JEDDAH: Even prisoners are standing up for Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs Prince Muhammad bin Naif, who escaped virtually unharmed from a gruesome and suicidal assassination attempt last week. Fawaz Dakheel Al-Qurashi, a prisoner in Taif, gave an iftar party for his fellow inmates celebrating the safety of the prince. In a report on Thursday, local daily Al-Madinah quoted Al-Qurashi as saying: “We say to every terrorist that we are all Prince Naif and we are all Prince Muhammad ibn Naif.” So take that, terrorists!
Shutting a potential marriage loophole
DAMMAM: The Ministry of Justice has banned all mazouns (religious men who officiate marriages) from marrying themselves or women under their guardianship. Reporting from Dammam, local daily Okaz said on Thursday that the ministry’s move was aimed at averting any conflict of interest that could arise if such marriages end up in dispute. Think about it: A mazoun who marries himself would of course side with himself in the event of a marriage dispute at a later time. And woe to any man married to a woman whose father or uncle or brother was the official that married the couple! Before the Ministry of Justice made this announcement, there were no rules against mazouns officiating their own marriages or those of close relatives, thus locking in a real advantage if the marriage were to later end up in divorce court.
To A/C or not to A/C
QURAYAT: Two men praying taraweeh (the late evening prayer performed during the holy month) got into a temperature tussle in a mosque, according to a report in the daily Shams newspaper on Thursday. The dispute began when one of the men got up during the prayers to shut off the air conditioner, which led the other man to get up shortly after to re-open the A/C. This started an argument, which was cut short when the imam entered into another rakaa (a prayer segment separated by a prostration). The men did not forget their dispute, however, and continued their argument outside the mosque later on. Eventually others in the congregation had to physically separate the men who then went back to their respective homes with their respective climate controls.
