A review of Saudi Arabia's Arabic press reveals substantial coverage for the case of Fatima, a happily married woman who has been divorced from her husband against her will by a judge apparently following his own interpretation of the Shariah laws.
While I am encouraged by the stand most of those in the media have taken on this travesty of justice, I remain despondent over the fact that in spite of Fatima's case gathering more publicity she remains as of this writing locked up in prison in the Eastern Province.
Why is Fatima still being held and what crime has she committed? She married a man from her tribe, bore him a daughter and was pregnant with another when she was imprisoned. Her brothers, upon discovering that the man she had been happily married to over some years was not from the same elevated tribal caste as he had initially proclaimed, demanded that their sister have nothing to do with this man. She had brought dishonor on the family by her marriage to this individual and demanded that she ask for an immediate divorce.
When she flatly refused, telling them she was a happily married woman to a man who cared and honored her, they continued with pressure from the extended family. And when that didn't work, they found a sympathetic judge who employing his personal code of the Shariah sympathized with their plight and immediately divorced her from her husband. And when she continued to defy the rulings of this judge, she was summarily imprisoned.
Now if this were a movie script, then perhaps we would all be expecting a happy ending at the conclusion of the story. But as it stands, her husband and daughter remain separated from the woman and her recently-born child by prison bars, their fate uncertain today as it has been for some time now. In a recent television appearance, the father holding dearly to his fragile daughter pleaded to all those who were in attendance to let his wife return to him so they could resume what remained of their shattered lives. A panel of experts in Islamic law and social studies were all mortified by the bizarre events that befell this unfortunate couple.
The ruling judge, according to some reports, has neither been seen nor heard since the verdict, while the higher court dawdles on the methodology of overturning his ruling. While bureaucracy plays center stage, this poor couple remains divided by concrete walls and steel bars. What is everyone waiting for?
Another story dwelt on the recent shootout in Jeddah over the weekend. Inferences to those indulging in terrorist threats to the peace and security of this country were evident. These sick and distorted individuals brainwashed and led by equally sick and distorted fatwas or religious edicts that promise them the kingdom of heaven for their evil deeds must be stamped out from our midst. Those that lead them astray through their own version of religious interpretations have to be effectively rounded up as well.
It is admirable that the government of King Abdullah has demonstrated a zero tolerance policy toward the extremists within our society and will spare no efforts to maintain that stance. It is also the responsibility of all of us as citizens to ensure that such vitriol does not infect the minds of our young
Islam is a religion of peace. It will not cater to the distorted interpretations of individuals or groups who plan harm on the innocent. Nor will it promise them anything for their evil labors except for the fires of hell and damnation. Our youth must be protected by the menace of those spreading such twisted ideology. Every parent must play his or her part to protect their children from being persuaded to stray toward extremism.
Until next time.
