King Abdullah open letter

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful Commanding For Good & Preventing From BadHis Majesty Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-SaudRoyal CourtRiyadh 11111Kingdom of Saudi Arabiac/o Ambassador Prince Adel A. Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the US601 New Hampshire Ave., NWWashington, DC 20037Fax: 202-944-5983info@saudiembassy.netAn open letter to Saudi King Abdullah from a devout Muslim Woman, Ghazal Omid, on the issueof women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.Your Majesty King Abdullah, I am writing to you as part of my Islamic duty to urge you to do theright thing by women in your country.I am sure you are up-to-date about the situation of women in your country in recent months.Particularly, those women who try to drive seem to so often end up in prison for a few hours or, inthe case of Manal Al-Sharief, for a few days. In many interviews with Western media during thepast few years you have expressed your desire to allow women to step into the 21st Century.Your country seems to lag a great deal behind when it comes to personal freedom, especially inbasic rights and freedom for women.I am hoping when you read this letter you will be reminded that you are not just a King of Saudibut also King of the Holiest sites and country among Islamic countries. Freeing women In SaudiArabia from barbaric rules erroneously portrayed as rules of Islam is not just a political issue butalso an Islamic issue. In the past decade, Islam has become more politicized than any otherissue. What happens in your country is not merely a local problem. It becomes an Islamicproblem and, therefore, a global one. Your country’s rules step on rights Islam has granted towomen. Politics of your country treats habitual and traditional rules of your Arabic culture as ifthey are part of Islam; from covering face and hands to not allowing women to drive, to name afew. In reality, you and I know these are traditions of your county and have nothing to do withIslam.At this point, you might suggest that I take a look at my own country, Iran, and mind my ownbusiness, as you sort of hinted to President Obama in the inserted New Yorker article linkedbelow. King Abullah, I am not just a woman and freedom fighter who fought for a woman from

your country who was raped. Instead of being embraced in her country, the rules were in favor ofher fourteen rapists. Before my NGO joined the intervention, she was about to be lashed 200times and imprisoned for a additional three to six months.More than anything, although not covered I am a devout Muslim woman. I am aware of mypersonal sins but when it comes to Islam, I do the right thing by others and speak up when I knowI must. The behavior your countrymen pursue against women is very similar to the behavior ofArab men of the Saudi Peninsula before Islam when a father or husband would come home froma journey and bury alive an unwanted baby girl or consider it his right to rape and kill a wife or anyunprotected woman. This isn’t Islam. Not allowing women to drive would have been considered asin if Prophet Mohammad PBH were alive today! What happens today in Saudi would be equal tonot allowing women to ride their horse or camel in 1400 years ago.The House of God in Mecca is located in the heart of your country. Medina, among the holiestplaces on earth is also located in your country. It is not just the politics of your country that I amworried about. For example, your friendship and concern for a deposed brutal dictator; stating inthe New Yorker article that you are willing to donate the wealth of Muslim nations and your ownpeople, many of whom suffer greatly, to give sanctuary and afford a comfortable life for a brutalman, listed by Forbes magazine as among the 100 wealthiest men in the world, is appalling.There are hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world in need but your Majesty has notmade a single inquiry about them. I can show you e-mails exchanged with your Embassy staffand ministers in DC documenting how many times I made inquiry about Hajj meat and where andwhen it was distributed. I still don’t have a proper answer. I have only been told it is given to thepoor. I want to ensure a system is in place so the meat can go to Afghanistan. Regrettably, youmay not be aware that your staff seems to be too busy with politics to attend to humanitarianmatters.You also chose to send troops to Bahrain, a country that brutally suppresses its uprising, shootinginnocents in broad day light, spreading an ignoble reputation for brutality and suffering far beyondits borders.Your Majesty, I am here to plead with you and remind you of your moral and Islamic responsibilityand the ability of a great leader to eradicate the inequalities between men and women in yourcountry. You can bring down the walls of ignorance if you so choose. You can become arevolutionary leader initiating real change in your country; starting by granting rights to those whohave been discriminated against the most. Or, you can let the people bring the walls down andjoin history with an unenviable reputation.I have visited your country, and your Embassy in Washington, DC and I must say, although theinterior and exterior of your Embassy showcases the wealth of your country, I have little good tosay about respect for women in your country. I hope you take this observation with an open heartthat if there is a revolution in your country it will come from those who suffer the most.I end this open letter with a proverb from Persian Poet SAADI.“A man is not dead because he passes to the next life. He is dead when people don’t mention hisname with dignity and regards.”Yours sincerely,Ghazal Omidhttp://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/02/saudi_king_abdullah_to_obama_d.html

King Abdullah open letter

by Ghazal Omid

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