In September 2013, a prominent Saudi Wahhabi cleric announced that driving was harmful to women’s health. Swalih al-Luhaydan said that studies have shown that women who drive could damage their ovaries and displace their pelvises. He added that these women risked having children with birth defects. Swalih al-Luhaydan’s comments quickly became controversial worldwide. A Twitter hashtag, #WomensDrivingAffectsOvariesAndPelvises, made his statements go viral across the Internet amid endless mockery and criticism. Even his own countrymen expressed their disbelief at his remarks, with one calling them ridiculous. Muhammad Baknah, a Saudi gynaecologist, later challenged Swalih al-Luhaydan’s statements and countered that there were no such studies. In Swalih’s defense, his bizarre view about women driving was not the first, nor will it be the last, to garner such scrutiny. In 2010, another Saudi cleric caused a ruckus when he issued a fatwa that said women could breastfeed their drivers to formally make them mahram. Listverse
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 17:32:52 +0000
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