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From the blog Saudi Jeans

The Right to Choose

It has been a long time since I read anything by Mody al-Khalaf, but yesterday she was back with a good column at Arab News.
This time, al-Khalaf comments on letter to King Abdullah that was written by 500 women asking for what they called “their Islamic rights.”

These women asked the king to ignore the calls for “Western” rights for women.

Al-Khalaf makes a good argument, even though most of what she talks about is well-known to those of us who choose to look at things in a way that really makes sense.

She writes, “I ask for my Islamic right to work in marketing, sales, catering, medicine, law, politics, engineering, fashion, the military or any other occupation which I might choose.”

Are we going to see Saudi women gain more rights this year? I hope so.

I'm optimistic, and with people like al-Khalaf and others, including many Saudi female bloggers that I'm really proud of, I am sure they will. “

And finally, as a Muslim, I ask for my right to choose.

In any argument, a Muslim has the right to choose the interpretations he or she wants instead of being forced to go along with other people’s choices,” al-Khalaf concludes.