But when Jawaher was granted a scholarship, her ex-husband filed a suit against her, demanding their son be stopped from accompanying her.

“The judge ruled in favor of my ex-husband, and his excuse was that ‘should a parent move from the place where the marriage contract is signed then he/she loses custody over the children.’ This was according to a fatwa that I am not aware of,” said Jawaher, sobbing that she has been separated from her son.

Lawyer Sultan bin Zahem said the issue of child custody seems to be dependent on judges. He added that there are no specific bylaws in the Kingdom’s civil marriage law, something that allows judges to derive their own conclusions.

“Traveling used to be a difficult experience many years ago. Therefore, it might have been better for the well being of a child to remain with the parent who is not traveling to avoid exposing him or her to the dangers and exhaustion of travel,” said Zahem.

He said children are handed into the custody of their mothers on account of a hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told a woman who complained that her husband wanted to take her child that she was more eligible for custody and that custody is definitely the mother’s right, especially when she has stable accommodation and adequate finances.

He added that nowadays fathers rarely look after their children, and that they are usually left in the care of a stepmother or maid. “Even if the mother is busy with a job, or needs to go and study, whatever time she spends with her child is useful for the child’s wellbeing,” said  Zahem.

According to a report by the Information and Planning Agency at the Ministry of Higher Education for 2009-2010, Saudi women students on MA scholarships outnumber their male counterparts by 34 percent. Meanwhile, demographic studies by the General Statistics and Information Association show that 2.4 percent of Saudi women are divorced.

“How can it be possible for a man to take his child abroad to study or for a holiday, while the mother cannot?” said Jawaher, adding she wonders why women are forced to decide between fulfilling their ambitions and motherhood.