Saudi Sheikh Saleh Bin Saad Al-Luhaydan, Private Attorney General and the Psychological Advisor of the Psychological Association in the Gulf states, advised Saudi women to prioritize mind over heart.
This was in response to the the driving campaign held by Saudi female activists on October 26 through the website oct26driving.com. The declaration on the website has been signed by more than 11,000 women and states “Since there are no clear justifications for the state to ban adult, capable women from driving. We call for enabling women to have driving tests and for issuing licenses for those who pass.”
The Sheikh said that the result of this is bad and they should wait and consider the disadvantages, Arabic newspaper Sabq reported.
Al-Luhaidan stated that in the days of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), muslim women who were his companions used to ride horses and camels as means of transportation but never rode alone and were always accompanied by a ‘mahram’.
Al-Luhaidan further explained that there are exceptional cases that allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia such as when a husband is driving accompanied by his wife and daughter and an accident occurred. It is then allowed for women to drive due to the urgency of the situation.
Al-Luhaidan added that driving could have a reverse physiological impact on women and could affect her ovaries and push the pelvis higher as a result of which their children are born with clinical disorders of varying degrees.
He further stated that 33% female drivers caused car accidents in Arab countries as opposed to 9% male.