JEDDAH, 27 November 2004 — A young man and woman here have encountered a knotty problem and are using every possible avenue to unravel it. They want to tie the knot, but the girl’s father has thrown a wrench into their hopes by refusing permission for the marriage. Despite this hurdle, they had taken to knocking at the doors of matchmakers in the city with the hope that they would help them get married. Their efforts finally were brought to the attention of a marriage official (maazoun) here. The official, Ahmed Al-Omry, was surprised when a matchmaker passed on the note she had received from the girl requesting her support to arrange her marriage with the man. The official called the girl to get to the bottom of the issue and asked what prompted her to approach the matchmaker. The girl replied that as her father had refused without any reason to marry her to the person who she was fond of, she resorted to this method of petitioning the matchmakers. She said she had approached a number of matchmakers in the city after a Jeddah court had earlier refused to solemnize the marriage. The court insisted that she had to bring her father or a guardian to approve the marriage. Al-Omry said the approval of the guardian was one of the essential conditions for marriage.
