Her husband also tried to lure her grown sons into a life of drug addiction, but through perseverance, patience and religious faith, Azzah managed to steer them away from following in their father’s steps.
“I put up with my ex-husband's addiction for 30 years. I tried to change his ugly habit and convince him to get help at a drug rehabilitation center in Jeddah but he always turned me down,” said Azzah.
“My husband used to beat me up whenever I brought this subject up with him. He used to say he was free to do whatever he wanted and that it wasn’t any of my business.”
Azzah’s suffering began three months after her marriage when her husband showed a different side of himself, a side in which he was addicted to alcohol and drugs.
“We got married in my home country and then we moved to Jeddah where I met his friends and colleagues. I was never comfortable them around. The day I first saw them, I felt they were bad people,” she said.
“He later told me that one of his friends deals in drugs and had asked for his help. He first thought this would be a good source of income.
He tried the drugs himself to check the quality and ensure it was good enough; this was when I realized that he had been involved in drugs and knew about the different types and what is good and bad,” she added.
Several years later, fed up with her husband’s drug dealing and abuse, Azzah decided to return to Egypt with her children where she stayed for almost a year. “He followed us there and would come to my home asking me to return. But I always turned him away, knowing I couldn’t live with him,” she said.
“It was only when I realized that my children needed their father and he promised that he was quitting drugs that I decided to come back. After moving back to Jeddah I joined a Qur'an study group at a mosque located next to my house and would pray that my husband wasn’t lying to me and had actually quit drugs,” she added.
In the meantime, Azzah’s husband was admitted to a rehabilitation center after his coworkers and boss noticed his drug abuse. He also received a notice from his job ordering him to get help or else be sacked.
“Deep inside I was praying and wishing that this could help my family and get me out of my misery. My husband stayed there for almost 18 months. However, on release he relapsed into drugs,” she said.
“He then started taking other types of drugs and alcohol. He would spend most of his day at home trying new drugs. I then started looking for a job because he was basically spending all his salary on drugs and alcohol. A year later, I left my job as the one-year contract came to an end. It was then that he started to beat me up again and create more problems,” she said.
Fed up with her husband’s abuse, Azzah left home and asked her family for money to rent an apartment and protect her children. “My sons didn’t want to join me at the new home and so I went with my daughter. It was a small apartment near my old house so I could see my boys when I needed to,” she said.
Things then became worse. “I never thought my husband would stoop so low. He began enticing my sons to try drugs saying this would help them forget their problems. He would bring prostitutes to the house and offer them to my sons,” said Azzah.
“My younger son didn’t like what he saw, so he packed his bags and came to my apartment to live with me. That's when I knew what was going on in my old house and what my sons were dealing with everyday," she said.
Worried what would come of her older son, Azzah returned to live with her husband.
“When I returned I couldn’t believe what I saw. The house was filthy. There was tobacco ash everywhere and empty bottles of alcohol in the lounge and other things I don’t want to mention,” she said.
“I filed for divorce which he knew about. He then went crazy, beat me up and threatened to burn me along with my daughter and younger son. He also locked me up in a room and took away all my clothes. I didn’t even have access to food or water,” she said.
“However, he forgot to take my mobile away which I had hidden. I called my sister who later called the social services and they called me telling me they will pick me up first thing in the morning. When they came they knocked on the door but my husband had locked it before leaving for work. So they broke it down and took me and my daughter to a woman’s shelter,” said Azzah.
The shelter provided Azzah with a house and a job, and she stayed there for almost two years. Her ex-husband, meanwhile, kicked out their sons, as they were unwilling to work and support his addiction.
“I then moved out of the shelter and rented an apartment to provide my children with a roof. This was only two months after my divorce,” she said. “Now we are settled and living a decent life with no trouble and no drugs. I allow my children to keep in touch with their father to avoid any kind of trouble,” she added.
