1/4/10; (2 Items)
A Belgian parliamentary committee has voted to impose a nationwide ban on wearing face-covering veils in public.The country’s home affairs committee agreed unanimously to support the move, which must be approved by parliament to become law. The ban includes any clothes or veils that do not allow the wearer to be fully identified, including the full-face niqab and burqa. If passed, the measure would be the first clampdown of its kind in Europe.
Fatima Sidiya; 26/3/10
A sheikh has urged the government to implement a minimum age for marriage. Shiekh Abdul Muhsin Al-Obaikan wants to avoid cases of very young girls getting married to men many years their senior. The sheikh has also pledged his support for the “No to Minor Marriages” campaign run by Arab News’ sister publication, Sayidaty magazine. Al-Obaikan said that forcing a young girl to marry nullifies the marriage because it does not fulfill one of the major rules of Islamic marriage — the agreement of the girl. The campaign has already received support from princesses, human rights activists, Shoura Council members, lawyers and the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Laura Bashraheel; 23/3/10
In spite of educational reforms and improvements in the role of women in Saudi society, many old-fashioned families continue to feel women are only suited to become wives and mothers. History was made last year with the appointment, by royal decree, of a Saudi woman, Nora Al-Fayez, as deputy education minister for girls’ affairs. Despite women being recognized in the field of education, some families still feel their womenfolk should only busy themselves with household chores and raising children. Sanaa Hamad, 26, was forced to drop out of university in Jeddah by her brother during her final exams. “I suffered immense psychological pain after he killed off my dreams of getting a degree,” she said.
18/3/10
A professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh has called for the construction of extra floors just for women at the Grand Mosque in Makkah in order to prevent them from mingling with men during tawaf (circling of the Holy Kaaba) and prayers. “Mingling of sexes is not allowed in the Grand Mosque and outside the mosque according to the Shariah,” Dr. Yousuf Al-Ahmed told Arab News. “There are two types of mingling of sexes; mingling that takes place casually in the passages and at the Jamrat in Mina; and permanent mingling that takes place during tawaf causing congestion and harm to women,” Al-Ahmed told Arab News. Al-Ahmed called for the building of separate floors for women after demolishing the expansions carried out during the Ottoman era and the rule of King Saud, adding that it would create more room for the increasing number of pilgrims who come for Haj and Umrah.
3/3/10
A Saudi husband in his 40s failed in his attempt to kill his wife after he tied her up and tried to hang her from a noose from the ceiling last week. The victim had just given birth five days before the attack. The man took his three children to an isolated room so he could kill his wife without them watching. The wife, with no power to defend herself, was left with no choice but to scream for help. Just as the husband was about to hang her, his father broke the apartment door down and stormed in to rescue her. The husband works at a private sector company in Makkah. According to relatives, the man has suffered from depression in the past year that has changed his behavior completely. Some of the family members blamed his bad nature on black magic. The wife is now staying with her family with the newly born daughter.
28/2/09
Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) in Jeddah’s Al-Rawabi district have been accused of beating a youth and then filing a false police case against his parents that led to them being detained in prison for several days. The commission members are accused of attacking 21-year-old university student Rami Al-Hakami two weeks ago. “I was on my way to pick my sisters up from school when a commission car stopped next to my car. One of the men hit me from behind and then four commission members dragged me to their car. A man beat me up inside the car until I passed out,” said Al-Hakami. “The commission member then took my cell phone and my belongings and forced me to sign a paper; I had no idea what was written on it. It was at that time that my dad called me to ask why I was taking so long coming home. The commission member answered the phone and told my dad that I had been arrested because I was harassing school girls,” he added.
Suleiman Al-Diyabi; 4/2/10
It is not uncommon to see children searching garbage bins for plastic and metal cans, which they collect for organized gangs looking for materials to sell. A citizen, who chose to remain anonymous, said one day he was coming home just before Asr prayer when he saw two kids aged around eight or nine racing toward a garbage bin. “I was surprised when I saw them jumping in. I went there to see what was happening and I found them searching intensely through the garbage,” he said. “I asked them what they were doing and they told me that they were collecting metal and plastic cans and putting them in plastic bags. I found out later on that some foreigners in a truck would arrive and take the bags from them. “This is the work of organized gangs who are exploiting children and giving our society a bad image,” he said.
Rick Feneley; 18/1/10
A Melbourne woman trapped for years in Saudi Arabia has been deported and forced home without three of her children, who remain with her allegedly abusive former husband. The Australian consul and embassy officials surrounded the 33-year-old Muslim convert, Jennifer Birrell, as she collapsed on the road outside her Riyadh home and pleaded with her ex-husband: ”Please, don’t take my kids from me.” The children, Aliyah, 8, Salem, 7, and Ibraheem, 4 – all born in Australia – wept as they were separated from their mother before she was escorted to the airport with her two other children and flown to Melbourne, where they arrived late on Friday night. After a long struggle to obtain exit visas for her family, Ms Birrell, who had been the director of English at Al-Yamamah University, says she was suddenly told this month she was being deported without charge or explanation – and with no right to the three children fathered by her ex-husband.
Abdul Rahman Shaheen; 15/1/10
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission commended the steps taken by the government to empower women and elevate their position and status in the society. In its latest report on “Women’s status in the Kingdom”, the government body recommended increasing job opportunities for women. The report highlighted remarkable achievements and contributions being made by Saudi women in various sectors. “The participation of women in the nation’s growth and development process is outstanding. Saudi women are showing their capabilities to take up challenging responsibilities and are playing vital role in various key sectors, keeping pace with the lofty position bestowed to them by the Islamic Sharia,” the report noted.
Abdul Rahman Shaheen, 11/1/10
Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council has approved a landmark decision with regard to execution of the death sentence. The council passed a legislation to make amendment in the Criminal Procedure Law by which death sentence shall be carried out with a unanimous decision instead of the existing majority vote. An overwhelming majority of 92 members voted in favour of the new amendment, while a few members opposed it.
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11/1/10; See: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=130992&d=11&m=1&y=2010
Fathers-in-law can be real pains, especially when they try to force divorce and demand compensation. According to a report in the daily Al-Shams newspaper on Sunday, a Makkah man went to a judge demanding that his daughter separate from her husband of over nine years. In addition to that, the man wanted financial compensation for all the time his son-in-law slept with his daughter. The man also claimed that he had the legal right to speak on behalf of his daughter. The judge sent the father to a medical investigation to examine his mental health when he continued insisting a divorce despite the couple’s wish to continue their conjugal life with greater mutual understanding.
Muneera Al-Matrouk; 11/1/10
We Muslims find it painful to hear about the condemnable actions of some of our fellow Muslims. Islam is not to blame when a father violates the rights of his wife and children. It is regrettable to come across shameful acts while living in a Muslim country where values of justice and Shariah laws are implemented. It is tragic that some people justify such actions by saying he is the father and is free to do what he wishes with his daughter. This is worse than what happens in jungles where parents never torture their children or kill them. It is a pity that we — while living in a country of security, providence and prosperity — are unable to extend the simplest rights to the weak who are the first category of people that need protection, as they are unable to defend themselves. The incident involving a child in a swimming pool who was barely two years old and in which she was subjected to a frightening ordeal at the hands of her own father is yet another example of injustice.
Sultan Al-Tamimi; 5/1/10
A new form of begging is being observed on Jeddah’s streets: Elderly women standing near traffic lights and on sidewalks with the children selling food baskets for up to SR300, claiming the money would be used to repair their homes damaged in November’s flash flooding in Jeddah. “Begging on the street is considered an illegal activity in Saudi Arabia and to see some individuals trying to exploit what happened to Jeddah’s neighborhoods for profit is unfortunate,” Ali Al-Hanaki, director general of social affairs in Makkah province, said on Saturday. The official said there are only a few cases of this new begging practice, which seem to be most prevalent on Tahlia Street. Al-Hanaki asked residents not to sympathize with beggars and asked those who would like to donate their money to do it through the proper channels, such as registered charity offices. A study conducted by Muhammad Al-Aji and published in Arab News found out that about 100,000 child beggars roam Saudi streets, with the majority of them coming from Yemen. Others belonged to 17 Asian and African countries.
Badea Abu Al-Naja; 5/1/10
Women who are forced to go out and seek jobs to sustain themselves or help their poor families might find themselves prey to all sorts of harassment. Employers, forced by Saudization rules to hire citizens, do not usually feel happy when approached by Saudis, especially women. These companies do not only offer women low wages but may also not pay them full salaries at the end of each month. The payments may also be delayed for many months. The predicament does not stop here. Some of the women job seekers or those already employed by the private sector may have to pay a heavier price if they want to be employed or continue in their jobs. Talking to Arab News about her bitter experience, Ibtissam, a young Saudi woman, said she had to seek a job because her ex-husband agreed to give her divorce only if she relinquished the alimony for their son. She said she got a job at a private sector establishment as a saleswoman. “The company gave me the mobile numbers of many customers and asked me to call and offer them our products,” she said. “A customer immediately started courting me the moment he heard me. It was as if he had never heard a female voice before. When I hung up on him I was surprised to hear my supervisor reprimanding me and telling me that I was not fit for the job.
Muhammad Humaidan; 5/1/10; http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=130727&d=5&m=1&y=2010
Civil Defense officers rescued a woman and her children from a house in Jeddah’s Al-Safa district where they had been imprisoned by the woman’s husband who had been threatening to set the home on fire. “A Civil Defense team rushed to the location after receiving an emergency call and talked the 24-year-old Saudi father out of setting the home on fire,” said Abdullah Al-Amri, spokesman for the Civil Defense. “The man was carrying a gas cylinder in his right hand and had a lighter in the other. Both items were taken off him and he was handed over to the police.” Neighbours said the man had been in stressful mental state of late.
Arjuwan Lakkdawala; 9/11/09
The floods shocked many, especially a Saudi wife whose husband fled for his life and left her to drown in a car filling up with water. Pakistani truck driver Shahzad (not his real name) witnessed the cowardly act. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when this man left his wife to die. I couldn’t bear the sight of the drowning woman shouting for help,” he said.“I got down from the truck and half swam and half waded to her and carried her on my back and brought her to safety. We were petrified from what we saw happening around us. The woman was crying a lot. We waited till the Civil Defense helicopter came to rescue us.”
