JEDDAH, 2 August 2007 — A judge here sentenced a Saudi man to memorize two chapters of the holy Qur’an as a punishment after he was found guilty of starting a physical altercation with another man. While noting that the defendant was getting ready to travel abroad to pursue higher education and sentencing him to jail would disrupt his study plans, the judge gave him the unique alternative of memorizing the last two chapters of the Qur’an. The judge ordered the man to return to his chambers after one month and recite the two chapters in front of him. He warned that failure to do so would result in jail time.
