(Washington Post) Mona Eltahawy - It is long past time for Muslims to question the Wahhabi ideology that is pulling the rug out from under Saudi life, for it is that same ideology that has been involved in militant movements throughout the Muslim world for years. I lived in Saudi Arabia for six years in the 1980s and know how all-pervasive Wahhabism is. It was there in posters that lined the corridors of my women-only university showing how a "good Muslim woman" should dress - in black from head to toe - and it made sure that gender apartheid kept those same good Muslim women in the back two rows of the bus. It was there in shopping malls patrolled by morality police ready to arrest shopkeepers who didn't close their stores for prayer time and it was there in the grim Friday evening news tally of the day's public beheadings.
2004-06-08 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive