Mission & Justice

16/7/08

Question: A pregnant woman has been advised by her doctor to have an operation to ensure that she does not get pregnant again. She had previously given birth twice, each time delivering by Caesarean section. The doctor’s advice is based on that three abdominal operations is the maximum that a woman can have. Otherwise, the risks to her health are considerable. Please advise whether such an operation is acceptable. M. Iqbal
Question: In my home country, some people call themselves Saalik. They deliberately put on a crude and austere appearance, wearing a large white turban and applying henna to their beards and heads. They claim that seven parts of our bodies have to say the name of God many times during the day. Their guides assign to them a particular supplication for each of the seven parts, and they have to repeat it hundreds of times during the day. They have special mosques to which they go. Please comment. Name withheld

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Maha Fahd Al-Hujailan; 14/7/08

Alarabia.net reported on Friday that a 60-year-old man in Hail Province would shortly marry a 10-year-old girl. This report comes on top of another stating that the Hail Province has the dubious distinction of being home to the youngest husband and wife in the world. There could, no doubt, be several unreported instances of old men taking minor girls for wives in other regions of the Kingdom. While a Saudi newspaper, Shams, expressed outrage at the reported practice of “selling” brides, several people wanted the government to step in and stop the marriage. “Selling” in the context refers to the fact that a girl’s father would agree to marry her to an old man only if he offered an enormous amount of money to the father.

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Ebtihal Mubarak; 14/7/08

Representatives of the Family Protection Organization, the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR), the government-run Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the Safety Committee at the Social Affairs Ministry met here on Saturday to discuss ways of cooperating to improve the services provided to women victims of domestic abuse. The meeting was held at Jeddah’s first and only women’s shelter, run by the Family Protection Organization. Samira Al-Ghamdi, board member of the Family Protection Organization, said that the meeting was called to set out clear guidelines for streamlining the work of these organizations.

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Mariam Al Hakeem; 14/7/08

In a bid to contain increasing marriage break-ups in Saudi Arabia, the Shura Council is considering a new law to stem reckless divorces. Dr Talal Bakri, head of the committee for family affairs at the Shura Council, said the council will soon start deliberations on various provisions of the draft law. “There is a provision in the law that prevents a man from pronouncing divorce in the absence of his wife. Another provision in the law says divorce will be valid if it was registered at any one of the courts in the kingdom in the presence of the estranged couples,” he said.

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Mariam Al Hakeem; 15/7/08

There is no provision in the new traffic law, which came into force on Monday, that prevents women from driving vehicles, says Maj Gen Fahd Al Bishr, director general of Saudi Traffic Department. “The new law speaks only about driver of the vehicle, and there is no specification of either man or woman. As far as driving of women are concerned, we are not bothering about it,” he said. Addressing a press conference at the headquarters of Traffic Department on Sunday, which replaces the kingdom’s 40-year-old traffic law, he said that the issue of driving right for women has nothing to do with the Traffic Department. Riyadh: “It is purely an issue concerned with the legislative authorities,” he said

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9/7/08

The head of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (RCCI) Recruitment Committee, Waleed Al-Soweidan, has criticized a report by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the ill treatment of housemaids in the Kingdom, saying the report is based on only “a few cases in which domestic helpers have suffered.” In its 133-page report, entitled “If I Am Not Human: Abuses Against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia,” released yesterday, the HRW called for sweeping labor and justice reforms and for stricter punishment for sponsors who abuse workers. “Saudi families are abusing female migrant workers to the point of slavery and Riyadh needs to respond with sweeping labor and justice reforms,” the report stated. “There are more than a million domestic helpers, including maids, in the Kingdom and it is natural that there will be some problems and disputes here and there,” said Al-Soweidan.

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Badea Abu Al-Naja; 10/7/08

Accepting blood money is one of the Islamic ways of saving the necks of convicted murderers from dying at the sword and it is not an uncommon practice in Saudi Arabia. But what if you do not have enough money to pay the wergild? In this case you have to wait for your fate. This is exactly what is happening to Badr Al-Hasnani, a 21-year-old Saudi who killed a fellow seasonal worker three years ago during the Haj. Badr has 24 days to pay SR5 million.

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Tarra Quismundo; 7/7/08

Imelda Marcos-not the former first lady but the OFW-was forced by poverty to leave her home in Nueva Ecija province four months ago to try her luck as a nanny in Dubai. But verbal beatings and overwork broke her spirit just two months into her stay there, forcing her to run away from her employer and seek refuge at the Philippine mission. “It was so hard … I tried to be patient but I was really maltreated. They (employers) shouted at me and made me do all the house chores when I was hired as a nanny,” Marcos told reporters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Sunday, tears streaming down her face. Just as emotional was 34-year-old Zenaida Calanda who, in five months, went through three employers who had the same heavy hands. “They forced me to do all the housework, and they abused me, they slapped me.”

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May Al-Shaie; 7/8/08

A friend of mine who contemplates leaving her husband told me, “I no longer have any feelings toward my husband. I am left without a soul.” She believes she has reached a dead end in finding a solution to their marital woes and that separation is the only solution left. She is tired of living with a man who is psychologically ill. Since her husband refuses to acknowledge he is ill in the first place, there is no treatment for him.My friend is tired of fighting with him and engaging in worthless debates on issues concerning marriage and everyday life.

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Maha Akeel;7/8/08

After more than 18 months of running around from one government office to another to get the permit, a Saudi friend of mine finally married her non-Saudi fiancé. Before a Saudi man or woman can marry a non-Saudi, they need a permit from the Ministry of Interior for the marriage contract to be officially recognized. The process of filing the form and explaining why the Saudi man is marrying a non-Saudi woman is cumbersome. For the Saudi woman it is difficult and rules are apparently meant to dissuade them from such an alliance. After my friend got the permit from the ministry she had to get another from the Makkah Principality to have the marriage certificate issued in Jeddah.

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