Manal al-Sharif: A Story about Cultural Conflicts

Manal al-Sharif is a Saudi Arabia woman that defended the rights of women in this country. She was involved in a movement against the prohibition of the women drivers.

She dared to break the rules that fatwa impose to the Muslim people and in 2011 she took the car and drove for the city.  Manal al-Sharif was in jail for breaking this prohibition, but she insisted in drive, because is a rule imposes for the religion and not for the laws from Saudi Arabia, so she was sure about her innocence. For her this prohibition is based in the fatwa and it’s just a custom and traditions.

But the Muslim worshippers, including her friends and family, attacking her. She was faced with organized defamation campaign in the local media with false rumors, even they called prostitute.  It was a punishment for daring to challenge the society’s rules.

Talk about this topic is very complicated, because is necessary understand the context of this situation. The first of all, Saudi Arabia is a country very religious, where the daily life is based in the rules imposed for the Islam. Therefore, it is a way of living is involved in something much bigger associated with cultural facets. For the occident culture understands this way is not easy, and usually we say that traditions are horrible and it infringes upon the women rights.

For me, we can’t judge the traditions based in religion because in our culture don’t give this importance at the religion. For them is something that you should not even doubt. But the problem is the globalized world, where in the present everyone has access to know the way life of the others cultures, and some people aspired to live like an occidental world, causing these cultural conflicts.