Saudi Arabia’s governing body of clerics passed ‘Fatwa’ or religious decree on Sunday that the cashier jobs were not permissible for women because they resulted in the women mixing with unrelated men, which is prohibited under Saudi Arabia’s ultra-strict form of Islam. Saudi women activists and other Human Right groups expressed their anger and outrage after the announcement of this ‘Fatwa’. Grand mufti and other 6 top clerics are part of very powerful committee, which made first politically significant ruling since King Abdullah issued a decree giving the council sole authority to issue fatwa in august.
“it is not just about a woman working as a cashier…There are more than 60000 women university graduates looking for jobs, so this is a big thing”, a unanimous protester said while talking to media.
A fatwa is not the same as a law passed and promulgated by the government. Nevertheless, it can be used as law in Saudi Arabia, which holds Islamic Sharia law as its legal code. All judges in the country are Islamic cleric’s schooled in Sharia.
Whether this fatwa is according to the teachings of Islam is controversial question because today there are many different and hostile sects of Muslims around the world which have their own interpretations of Islamic Law. Islam is universal but today interpretation of Islamic Law is different around the globe. It is need of the time that all Muslims scholars sit together and try to make some sort of basic structure of Islamic Jurisprudence which can be universally used in all parts of the world.
Saudi Arabia Laws are categorised in nine chapters which includes eighty-three articles. That is really a supplement for sharia and cannot override the Islamic laws. An informal committee within the internal ministry was given the task to draft the basic law and the Human Rights Watch has accused of them violating human rights.
During the 1700s, there was the integration of political and religious organizations, Muhammad bin Saud along with Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab to form one governing body. Saudi Arabia government reserves several clergy jobs that include preaching and judgeships. The Islamic clergy like sheikhs and muftis who dominated the legal positions in Saudi Arabia took advantage of the Basic Law as well as the Quran, sunnah, hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, all of which is associated with sharia.