Islamic Solution to Kuwait Unemployment: Women Stay Home
From today’s Kuwait Times:
Islamic system way to resolve unemployment
KUWAIT; Dr. Ahmad Aziz al Muzaini, the Secretary of the Shura and Salam group, said that following Islamic doctrine concerning work would be one solution to the problem of unemployment and the excessive numbers of expatriate workers.
Calling on women to take care of their own homes and families, rather than employing domestic staff, Dr. Al Muzaini said that by doing so millions of Kuwaiti Dinars transferred outside the country annually would be saved and invested in the local economy. If domestic workers proved to be essential, he said, local and other Arab people could do these jobs, rather than bringing in expatriates from thousands of miles away.
Dr. Al-Muzaini said that his group has also recommended a temporary suspension of the import of cars to Kuwait, saying that each household in the country currently owns several cars which is causing numerous accidents and traffic congestion.
He also recommended that more women be employed as taxi drivers catering to all-female clientele, which would be in female passengers interests and insure their safety.
There’s more. You can read it yourself in the Kuwait Times.
(Sigh) Where to start?
Did you know there is a law on the books in Kuwait that to have a driver’s license, a woman must have a college degree and/or be employed full time? When I asked our sponsor/fixer, he told me that “of course, madam, that doesn’t apply to you.”
But if Dr. Ahmad Aziz al Muzaini wants us to stay home, do you think he also prefers that the men hold responsible jobs rather than women? How do you think he feels about female Ministers? Does he think women should be restricted from driving as a solution to traffic congestion?
I have female Muslim friends who say that there is nothing un-Islamic about women going out to work, that on the contrary, women were encouraged to have their own businesses and were encouraged to seek education and knowledge in true Islam.
Why is it when things start going south, the ultra-religious start throwing restrictions on women?
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It’s not Islamic doctrine that women should stay at home and work in the house!!!!
It’s Islamic doctrine to seek knowledge, and learn, for men and women! Women can have jobs and businesses, and they did. (Mohammed worked for Kadijja before she proposed to him) And it is Islamic doctrine that men are to provide their wives with household help. It is Islamic doctrine that any house-work done by the wife for the husband is counted as charity. Any money she makes with her work and business is her own absolutely, and the husband has to provide everything for wife and children.
The doctrine laid out by the minister, is a Christian doctrine, so he is imitating the kuffar!!!!!
Tssss!!!
LLOOLL, Aafke, next thing you know, he will be supporting Valentine’s day, whoooop! whoooop!
This guy may have a valid point , if women stay at home the traffic jams will be cut in half .Not bad
Daggero, not so, women will have to have drivers to take the kids to school, to pick up the laundry, to run her to the doctors, etc. That’s what happened in Saudi Arabia, it was all testosterone on the road, believe me, it’s the worst driving I have ever seen anywhere.
@intlxpatr:
Still, wouldn’t having a driver with one car to do the errands to the ladies of the house much better (traffic wise) than having a car for each lady! lool. Specially given the ‘superfolous’ outings that we see girls (& guys mind you) doing in scouting the malls and markets; time better spent at home doing something useful.
The issue with ‘testosterone’ on the road is something else, which exists any way regardless; and should be treated separately.
I’m pretty sure (without even looking up the source) that the report has taken what he said out of context or misquoted as usual when it comes to these ‘lost in translation’ reports of ‘ultra-religious’ expressions of Islamic views as I’ve noticed lately.
oh, I didn’t comment on the ‘Islamic doctrine’ part.
Well, I’m not going to, because I’m not qualified and I don’t think anyone else who commented here is qualified either.
So instead, I will talk about it from a non-religious view where there’s no sin in misrepresenting a religious view invovled. I Would just point out to the term ‘Disguised unemployment’. I think if you look at many of the ladies employeed in the public sector, you can see this. Tens and tens of ladies who have to leave their home early, head to work, sit around to chat and drink tea, and move papers here and there. Accumulated staff to do the work of one or two!! So, for those, I think it would be in the benefit of the society if they stayed home and got paid for it. But I would go further, and restrict the continuity of the payment to them attending certain seminars/classes every now and then, that are useful for them (not things like home-ed only, but more than that, like how to raise children and understand their psychology, or how to be more active in the community, or even, shudder, some basic Islamic concepts and practices that seem to have slipped through the cracks of the official education system!!)
So, really, we shouldn’t understand what this guy said to mean to include all women like Doctors and teachers of course.
It’s just that in our societies (and religion?), we have to recognize that some areas are more appropriate or beneficial to invovle women in, and others not so beneficial.
when will it ever stop!!!!!!
nbq – You may be surprised, but to a great extent, I understand what you are saying, and I don’t necessarily disagree. AND there are also other factors to consider.
Wait till you see the fights as the “ladies” fight over whose errands and needs for the one driver should take precedence! 😛
I believe the intention of Islam is not unlike that of Judaism or Christianity – that God/Allah/Yahweh created each of us, man and woman, individually, and with a purpose, and it is up to us to find and fulfill that purpose. It would be wrong to confine an individual to work in the home – man or woman – if they were created for another role in the world. And finding and fulfilling that purpose – in my humble opinion – is between each individual and the Creator. (Does that tread on doctrine?)
nbq, So are you kidding? Because you’re very funny!
Conversly, if you really mean it: Were you frozen 600 years ago and recently thawed out?
If we take it that God favors one sex above the other for driving cars, statistics seem to point towards women as they are the better drivers…
And there are many other gender assigned roles which seem to have currently been assigned to the wrong gender. Hence the mess the world is in today.
Aafke, sorry, I really wish you could come for a visit and you would see some of the contradictions.
nbq brought up a valid point. There is something called “Kuwaitization” that requires firms to have a certain percentage of Kuwaiti employees. There are places that pay women – and even pay them to stay home; they are employees, but only on the books. There are other places where the women show up and drink tea most of the day, and literally, sort of pretend to work, while a few hard-pressed third country nationals hustle to get the real work done. These tea-drinking women would be better off at home.
I don’t always agree with nbq, but he comments thoughtfully, and he expresses a more traditional point of view respectfully, so his comments are welcome.
Ok, I was thinking about myself; working very hard, for very little money, and it seemed to me that what was meant is: a woman ”working” equals drinking tea, gossip, waste time and do nothing!
Especially as I am an artist, and being a professional artist is not respected in the Netherlands, I am a bit sensitive to this.
Now you tell me this actually really is the case in Kuwait, I take it back.
A bit.
aafke,
u didn’t elaborate on which point u have an issue with & u didn’t provide any counter arguments so I can’t answer u specifically.
But if I had to guess, you might be hinting at my seemingly anti-‘progressive’ point of view; in which case, no I was not kidding, and frankly it is these ‘progressive’ aggressive approaches of the west regarding women (which have failed miserably given the consequences & decadence we see) that are rather sadly funny. They are rather indicative of how lost, dazed and confused the genders became from the misalignment of their true calling and purpose due to the socio-economic pressures and decay inflicted by the deviance of their main purpose and fruitful areas of contribution.
It is not about whether women can cut it or not, it’s about confronting the circumstances that force women into positions they do not have to be pressured into.
ok, just read ur explanation. I think we are now more aligned than b4 in our comments :). I think I mistakingly assume most of the readers have a background on the situation in Kuwait and the region since I followup on this blog throught safat.kuwaitblogs.com aggregator. I’ll take that into account in the future.
nbq: “it’s about confronting the circumstances that force women into positions they do not have to be pressured into.” You know, that can also apply to wifehood and motherhood. There are some of us (females) not cut out for being a wife or mother. There are some of us cut out for the working world. There are even some of us who can handle both, and do it rather well. It isn’t without stresses – but men have stresses, too, from their role as provider, especially when the young’uns get close to going to (expensive) universities.
occasionally I have this desire to mutter some decidedly un-ladylike comments towards some of the sheikhs…
Like now…
I find myself wondering if this sheikh has ever tried to care for the (demanding) kuwaiti husband who doesn’t step foot in the kitchen, certainly wouldn’t be caught dead diapering a baby and laundry?? what’s that?? Floors??? Washing cars???
Considering that large families are still the norm amongst Kuwaitis, if a woman has multiple children, often under age five, how does this sheikh propose that she meet the demands of her (growing) family and culturally-indoctrinated spouse, meaning that he’s allergic to manual labour and quite possibly is busy working outside the home himself, in order to try to pay for one of the huge homes that his (growing) family needs? oh, and let’s not forget the elderly inlaws that she may be caring for, or the younger siblings that may also live in the home, or the family that may be visiting….
There are Kuwaiti women who have absolutely no need for household help, they just like it. The last I checked, that wasn’t criminal…and is it not said that the best muslim man is that whom is best to his wife(s)…?
So if he chooses to spoil his wife by providing her with household help, so she can have pretty hair and nails and perfume herself delightfully for when he arrives home…isn’t that his perogative??
And if the woman is running around crazily, trying desperately to manage..and her husband realizes that he won’t have dinner soon at this rate, because the laundry pile was impossible to ignore..he even had to step over it when trying to get to the bedroom door…and there was suspicious smell coming from two of his small children…and he looks at her and realizes that at 8 months pregnant she’s looking a bit tired…and it’s only 2pm…and decides to employ a full-time maid/nanny to help out with their four children (all under aged 5)…since when is this wrong???
And if a woman wants to work outside of the home..since WHEN is that something the government is to mandate??? The last I checked, it was her husband who she was accountable to..it’s him she has to ask before she leaves his home. And if he’s fine with her working (because he LIKES having a sane wife, go figure) and she’s talented, she enjoys her job, she’s contributing to her society in a positive way, she’s well-educated and finds herself stressed to the max with the two kids at home…and they’re in school now anyways, and the nanny helps out with them for the two hours after school, till mama arrives home…..why is this wrong???
In the time of the sahabiat, which we know to be a time of learning, of growth, of masha Allah, the best muslims…we see that each of them was “known” for her specific gifts…whether it be healing arts (nursing)…or memorization of ahadith…such as Aishah r.a….or her amazing culinary skills..or skill with weapons even…these women didn’t necessarily have degrees…but they certainly weren’t sitting on their tushies all day long (or out shopping for designer clothing and handbags and shoes), they were actively learning and offering their knowlege to the community around them, alhamdulillah.
I do agree that many women have become grossly spoiled and are perhaps even unaware of how they are perceived by (some) of the rest of the world. But I would suggest that a stronger education system, that reaches out to Kuwaiti girls, in their younger years, would be more likely to “bear fruit” in terms of looking for accountability in personal lives and decisions, as these girls head into adulthood. Challenge them to dream, to look within themselves, to look to the realities of their religion, to what Islam actually teaches them as women – forget about the men. Teach them that each woman is accountable for her own actions, for her own family, for raising her own children – and give her the tools to aid her in doing exactly that. Considering the parenting resources available in Kuwait, that could be your first clue as to why many women simply don’t..parent, that is. But also remind her that it is an owness upon her to continue her learning, to seek knowlege…we are commanded to this as muslims. Whether she is a housewife or the CEO of a major company, she is fully capable of aquiring knowlege. But she has to WANT to…she has to feel that she’ll be able to USE that knowlege somehow…and then we go back to that education system…and even instilling in these girls the desire to read a novel..to READ…perhaps there’s the beginning right there..
Slamming down more laws that inhibit the growth and integration and value of women in Kuwaiti society, more than there already are, is NOT the answer. Of this I am certain. Drawing the women into the society, VALUING them as contributing members of it…this will give Kuwait the healthy, prosperous, humane and compassionate society that right now, it is lacking. Because once you value your women in your society, they give back..and oh can they give…
A O A.
Hello In charge,
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Yours Sincerely,
Zainab Naseem
Reading these comments has been very interesting, especially with my western eyes. There are a couple of comments I would like to make. A number of years ago I used to drive a truck across the US and seen many drivers drive badly that were of both sexes.
Here in the US it is no longer common to have a large family, hence we no longer need servants in the home. Reading history, we used to have large families and servants were common in most households. When a cleric is stating that more women should stay home and take care of their families that tells me that the governments numbers are wrong on unemployment in Kuwait. It could well be that unemployment is being misrepresented and he knows it.
Brian, things are different in the Gulf countries. There is a topsy turvy population; the nationals – the Qataris, the Kuwaitis, the Saudis, the Emiratis – have become minorities in their own countries.
All of the lowest level positions – labor – are expats, mostly from Asia – India, Nepal, Sri Lanka. Much of lower and middle management are expats from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and western countries. Only upper level jobs are considered appropriate for nationals, and many of them are taken by expats. So there ARE jobs, but a dearth of jobs considered acceptable.
Even with smaller families in the US, when a woman goes to work, she still needs help around the home. Fortunately, husbands are more egalitarian, and willing to diaper that baby and mop that floor from time to time. 🙂
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Humaira Nazeer
huma_9@yahoo.com