Arab Girls are Becoming Slutty - My Response

Researching the Arab world is so much fun and extremely intellectual. People in the Arab world are generally extremists and they can only see in black or white, never have shades of gray. I was looking for the actual meaning of Slut when I couldn't help but click on the title found through the search results, Arab girls are becoming slutty. The blog post was written by an angry "rebellious" female who is convinced that she is right and everyone who disagrees is wrong. This is a typical case of a typical Arab individual. As I always say, there are exceptions to every rule.

The post is as follows:

Women Driving Rights in Saudi Arabia

Who said driving is meant to be only for men? Who made those rules? In this world men and women share equal rights of having the ability to do and become whatever they want. In some countries driving for women is prohibited and until now I don’t get why. Anyhow, I did some major research in well known countries that prohibit women from having their own cars or driving.

One of those countries is Saudi Arabia, since cars arrived to Saudi Arabia women were never meant to use it. It’s a strange law; however, they say they have their own reasons. So I asked a friend of mine who lives in Saudi Arabia about the reasons, and he said:

“Saudi Arabia is a country ruled and run by religion and only the Islamic Sunni religion. I know it has nothing to do with women not driving. But, imagine a women, a 1000 years earlier, riding a horse or a camel. I wouldn’t make sense. Nowadays, in Saudi Arabia, it’s believed that women don’t have the stable state of mind to be able to drive. And apart from this, if a women is seen driving in Saudi Arabia, it will be disastrous. When you roam the streets in the cities of Saudi Arabia, all women either use taxis or chauffeurs. Still, guys find the ways to stalk them and follow them in their own cars to hit on them. Hitting on women in Saudi Arabia isn’t like any other country. They follow the car the girl is in until she opens her rear window and accepts that the driver of the car following her to throw a paper with his number written on it. So imagine a girl driving, she will not only be stalked or followed, she will probably be pulled over and raped. Their mentality in Saudi Arabia is limited and it all revolves about men having the ultimate right of owning and using everything.”

I was shocked when I heard this. I had lived in Saudi Arabia before, but it never occurred to me that this is the reason women are prohibited from driving. I think this is so unfair. People all over the world say that women drivers are the worst drivers ever. Well, let me correct you all, do your research before saying so because the statistics say that in every 10 accidents, men are responsible for 7 of them. Making men worse drivers than men in the entire world.

Civil Marriage is a Civil Right

Civil marriage is a very controversial matter in the Middle East region. Civil marriage is basically allowing a couple to get married regardless of race, religion or beliefs. All marriages in the Middle East are based on religion, and only a few religions allow different religion marriage. It’s a very complicated issue if, for instance, a Christian man wants to marry a Druze woman. In most cases they solve this problem by travelling to the closest country that allows civil marriage, Cyprus, and get married there.

Why all the hassle if our countries can provide this freedom of choice for us, the freedom of marrying the one we love for their own being and not for their religion or race or beliefs. I support fighting for the right of legalizing civil marriage in the Middle East.

What’s marriage in the first place? Marriage is when two people are officially announced as a husband and wife in front of a group of people not opposing to this unity. The paper work is only proof of their marriage. Now, what bothers me the most is that in religion, there only has to be two people as witnesses and a religious figure to announce the marriage. Let’s say two people are from different religions have different belief, they both loved each other; there has to be a way that they can get married without the religious figure because not all religions are open to other religion marriages. This is where civil marriage comes.

Does Slavery Still Exist?

The answer to this question is unfortunately YES. Slavery still exists in different kind and different forms in our times than in earlier times. First let's define the word slavery.

What is Slavery?

"Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to work for another (sometimes called "the master" or "slave owner"). Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation (such as wages) in return for their labor." Wikipedia

Slavery started when white people used to kidnap children from their homes in Africa, ship them and sell them to the highest bidders abroad. This is something very unacceptable to all human kind who believe in humanity. Using people as slaves for masters against their will and with no return is an ugly form of abuse, even uglier than physical abuse itself.

The Islam Usual Suspects - Generalizing Terrorism

During Bush’s administration, Muslims were randomly picked and interviewed by the FBI with the assumption of them involved in some terrorist organization. It’s a common issue. From a personal experience; my uncle, Muhammad Saleh, went to America 2 years ago visiting family and friends. He was surprised when he was dragged into a small interrogation room in the airport, strip searched and then waited for anyone to appear for a long 3 hours. He was cuffed sitting on a small steel chair. He didn’t know what to expect or what’s waiting for him. A big man wearing a suit got into the room and started asking the regular question asked to a terrorist.

“Why are you here?” “Do you have any connections to a terrorist cell?” “Do you know these people (he showed pictures)?” “Where do you live?” “Why did you come from Syria?” “Do you know anything about guns?” “Have you ever owned a gun?” “Are you aware of any upcoming planned terrorist attacks?” and so on...

My uncle answered calmly and honestly every question he was asked. Then he asked the FBI agent himself: “Why am I here being interrogated by the FBI when I am only visiting family and friends?” He answered: “It’s because you’re a Muslim and your name is Muhammad.”