Mecca: Inspired by his father’s deceased career, Mona decided to join the military and the first group of Saudi women’s troops to work on the most holy sites of Islam, where they help secure the annual pilgrimage of the Hajj.
Since April, dozens of female soldiers have become part of security services that monitor pilgrims in Mecca and Medina, Islamic birthplaces.
Dressed in the military khaki uniform, with a hip jacket, loose trousers and black berets on the veil covered his hair, Mona spent his turn roaming the Great Mosque in Mecca.
“I followed the steps of my father’s deceased to finish his journey, standing here at the Great Mosque in Mecca, the holy place.
To serve worshipers is a very noble and respectful task,” Mona said, who refused to give her family.
name.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been pushed through social and economic reform as part of a plan to modernize conservative Muslim kingdom and attract foreign investment under diversified drives.
Under his reform plan, known as the vision of 2030, the Crown Prince raised the prohibition of driving in women, allowing adult women to travel without permission from the guardian and give them more control over family problems.
But the reform plan has been accompanied by harsh action on dissent, including in women’s rights activists.
Saudi Arabia has limited the pilgrimage to residents and its own residents for the second consecutive year, unless millions of other pilgrims from abroad in response to the Pandemic Coronavirus.
Samar, another soldier who watched pilgrims near the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure whose Muslims believed was built by Abraham, said he was driven by his family to join the military, after psychological studies.
“This is a great achievement for us and it is the biggest pride in serving religion, the state and guests of God, the most loving,” he said.