All quote have been taken from this New York Times article published on December 21, 2005.

The fight for equal rights for women has been an on-going battle in the western world for decades now. For the women of Saudi Arabia however, that fight has been greatly overlooked until recently.

Two women were elected to the 12-member board of directors of the Jidda Chamber of Commerce, the first time that women were elected to, or even permitted to run for, such a visible post in the kingdom.

There is more. Until a few years ago, Saudi women were completely excluded from the public sphere. Now their photographs appear in newspapers, heads covered, and they have their own picture identification cards rather than being disembodied names on their husbands' or fathers' cards.

In addition, the first university courses for women studying architecture or law have begun. Divorce is easier to obtain, and women no longer need a front man to register a company. Individually, such changes may seem minor. But taken together, they represent a real shift.

"We came from below zero," said Ms. Sharif, 37, who is pregnant with her seventh child and whose eldest is in the first class of female architecture students. "Now we have reason to be optimistic."

The changes, rapid and radical by Saudi standards, are noticeable to anyone who has not been here in some years. Of the dozen women interviewed for this article, most agreed to meet male journalists without being accompanied by a male relative, a rarity a decade ago. Several even agreed to have their photographs taken although the others declined, saying their parents or husbands would object.

The shifts, which are largely limited to the well off and well educated, have a number of sources. One is the double shock produced here by the fact that most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi and the subsequent wave of terrorism by Al Qaeda that struck this country. Suddenly, the ruling family had reason to push back against some of the more reactionary practices imposed by the powerful clergy.

The women leading the movement for more rights are not presenting themselves as secular feminists. Rather, they are citing Koranic scripture for their demands, hoping to beat the clerics at their own game. When Saudi clerics say women should not drive, these women say the Prophet Muhammad spoke approvingly of a day when women could travel alone. They say women played crucial roles in the days of the prophet and that his wife, Khadija, was an important merchant.

"We have been insufficiently educated in our own religion," said Ghada Angawi, a personal coach for businesswomen, who considers the Koran a vital weapon in the fight for women's equality.

We can all hope that these changing ideas continue to change and that Saudi women will someday be able to enjoy the freedoms that are afforded to women in the western world.

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