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Abdulrahman Al-Shallash
Arab News
SOME people in our society are against women participating in sports even inside their own homes. This is so ingrained in their ways that they do not welcome any women’s activities, sports or otherwise, as they believe that “this will herald the beginning of evil, corruption and promiscuity.” They do not support their stance with any evidence from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and will not dare say that the religion has prevented women from practicing sports.
Their arguments against women’s sports are false and illogical. The beginning of the war against women’s sports lies in a signboard placed by an anonymous person (or persons) in a place in Riyadh that women frequented for walking. This sign prompted other like-minded individuals to join in. These people achieved what they aspired when physical education failed to get approval in girls’ schools despite the need for our daughters to build their weak bodies. As a result of the ferocious resistance against women’s sports, the number of sports centers for women in Riyadh was greatly reduced. Women had no alternative but to go for walks in the few pedestrian-friendly locations there. The large number of women you see walking is indicative of Saudi women’s desire to participate in sports and their understanding of its importance. They insist on walking, individually or in groups, despite difficulties of harsh weather and harassment. Paradoxically, opponents of women’s sport are not worried by women going out for walks. They are against schoolgirls practicing sports under the supervision of their women teachers, and are also against the establishment of special, women-only sports centers run under the watch of the government. There is a need to set up more sports centers for women. There is a dire need to give further attention to this. This is the wish of the majority of Saudi women. Women who do not want to practice sport will not be obliged to do so by force. They cannot be forced to leave their homes. However, the majority of women want to practice sport within the boundaries of our religion. This is a God-given right.
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