Much has been written about democratic transformation in the Middle East and the Gulf. The latest iteration of this policy, the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative, is designed to encourage reform on several fronts: economic, social and cultural. Changing the status and role of women is a key element in this reform. A pivotal state to watch in this process is Qatar, where a quiet revolution may be taking place.
Qatar, a new, rich country that only achieved its independence from Britain in 1971, is undergoing rapid change. It is offering the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and the rest of the world a continuous series of surprises. These include the establishment of the al-Jazeera television channel, the appointment of the first woman cabinet minister in the Arab Gulf, and the adoption of a daring foreign policy in which a “small power” takes center stage in regional and international conferences and offers free-thinking advice to the Arab world. The ruler of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who took office in 1995, is still relatively young (54). In less than ten years, his rule has catapulted Qatar from a sleepy, isolated country to prosperity, a state with an international role and a leader in the region’s social and political transformation.
A key element in this transformation has been the status of women. While most of the change in women’s status has been generated from the top down and has yet to strike deep roots, the steps taken and the response to them have been daring for this traditional, conservative society. This article traces the progress Qatari women have made in the last few decades, as well as some of the difficulties and obstacles they still face.1
WOMEN AND EDUCATION
The most significant change for women has come in education. Female education in Qatar goes back to the end of the nineteenth century, when families who could afford it hired tutors, called mutawah, to give their children (mainly boys) lessons on Islam. The curriculum consisted mainly of recitation of the Quran and some reading and writing. However, few women were fortunate enough to receive even this minimum. (Writing, in particular, was thought to be corrupting for women.) Those few studied only from the age of six to twelve; thereafter, they stayed at home awaiting a marriage proposal.2
The first pioneer for female education in Qatar was a remarkable woman, Amnah Mahmud al-Jiddah, who began her own career in the 1940s as a mutawah, going to the houses of her female students to teach them. Finally, she started her own private primary school for girls in 1947, the first of its kind.3 It was not until 1955 that the government opened the first public primary school for girls. Slowly, families began to send their girls to these government schools, which were originally staffed with female teachers from other Arab countries.4 With the discovery of oil in the 1930s, and the onset of its production and export in 1949, new wealth flowed into Qatar and with it the funds to finance change. To encourage education, in 1950, the Qatari government offered free schooling, free distribution of school books and equipment, and even a monthly stipend to any Qatari who enrolled at any level.5 Women benefited from these measures. Indeed, they soon made education a chief channel of mobility and a focal point of their endeavors. After a slow start in the 1960s, female enrollments grew and, by the late 1970s, began to surpass those of men. By 1978, more girls than boys were graduating from high school.
In 1973, the first university-level faculty was opened in Qatar – a faculty of education, which had two separate branches: one for men and one for women. Then, in 1977, Qatar University was officially inaugurated. Since then, the number of faculties (now called colleges) has expanded to seven: education; humanities; sciences; law and shariah (Islamic law); technology, economics and business administration; and engineering. From the beginning, women have been allowed to study in all of these colleges except engineering. However, men and women study on separate campuses. As an indication of change, male and female faculty members are allowed to teach on both. In 1998, the university opened evening classes for students who work during the day. (These students, however, do have to pay tuition.)
One of the most striking phenomena in women’s education has been the gender imbalance in enrollments. This is particularly noticeable at the university level, where over 70 percent of the students are women. This discrepancy in gender enrollment, which exists at lower levels and in other countries of the Arab Gulf as well, calls for some explanation. One is that the best male high-school graduates are sent abroad to study on scholarships supported by government or by their parents. Qatari society is still conservative and, for the most part, unwilling to send single females abroad for study. Another explanation is that men, who have more career opportunities, often go into the military or the security apparatus, where they receive specialized training. Qatar is a commercial society in which men are expected to work; hence many young high school graduates go directly into the labor force. A number of these go into the family business; others open their own businesses, which are now booming along with Qatar’s oil economy. Unless they work for large companies that offer their own training programs, however, it is not clear how many of these male Qataris are receiving higher education.
Women’s motivation must also be taken into account: the urge to get ahead and the impetus to change their role and status in life, as well as a desire to escape the boredom of staying at home. Whatever the motivation, one outcome of this imbalance may be a future gender discrepancy in education in favor of women. It is interesting to speculate what this might mean for Qatar’s future, as well as for the future role of its women.
However, while education may mean an increase in skills and status, it is not clear that, in Qatar, it also means development of critical thinking. Even at the university level, teaching still depends largely on traditional methods of memorizing subject matter rather than independent and critical analysis of content.7 But this, too, may be changing, and the change is being initiated by a woman. In August 2003, Dr. Shaikha Abd Allah al-Misnad, a professor of education and a former vice president of Qatar University, became its president.8 She brought new ideas for reform. She has already abolished some departments, consolidated research centers and, most important, is seeking to encourage new methods of teaching and a new spirit of inquiry. She has turned to a U.S. think tank – the Rand Corporation (already involved in reform at lower levels of education) – for help in achieving these goals. It will, of course, take more than a fiat from above to achieve the transformation; it remains to be seen how persistent the follow-through will be.
In this regard, the signs of reform at pre-university levels give hope for optimism. Under the advice of Rand and a new Supreme Education Council, a new system of independent schools is being instituted with a view to changing the curriculum and teaching methods from grades K through 12. These schools will have more autonomy in teaching methods and curriculum and encourage innovation. At the same time, standards in four subjects – Arabic, English, math and science – will be raised, and students in all public and private schools will be evaluated according to international standards. All indications are that women will play a major role in instituting this system and in teaching the curriculum.
PRINCESS (SHAIKHA) MOZAH BINT NASSER AL-MISNAD
As the example of Dr. Misnad suggests, Qatar is producing some striking new role models for the new generation of women. Without a doubt, the most outstanding – not just for Qatar, but for the Arab Gulf as a whole – is Shaikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Misnad, wife of Qatar’s ruler. She has played – and continues to play – a pivotal role in improving conditions for Qatari woman, especially in education. Most important, she has provided an example of a woman who is gradually stepping out into the public domain – although carefully – to participate in turning Qatari society in a more modern and liberal direction. Her actions are clearly understood by young women as providing a path to increased possibilities for the future.
Shaikha Mozah comes from a well known merchant family; her father, Nasser al-Misnad, was a businessman. Although she received her early education in Qatar, she and her family left Qatar in the 1960s because of unsettled political conditions.
They settled for a time in Egypt, where she received much of her education, although she completed her higher education in Qatar. After rearing a family, she gradually began to play a more prominent role in public affairs. She has traveled abroad widely, including a number of visits to the United States (she speaks fluent English). Contrary to the practice of the wives of many other Gulf rulers, she is gradually becoming more and more visible in public life, in Qatar and abroad. She attends the graduation of the women’s branch of the university and gives public speeches. In 1998, she led an all-female march down the main avenue in Doha to benefit one of her favorite charities. She heads several prestigious institutions, including the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, an umbrella institution that supervises the activities of numerous social-welfare groups in Qatar. She recently accompanied her husband to the United States and gave several public addresses to think tanks in New York and Washington, which were attended by men and women, including members of the Arab press. She has become the closest approximation to a “first lady” that the Gulf has ever known.9
Shaikha Mozah has made education one of her major concerns, encouraging and facilitating the education of women in Qatar, as well as injecting a new spirit of inquiry into the process for both genders.10 In fact, she is the prime mover behind one of Qatar’s main showcases of reform – Education City. This project fosters arrangements whereby Western (mainly U.S.) universities open branches in Qatar to educate both Qataris and non-Qataris, men and women. These universities offer degrees equivalent to those in the home institution. Among the universities now established in Education City are Cornell Medical School, Texas A & M, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of the North Atlantic and Virginia Commonwealth University. The Cornell Medical School branch opened its doors to the first class in 2003-04, with 51 students enrolled. Qatar also has private international secondary schools that offer an international baccalaureate to both Qataris and non-Qataris. While it is usually the elite who send theirdaughters to these schools, a segment of Qatari women is graduating from institutions with high standards, in many ways indistinguishable from those in the West.
WOMEN AND WORK
In the past, most Qatari women were not only illiterate but confined to the role of housewife. Despite such limitations, some women worked in their homes at manual labor such as weaving, sewing and repairing nets for fishermen and pearl divers. A few were vendors in local markets, selling fruits and vegetables. In the desert, women helped herd camels. In most cases, it was poor women who worked.11
This situation has changed dramatically. The last 25 years have seen a great increase in the numbers of working women, as well as positive changes in the attitude of society toward this new phenomenon. In some fields, such as government employment, women have virtually caught up with men. In 1999, women were 39 percent of the Qatari work force; in 2002, 41 percent. In the same time frame, they went from 45 percent of government workers to 49 percent. In the private sector, men still outnumber women. Qatar is still a conservative society, to be sure, and the issue of women working remains sensitive, especially among a minority – both men and women – that is resistant to change. Those who object to women working usually give several reasons. One relates to sharia, or Islamic law. In one way or another, working women have to deal with men, something that, in this view, is forbidden (haram).
People who adopt such a view feel that women’s place is in the home, raising children and caring for the family. A second reason for opposition to working women is encompassed in the word ayb (shame), a concept springing from tribal values. Among families with financial means, men are supposed to be the bread winners, not women. While such logic is rejected in modern societies, these issues are still debated in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and in Qatar in particular.12
In the fall of 2003, 45 female students in a political science class at Qatar University were asked, in an informal opinion survey taken by Louay Bahry, to identify the motives inducing women in Qatar to work. First came financial “need.” Despite the high per capita income in Qatar, women work to help their families cope with the rising cost of living. Now, two incomes are considered necessary to meet a higher standard, just as in the West.
Second came changing social conditions and values. Today, the majority of Qatarisn high school or university to go out and work. This is particularly true for unmarried women. After marriage, many women stop working, whether under pressure from husbands and families or by choice, in order to devote their time to raising families. Third, work was considered preferable to the boredom of staying at home, reading, watching TV, receiving female friends, shopping or visiting. An inhospitable climate limits outdoor activities such as sports for much of the year. And there are few clubs and associations that women can join, although volunteer work is on the rise.
The women surveyed also mentioned that although they are financially secure, they want to make use of the knowledgethey have gained to “prove themselves,” to be useful members of society and thereby to gain self-respect.13 A fifth reason, though often unspoken, is the ease of getting expect young women who have finished household help. There has been an influx of laborers from South and Southeast Asian countries, many of whom work as household servants, cleaning, cooking and taking care of children. This provides a strong incentive for Qatari women to go out and work.14
Working women are not universally accepted. In fact, the phenomenon has led to cases of divorce. Some women have insisted on holding their jobs over the objections of their husbands. Some men, complaining that their wives did not have enough time for them, have taken a second wife.
Women are still limited in the fields of work they can enter. Some jobs are not considered socially acceptable. Teaching other women was the first professional domain for Qatari women. A large number are teachers in primary and secondary women’s schools. Some 90 percent of all Qatari teachers in the public school system between 1996 and 2001 were women.15 It is estimated that there are 150 Qatari women with PhDs and MDs; 96 of them teach at the University of Qatar. Indeed, the educational system may be said to be increasingly controlled by women. Some 78 percent of Qataris employed at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education are women.16 Another field of endeavor has been nursing and public health. A nursing school was established in 1969. A large number of women also work as administrators in different government offices; some work in rooms reserved exclusively for women, but a number also work in public spaces occupied by men.
It should be noted that women who work with men invariably wear conservative Islamic dress, showing only their hands and faces. Other women go a step further, wearing a full face veil. But Qatari women now have entered new professions, becoming doctors, police women and customs agents.17 At Doha Airport, there are passport and security controllers who are women. One Qatari woman is preparing to get an international license as an airline pilot. In contrast to women in other GCC countries, Qatari women still cannot work as diplomats in the foreign service, but this is expected to change in the near future.18
Some women in Qatar have reached a very high level in public affairs. Shaikha Ahmad al-Mahmud became the minister of education in 2003 after working for several years as deputy minister. She was the first female minister in any GCC country. She has put considerable effort into training women in her ministry and opening positions to them in the higher ranks. She has also given women department directors in her ministry more power and responsibility.19
Today there are several role models for young Qatari women. Chief among them are Shaikha Abd Allah al-Misnad (previously mentioned), now president of Qatar University, who was the first woman to hold such a position in Qatar;20 Aisha al-Mania, a PhD-holder in Shariah from al-Azhar University in Egypt, who in 2003 became the first woman dean of the Shariah College; Dr. Ghaliah Muhammad bin Hamad Al-Thani, a medical doctor with a degree obtained in Jordan and the first woman to head the Children’s Department at Hamad Hospital, the leading medical establishment in Qatar; Naima Abdul Wahhab al-Mutawaah, who holds a BA and a high diploma in public relations from Cairo University, is a journalist for various publications, and has held administrative jobs at the Foreign Ministry; Nadin Ali Hasan Ali bin Ali, an activist who has worked for women’s rights in Qatar, with a BA in politics and French literature from the University of West Anglia; and Dr.
Moza al-Maliki, the holder of two PhD degrees in psychology, who was a candidate in the 1999 election for the central municipal council in Doha.21
Even in the field of sports, Qatari women are active. There is an Olympic sports commission for women and Qatari women participate in regional and international competitions. There are also women writers and painters and artists, who hold periodic exhibitions. Women also join and lead volunteer organizations to help train uneducated women and provide other humanitarian services. There is also a female branch of the Red Crescent Society, as well as several women’s religious organizations designed to spread the teachings of Islam to other women. Some women also work in business and there is a Women’s Business Forum, but the higher paying jobs in the private sector generally go to men. Women usually have to get degrees to work at quality jobs, while the financial sector is still dominated by men. Nonetheless, work in various forms has given women greater financial independence.
Despite this progress, there are still several professions in which there are social constraints for women. These include flight attendants (even ground hostesses), hotel and hospitality workers, and actresses in public theaters. Few Qatari women work as journalists, although there is an increasing female enrollment in the Department of Communications at Qatar University. Female graduates of this department prefer working in government jobs rather than at newspapers or magazines.
In addition, women, by and large, do not yet participate in decision making in the political, economic and legislative realms. For example, within the civil service, where a number of women work, their participation is limited to certain ministries, mainly education and social affairs. (They play a strong role in the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, in education and, as mentioned, at the University of Qatar.) At the lower ranks, the gap with men is beginning to narrow, but the process is slow. Table 4 illustrates this point.
WOMEN AND POLITICS
While Qatari women want to assert themselves in the job market and in education, they are still reluctant to become active in politics (the same can be said for men). Qataris have generally remained unaffected by the ideological currents – socialism, communism, Baathism and Nasserism – that have swept the Arab world since the 1950s.22 Today, Islamic conservatism is more visible on the political scene in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia., Kuwait and Bahrain.23 Qatari society remains conservative and Islamic. There is little sectarian stress since Sunnis comprise some 90 percent of the population.24 But if Qatar has seen little religious agitation, Qataris – men and women – do identify with the major causes that touch the Islamic world. These include critical issues ranging from the Palestinian struggle to the killing of Muslims in Afghanistan and the suffering of the Iraqis after the invasion of 2003.25 Qataris organized groups to provide donations for the Iraqi population. (Such efforts have recently come under scrutiny for fear that such funds may fall into the hands of terrorist groups.) There is a high level of awareness among Qatari women of political events in the Arab world, including the rise of women’s rights movements since the 1950s. The local media, including al-Jazeera, which are nationalist in their orientation, have also had a great influence.
The most important step in women’s political rights came in 1998, when women were accorded the franchise. A decree issued that year gave men and women over 18 years of age the right to vote in a municipal election. Except for a brief period in 1963, Qatar had never had a municipal council or a general election of any kind. At first, the announcement by the amir was ambiguous on the question of whether women would be allowed to vote. He knew there would be resistance from conservatives on this score. During the year, the press debated the move, slowly letting the idea take hold. Finally, the amir officially declared that women would participate in the election, both as voters and candidates.26
The government invited professors and specialists from abroad to explain voting and voting procedures. There were special efforts to reach women through lectures, workshops and seminars. When the elections were held on March 8, 1999, women’s participation was strong, accounting for 45 percent of all voters. Although many women had expressed a desire to become candidates, only six women ran; not one was able to get enough votes to be elected.
This failure had several causes. One was Qatar’s conservatism. Many women voted for men as more suitable for the job. Others acted under pressure from male family members. In addition, women candidates were inexperienced and lacked the funds to run a viable campaign. In general, their efforts were poor. Unfortunately, their failure reinforced traditional prejudices against women holding office. However, the fact that some women came forward and ran, despite resistance even from their families, shows that Qatari women are taking the initial steps in their quest for recognition.27
The situation changed somewhat in April 2003, with the second election for the municipal council. One female candidate “won,” and she is now sitting with 28 male members on the council’s board.28 It should be noted that the second election to the council generated less interest among Qataris than the first, mainly because in the intervening four years, it became apparent that the council has merely an advisory role to the minister of municipalities. Its limited power made it less attractive, as shown by low voter turnout (see Table 5).
In 1999, Shaikh Hamad announced that he would replace Qatar’s temporary constitution with a permanent one. According to this document, signed in 2004, men and women 18 years of age and older can vote in elections for a parliament, called a “Majlis al-Shura,” or advisory assembly.
They can also be candidates and members. The elections are set for 2006. Press reports indicate that several women will be candidates.29 Faced with the probability that no Qatari women will get enough votes to be elected, some Qatari women are advocating the idea of reserving some seats in parliament for females.30 Never-the less, it is almost certain that some Qatari women are preparing to be candidates in the upcoming elections.
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL CHANGE
These changes in education, work and political life have been echoed in social life and changes in behavior patterns, hinting at a gradual transformation in family life and relations between the sexes. Indeed, some of these value changes often spill out in lively debates on the pages of the daily press as Qataris discuss appropriate behavior, dress and attitudes. These behavioral changes have been influenced not only by economic development and the spread of education, but also by the introduction of foreign workers from different cultures. Indeed, foreign workers are ubiquitous in all sectors of life in the country, not the least in the Qatari household, where foreign servants (male and female) work and live.31 The communications revolution has also influenced modern behavior patterns, bringing television with its multitude of foreign channels into the home. So, too, has the increasing use of the internet. These influences have changed not only women but men as well; in many respects, their views of women are also undergoing transformation.32
One indication of the changes, sometimes hidden from the foreign eye, lies in how women dress. While most Qatari women wear the traditional abayah (a floor-length black cloak) and a veil in public places, many wear the latest fashions from Paris or Rome, including chic jeans and boots, underneath. Weddings and parties “for women only” provide excellent occasions for a vivid display of modern fashion and make up. Indeed, modernity has even affected the abayah itself, with some women and fashion shops adopting what is called “the new abayah.” This finely tailored outer garment, often tastefully ornamented, comes much closer to outlining the woman’s figure than the traditional bulky cloak, designed to conceal her form. So attractive and daring was this innovation that it recently caused quite a controversy, with public debates in the newspapers between conservative and liberal men and women over its appropriateness. Despite the debate, “the new abayah” has caught on with the younger generation.33
Conservatives have also weighed in on how women should dress. In a recent letter to the editor of a newspaper, a reader inquired how his wife should dress to be in accordance with sharia. The editor replied that “. . . a woman is something private . . . and should not reveal a part of her body to men other than her husband.” He stipulated the following conditions for acceptable public dress: a) the garment should be spacious and not tight (or form-fitting); b) it should not be transparent; c) it should not be “attractive” in and of itself; d) it should not have a pleasant odor, like perfume; an e) it should not resemble men’s clothing or the dress of “infidel” women.34
Social behavior has also changed. Ten years ago, no respectable Qatari man would walk side by side with his wife; rather, he walked two or three steps ahead of her. These days men and women not only walk side by side; it is not unusual to see men and their veiled wives strolling together in Doha’s fashionable City Center mall holding hands. Only a few years ago, this was considered ayb (shameful).
MARRIAGE
All Qatari women sooner or later are expected to get married. For young women, living outside the family (whether that of her parents or her husband) is unthinkable. If marriage is still the rule, however, what has changed is the age of marriage and the timing. In the past, most young women were married by the age of 18; nowadays most brides are older. The mean age at first marriage for women rose from 20 in 1986 to almost 23 in 2001.35 Some young women insist on postponing marriage until they have finished high school or even university.
Despite the advancing age of marriage for women in Qatar these days, there are still those who advocate early marriage. In an interview with a Qatar daily newspaper, Shaikh Abd Allah al-Basir al-Khitani, an old mathun (a religious figure authorized to conduct marriages), continues to advocate early marriages for women. When asked when a girl should marry, he put it this way:
The best age is sixteen if the girl is not studying, and eighteen if she is still studying . . . . From my experience in life, especially in Arab Gulf societies, it is better for girls to marry at an early age . . . . Time, experience and study have all proven that girls who marry while they are still young – at the age of sixteen – will keep their beauty and youth for a very long time, while girls who marry late – especially after the age of 25 – show signs of aging soon after they have two or three newborns. This is a matter proven by scientific research.36
Practical economic factors are now affecting marriage arrangements for Qatari women. For one thing, there is now a very high mahr (dowry for the bride) demanded by many families. This has had the effect of delaying marriage proposals. In addition, the prospective groom usually has to provide expensive gifts to his future bride in the form of jewelry and clothes. The marriage ceremony itself involves increasingly high costs. These days prevailing custom dictates that no respectable marriage can be concluded without a lavish party, held either in the home of the groom’s father or in a well-known hotel or club. The latter usually have special facilities called Qasr al-Affrah (Palace of Celebrations) for such purposes.37 This affair can set the family back from $50,000 to $400,000.
In the last few years, the circle from which a young man in Qatar may chose his wife has enlarged. Only a few years ago, the eligible bachelor would have been constrained to his extended family or tribe (usually his first cousin). With the spread of education and the economic and social changes mentioned above, both men and women now have greater decision-making power in marriage. To a certain extent, young men and women are now marrying outside their kinship group, mainly into
other clans or tribes. It should be noted in this regard that almost all of Qatar’s native population belongs to eleven or twelve tribes that know each other very well and who are linked by intermarriage or business partnerships. Hence, Qataris are still marrying people who are related to them, even if distantly.38 The ruling Al-Thani family (estimated to run into the thousands) accepts intermarriage with commoners from prominent Qatari clans, notably the al-Atiyyah and al-Misnad families.
If parents of young men are still playing a prominent role in finding a suitable bride for their sons, an increasing number are now finding their own prospective wives. They go about this in different ways, including watching for girls in public places, such as parks and malls. If a young man likes what he sees, he inquiries about the girl from family and friends. Finally one of the parents asks for her hand. Some young men may even strike up a relationship with young women through the internet or the cell phone and meet them personally, although this is risky. There is a conviction among the men that girls who will talk to them by phone or meet with them are girls of “light morals” who would not be suitable for marriage. Recommendations from sisters, friends and peers is another way of obtaining information about girls suitable for marriage.
The traditional institution of alkhatibah (the matchmaker) is still alive in Qatar, although her role has diminished in recent years.39 She deals more and more now with “difficult” cases, such as older men who are divorcés, widowers or seeking to marry a second or third wife.40 Among women, she may deal with those who are past the prime marriage age, widows and divorcées, especially those with children.41
In the last few years, a new and more modern source of information has opened up for both men and women seeking spouses: the personal ads in the newspaper. Marriage advertisements have become increasingly popular. Although the language of these ads is quite conservative, it is astonishing that the authorities in Qatar (still officially a Wahhabi country) are allowing these ads to be published by a local newspaper. They come out once a month and are used by Qataris and non-Qataris. A few examples give the flavor of matchmaking as well as the values sought in marriage:
- Qatari young man, 35, religious and God fearing with a high-ranking job, seeks to marry a young Qatari woman from a respectable family, beautiful, with fair skin and religious.
- Young, working Qatari woman, 24, with beautiful skin, seeks to marry a Qatari young man, 25-35, who respects married life.
- Qatari widow, with acceptable appearance, working, religious, from a respected family and an excellent housewife, seeks to marry an educated Qatari man – divorced or widowed – who is God-fearing.
- Egyptian man, 40, married with four children, working but with a low salary, seeks to marry an ambitious woman; being over 40 not an obstacle.42
THE PROBLEM OF DIVORCE
Divorce in the past was rare in Qatar, but modern life with all of its complexities is now producing an increasing number of cases. Qatar now has a divorce rate of about 30 percent.43 The causes are diverse: some traditional, others new. First, there is the phenomenon of a mother-in-law interfering in the domestic affairs of the young couple. This is hardly new; the novelty is that it now produces a divorce. Another problem, according to reports in the press, is the expectation of a high level of discretionary spending on the part of the bride. Before marriage, the young man and his family often spend lavishly on gifts for the young women; once married, the spending slows or stops. Modern wives now complain that husbands neglect their “household duties” and spend too much time (especially at night) outside the house without a reasonable excuse. In a new twist, husbands are complaining of wives who spend too many hours working – sometimes in the evening – or dallying with their girlfriends. Foreign household labor has freed women from most domestic chores, leaving wives fewer traditional ways of catering to their husband’s needs. This approach causes endless domestic disputes.44 To these pressures must be added the traditional interference by members of both sides of the family to protect their interests. Extended-family ties are very strong in Qatar; in fact, to escape these pressures, some Qatari men are marrying women from other Gulf or Arab countries with different customs and visions of family life and more distant relatives.45 This new phenomenon, which deprives local women of marriage partners, is also a new source of family quarrels.46
As a result of the increasingly high divorce rate, some Qataris are suggesting that the legal age for marriage should be raised. One of the chief advocates of this modification to family law is Dr. Juhaina Sultan al-Isa, a well-known professor of sociology at Qatar University.47 Qatar, like all GCC societies, deals harshly with a divorced woman, especially if she has children. Her fate is normally to go back to her original family and dedicate the rest of her life to raising her children, subject to her family’s continuous interference in her life and her approach to child-rearing.48 A divorced woman with children has limited opportunity for remarriage in Qatar.
CONCLUSION
In the last 20 years, Qatari women have achieved a great deal. As young women, they are no longer confined to their parents’ home waiting for a marriage proposal. Doors have been opened through higher education, work and the choice of a profession, as well as having a greater sayin the choice of a marriage partner. Many now live in nuclear households that give them greater freedom in raising their children. Still, there are “red lines” that Qatari women cannot cross, and the boundaries are well understood by the women themselves. Even these, however, are slowly expanding. In this movement Qatari women are helped by two forces: the support they are getting from the ruling family and the impact of reforms and social change in surrounding regions, especially in neighboring GCC states.
Nonetheless, Qatari society remains relatively traditional and conservative. Indeed, the slow pace of social reform is one of the common complaints of progressives. But the foundations laid in the last two decades in women’s education, employment and civil rights may be reflected in the next generation. As this quiet revolution takes hold, it may produce a new generation of female leaders in universities, in medicine and public health and, above all, in social and community affairs.
1 Qatar is a country of 4,412 square miles with a population of only some 200,000 Qataris. It has a foreign population of about 500,000.
2 Even for boys, the first private primary school in Qatar was not opened until 1915; the first government school for boys was opened in 1951.
3 Al-Jiddah, now about 86 years old, eventually became a teacher in a government school for girls and went on to become its principal, a position she held for 25 years. A school in Qatar has been named for her to commemorate her work.
4 The first teacher-training school for Qatari women opened in 1967. See Amnah al-Amadi, Masirat al-Mara al-Qatariyyah [The March of Qatari Women] (Doha: Dar al-Ulum, 1999), p. 25.
5 This practice ceased in the 1970s. However, female students at Qatar University still receive a monthly “salary” of 500 Qatari Riyals (about $140) to attend the university.
6 Qatar University includes non-Qatari students, not included in this chart.
7 This is the observation of one of the authors after three years of teaching political science at Qatar University.
8 Dr. al-Misnad has a Ph.D. in education from the United Kingdom. More important, she is closely related to the wife of the amir, Shaikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Misnad, which gives her political authority.
9 One of her sons, Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, is the crown prince of Qatar. Her eldest daughter, al-Mayassa, is finishing a B.A. in political science at Duke University and has distinguished herself in many ways.
10 In a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Shaikha Mozah stressed her desire to see the basics of critical thinking, problem solving and civics offered in Qatar’s schools, as well as competition to improve standards. (Shaikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missnad, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, September 19, 2004).
11 Some traditional professions were filled exclusively by women. For example, some women were hairdressers and prepared brides for weddings, beautifying them for special occasions. Such women were called alashaqah (beautician). Women also worked as midwives, called al-dayah. A few women washed dead women before burial; such women, called al-ghasalah, had to have good reputations.
12 The Arab Gulf countries in the GCC include, besides Qatar: Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
13 The new generation of women in the ruling Al-Thani family in Qatar are financially very secure, but many of them work in administrative jobs in different branches of government. A few have gone abroad for their education and have doctorates from foreign universities. Some are members of the university faculty or work as doctors in the medical profession.
14 Foreign labor works in all fields in Qatar. Household labor, almost wholly female, comes from Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and the Philippines, with some Africans or Egyptians. Qataris are paid high salaries (at $31,000, per capita income in 2004 was among the highest in the world). Cheap household labor encourages families to have more than one servant (some families have up to six). These servants are paid between $150 to $450 a month, depending on their origin and education. A whole generation of Qataris has been raised by foreign servants, which has left its mark on society. For this aspect of life, see Dr. Farouk Mustapha Ismail, Foreign Servants and their Influence on the Qatari Family and the Qatari Child, in Arabic (Doha: Dar al-Ulum Press, 1991).
15 Supreme Council for Family Affairs, Women and Men in Qatar, Statistical View, 2004 (Doha: 2004), Table 3.8, p. 35.
16 The Planning Council, Annual Statistical Abstract, 2003 (Doha: Planning Council), p. 61.
17 On June 15, 2004, al-Rayah (Doha) newspaper published a photo of 68 female police graduates dressed in uniform.
18 In the late 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Dr. Juhainah al-Isa (now a professor at Qatar University) worked as cultural attaché at the Qatari Embassy in Washington, DC. Women in neighboring Bahrain and Kuwait are serving now as ambassadors abroad.
19 On November 1, 2004, the United Arab Emirates became the second GCC country to appoint a female minister when it named Shaikh Lubna al-Qassimi as minister of economics and trade.
20 The word “shaikha” is used as a title for the female members of the ruling family, but it is also a proper name. In the case of Dr. Shaikha al-Misnad, it is her proper name.
21 For more details on these and other Qatari female role models, see al-Amadi, Masirat al-Mara, pp. 167-220.
22 The Arab Gulf country most affected by such currents is Bahrain. Since the 1950s, Bahrain has seen strong political agitation with clandestine political parties. In the early 1960s, Qatar was affected by some Arab nationalist agitation, but this remained marginal.
23 In the mid-1990s, Bahrain witnessed rising Shia agitation against a Sunni-dominated government. (Shia compose a majority of the population.) Many Bahraini women (mainly Shia) participated in strikes and street demonstrations; some were fired from their jobs, put in jail and even tortured.
24 Most Qataris belong to some 12 major clans, which perpetuate their influence through marriage and business ties.
25 This is also true of the older generation in Qatar, which sympathized with nationalists fighting for independence in the 1950s and 1960s in places like Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Qataris considered these causes Islamic.
26 When the amir finally announced that women would get the right to vote, there was strong resistance by a minority of Islamist activists, led by Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Umar al-Nuaimi, now a professor of history at Qatar University. The amir arrested Dr. al-Nuaimi and imprisoned him for 1,027 days. The objection of the conservative Islamists was based on their belief that women should not rule over men, according to Islamic teaching. (Interview with Dr. Abdul Rahman al-Nuaimi, June 10, 2004, Doha, Qatar.)
27 For details of the 1999 elections, see Louay Bahry, “Elections in Qatar: a Window of Democracy Opens in the Gulf,” Middle East Policy, Vol. 6, No. 4, June 1999, pp. 118-128; and Ibrahim al-Haydus, “The First House of Democracy in Qatar” (Arabic), Doha, 2001.
28 This female is Shaikha al-Jifri. She is very active and has excellent relations with the media. She won only because the two other male candidates in her district mysteriously withdrew, probably to make room for a female representative.
29 Among the GCC countries, only Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have not given women the right to vote. In Kuwait, there is a strong suffrage movement for women, led by the ruler (Shaikh Jabir al-Ahmad Al-Sabah) and his government. It is the Kuwaiti-elected parliament that is resisting. In October 2004, the reform-minded Kuwaiti government met a longstanding demand from women by sending a measure to parliament giving women the right to vote. However, the measure is expected to meet vigorous opposition from Islamists and tribal deputies, and will not pass easily. In 1999, the amir issued a similar decree, but the majority of deputies refused to sign it. In Saudi Arabia, neither women nor men have the right to vote in any kind of public elections. Under pressure from inside and outside the country, the conservative Saudi government recently held partial elections for local councils, but women were not going to be allowed to vote. In Bahrain, women were given the right to vote and run under the 2003 constitution, but no women won in the general election that took place that year. Only in Oman are there some women who were elected to the country’s parliament.
30 This idea was presented to Louay Bahry by a number of his female students.
31 Foreign workers in Qatar outnumber native Qataris by a considerable margin: 500,000 to 180,000 or 200,000.
32 Qatari families generally travel now on summer vacation to places like Lebanon, Egypt, Malaysia and Europe, where they are exposed to different cultures and ways of life.
33 For a sample of this debate, see “Qatari Women Revolt against the Traditional abayah,” al-Rayah, Doha, April 10, 2004. The innovation also caught on in Saudi Arabia, but the much stricter Saudis refused to accept these abayas and confiscated and destroyed tens of thousands of them.
34 Al-Sharq, Doha, December 1, 2003. Due to the large segment of the Qatari population that is traditional and conservative, no one should underestimate the impact of such recommendations on some of the Qatari men.
35 Supreme Council for Family Affairs, Women and Men in Qatar (Doha: 2004), Table 1.5, p. 9.
36 Al-Rayah, Doha, April 13, 2004. Shaikh al-Khatani is also well known as a primary school teacher who has taught several generations of Qataris. He has also taught the sharia and preached in mosques.
37 Normally there are two separate parties at each wedding; one for the men and one for women. Such parties are of special interest for mothers and sisters of unmarried young men. Here they can see the eligible women, without veils and wearing their best clothes. This is one of the best occasions for seeking out prospective brides for the young men in their families. It is now customary for pictures of the groom, his father, and some of the distinguished male guests to appear in the newspapers the following day.
38 Relations between families, clans and tribes play a role in Qatar in easing both social and political tensions. It is expected that such linkages will play a new role in political life with the introduction of the first parliamentary elections for the majlis al-shura.
39 Al-khatibah is a traditional institution that has existed for a long time in Qatar, the Gulf and the rest of the Arab world. She is normally a woman “of a certain age,” possessed of good morals and a recognized reputation that allows her to meet with prospective bridegrooms looking for wives. They will tell her about themselves and what they are looking for; she will tell them what is available, who is suitable, and give him descriptions of the physical appearance of the women. To be able to perform this function, the khatibah must have clients among families with young women ready for marriage and looking for husbands. They must visit her, too. She collects a fee from both families; if her efforts are successful, she can claim a bonus.
40 Plural marriages still exist in Qatar. In 2002, for example, among the 1593 Qatari women who married, 94 percent were in monogamous marriages, but 5 percent were second wives and 0.3 percent, third wives (The Planning Council, Vital Statistics. Annual Bulletin: Marriages and Divorces, 2002 (Doha: 2003), p. 16).
41 In Qatari society, as is the case in the rest of the GCC, it is difficult for divorced women to remarry.
42 “Huwa wa Hiya” a monthly review in al-Rayah, Doha, April 15, 2004.
43 This is defined as the percent of divorces compared to marriages in any given year. In 1994 the rate was 37 percent; in 2000, 31 percent (The Planning Council: Vital Statistics: Annual Bulletin: Marriages and Divorces, 2002 (Doha: 2003), p. 1.
44 There are even reported cases – albeit rare – of men divorcing Qatari wives and marrying a Filippina or Southeast Asian servant.
45 In 2002, some 10 percent of Qatari men married non-Qatari women. Four percent were from the GCC, 3 percent from Arab countries and 2 percent from Asia (Annual Bulletin: Marriage and Divorce, 2002, p. 7).
46 Qatari law allows both sexes to marry nationals from other GCC countries freely. But to marry outside the GCC, a Qatari must obtain special permission from the Ministry of Interior. Only men over the age of 65 can marry women from any country without such permission.
47 Al-Watan, Doha, May 26, 2002.
48 For an excellent article on divorced women, see Shu’un al-Usra [Family Affairs], published by the Higher Council on Family Affairs, Doha, No. 17, May 2003, pp. 14-16.
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