] ... enjoyed much greater freedom – as did all Muslim women in past eras, such as the wives of the Prophet.
The "oppressive mahram law ... is not based on the tenets of Islam and in fact has nothing to do with Islam."
Huweidar and other activists recently launched a campaign against the mahram law that reminds one of the play Lysistrata by Aristophanes (the one where women go on a sex strike). The campaign's slogan is "Treat us like adult citizens or we leave the country" and it was launched at the King Fahd Bridge connecting Saudi Arabia with Bahrain, the latter being notably less misogynist, where the women demanded the right to cross this border without a guardian's permission.
Comments:
(1) The claim that the mahram law "has nothing to do with Islam" is an exaggeration, though it is true that most interpretations of Islam do not require it.
(2) Ironically, Saudi women are awakening to their oppression even as the niqab and burqa arrive in the West.
(3) Just as I see a race between Iran and Turkey (will the one throw off the Islamic regime before the other Islamizes?), so I see one between Saudi Arabia and, say, the United Kingdom (will the one throw off head coverings before the other puts them on?). (July 19, 2009)
Nov. 22, 2012 update: The ever-obliging Saudi state started a new service last week: guardians can now receive text messages on their telephones from the immigration authorities when women under their custody leave the country. According to media reports, the new policy resulted from the recent escape to Sweden of a 30-year-old Saudi woman who converted to Christianity.
June 2, 2017 update: A social upheaval took place on May 4, when the Saudi king, Salman, issued a royal decree that, according to an analysis by Batsheva Shanee "instructs all government institutions in the kingdom to provide services to women without requiring the consent of their male guardians, unless such a requirement is stipulated by state law based on the Islamic shari'a." Shanee explains that the decreed
is historic in that it alters the fabric of Saudi society and lifts many of the restrictions that the guardianship (wilaya) system imposed on Saudi women. Saudi state law explicitly requires a woman to receive the consent of her guardian (mahram) – husband, father, grandfather, brother or son – in a restricted number of cases, which include obtaining a passport, leaving the country and contracting marriage. However, in practice, women often require the guardian's consent in writing for almost every interaction in the public sphere, such as seeking employment, opening a bank account, receiving medical treatment, filing a lawsuit (including in matters of domestic violence), enrolling in higher education, and traveling within the country.
Not surprisingly, the decree "prompted a wave of joy and excitement from Saudi women on Twitter. ... Excitement over the decree was also apparent in the Saudi press, with numerous reports and articles discussing it and its implications for the lives of women in Saudi Arabia."
On the other hand, "some journalists and activists also criticized the decree as insufficient since it limits the guardianship system but does not abolish it altogether. ... Criticism of the decree's limited scope and calls to continue the campaign also found expression in the press."
Comment: This major shift in the life of the kingdom is part of a larger modernization process that has been taking place, slowly and fitfully with plenty of reverses, over the course of a century.
Aug. 2, 2019 update: In another major reduction in mahram regulations, the Saudi state will soon allow women to:
- Travel domestically and internationally
- Register marriages, divorces, and the birth of a child
- Serve as legal guardians for minors
Relatedly, gender discrimination in employment, including on the basis of gender, will become illegal. Some mahram regulations remains in place, however, including the guardian's permission to marry or to leave jail.
