Deborah Akers

http://www.arabnews.com:80/?artid=120078

Arab News has reported this week that a Saudi woman who gave birth to a baby boy in Bahrain International Airport has had her marriage annulled by the Saudi authorities. Additionally the government is barring her from returning to the Kingdom. The woman, Mariam al-Shoaibi, is married to an Ethiopian who works in Qatar. In this case, the issue is not whether her family allows the marriage, which has been posted previously, but that in order to marry a non-Saudi a Saudi must receive special permission from the Ministry of Interior, a process which can take many years.

What is particularly interesting about this case is one must wonder about the religion of the husband. Many Ethiopians are Christian. While Saudi men may marry Christians or Jews, a Saudi woman may only marry a Muslim. Is this a factor in the refusal of the Saudi authorities to allow the mother entrance back into the Kingdom? If the husband has converted to Islam, it still takes years to obtain the proper papers. In the meantime, what are people to do if they want to move forward and get married? It presents a dilemma. At the heart of the matter is who may be declared a Saudi national. Tribal thinking is still strong and xenophobia prevails when there is a possibility of bringing in outside influences. This case shows that Saudi policy still resists the impact of globalization and the nuanced changes it brings with it.

There has been a lot of talk in the salons over tea in Jeddah and elsewhere about the growing drug problem in the Kingdom. Although there are street drugs which are common as in the West, such as hashish, a broader problem is the misuse of prescription drugs. In order to try to contain this problem regular pharmacies, which sell drugs without a prescription, are restricted from selling non-addicting drugs. In order to fill a prescription for a classified drug the individual must go to a government ran hospital where they are required to show adequate identification. It seems modernity has caught up with the Kingdom bringing it’s woes as well. The following Arab News article is an amusing story with an Arabian twist.

Tuesday 3 March 2009 (07 Rabi` al-Awwal 1430)

HAIL: The last thing you really want to see when you go to a mosque to pray is some stoned dude who thinks he’s an imam steal the limelight. But according to Al-Jazirah newspaper yesterday, this is what a group of worshippers endured recently when they went to a mosque for Friday prayers in Hail. Some random guy off the street came into the mosque and marched up to the front of the room and proceeded to ramble like somebody under the influence of something, the report said. At first the worshippers were polite, at least until it became apparent that the man was channeling some street drug rather than expounding on nobler virtues. The fellow was then dragged out of the mosque by some of the folks in the crowd. They called police and later discovered that the man had a history of doing stupid things while under the influence of God knows what.

Several recent cases highlight the reality of Saudi society which is still very much ruled by the whims of families instead of the individual. In two highly publicized cases Saudi women have been forced to divorce their husband because family members doubt the tribal heritage of their husband. The rule is that tribal marry tribal or risk ostracism or worse–a visit with divorce papers filed by third party family members. In one case a woman named Fatima was arrested for living with her legally married husband Mansour al-Timani. Her half brothers had filed for a divorce on her behalf. While the case is pending Fatima is living in an orphanage in Dammam with her young son. Fatima’s kin allege that her husband lied about his tribal ethnicity. In similar case in Qatif, a couple, who had a four-month-old daughter, were ordered separated by a court after the wife’s father filed the case against his son-in-law, Abdullah Ali. The grounds for divorce? Ali was determined to have lied about his tribal roots.

In the meantime, showing the power of the collective tribal elite, these women who love their husbands, remain in a legal limbo with their children until their cases are decided.