Tuesday
Aug152006
Saudi woman ecstatic over permission to ‘marry out’
Hossam el-Hamalawy
From Arab News, quoting the Saudi Al-Madinah
Saudi Woman Ecstatic Over Permission to ‘Marry Out’
Arab News
MAKKAH, 15 August 2006 — A court here ruled in favor of a Saudi woman seeking to marry a non-Saudi, causing the forty-something woman to emit thrilling cries of bliss that echoed through the chamber, the daily Al-Madinah reported yesterday. The woman, who had been petitioning the court to permit her to get married to a non-Saudi, was so ecstatic at the decision that she not only screamed in joy but also jumped about embracing her relatives. In Saudi Arabia it can be very difficult for Saudi women to marry non-Saudis, which, to some Saudi women, is a very unfortunate thing — especially to older Saudi women who live in a society where many men taken on younger second wives, or divorce their older wives, often viewing older women as “expired goods.�
Reader Comments (6)
"Thrilling cries of bliss"??? Where do they get their writers, dropouts from Harlequin romances?
Maybe some day Saudi women will enter the 19th or 20th centuries. Maybe some day those Sex and the Umma columns will actually come to life, and we'll see fortysomething Saudi Samanthas getting it on with that hot young Pakistani driver....openly.
It is strange and ironic that the, the, country of Islam, the one with the Ka'ba and where Prophet Muhamed was born exercises Islam in a way that keeps it way behind all other Arab countries socially and intellectually. It's frustrating and unislamic in itself.
Yet, I resent SP's comment on soudi women and Pakistani drivers - inappropriate.
so when do they get to combat pedophilia?
Ya Maha, please be aware that conjugal rights are guaranteed by sharia for men and women. If the Saudi men prefer little boys, the women can legally ask for divorce-- if they have the courage. But they often don't want to give up their diamonds and Chanel scarves, so they just satisfy themselves with a little extramarital entertainment . It's all quite logical if you think about it.
Maha, Saudi society might be a lot healthier if people spoke more openly about the sorts of extramarital affairs that one hears whispers about, rather than priggishly averting their eyes from such "inappropriate" realities.
Well done Maha! You've done it! Don't worry about the rest of your country men and women living in the 14th century. If they want to live in a medieval society let them.