"Princess" of Saudi Arabia

The book Princess by Jean P. Sasson is "an appalling indictment of the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia" and an "unforgettable ... fascinating book to move you to tears". The book is about one of over a hundred-plus princesses, the granddaughters of Abdul Asis ibn Sa'ud, who speaks out to Jean Sasson to write the conditions of women forced to hide behind the abaaya, the black veil. Women are not owners of their own bodies, their own destinies, or their even their own children. They are chattel to men, passed off after menses at early ages to become wives, sometimes second, third or fourth wives, and quite frequently these husbands are as old, if not older, than their own fathers. The women must obey their husbands implicitly, prepare their bodies to be used by their husbands upon demand, be ordered to appear or not appear, be escorted by men wherever they go. When their sons become older and the husbands cannot provide escort, then the sons are the escorts.

Sultana, the princess in the book, is fiery and wants the world to hear the conditions of the Saudi Arabian women to give the world understanding and not be afraid of the only visible parts of women - the blackness of their eyes and the blackness of their robes - and to judge that limited dark view of women. Sultana cannot escapes her gilded princess cage in Saudi Arabia. She remains the property of her husband, and sees her daughters grow up to become property themselves. Yet, to speak out even slightly would mean to denounce Saudi Arabia, the Koran, and/or her own husband, and any insult to any of them would mean her being sentenced to some punishment away from her children, and so she continued to silently exist in her gilded cage ... but with the knowledge that the book Princess would be published and begin to let the Western world have some understanding about the "freedom", or lack of it, of the Saudi Arabian women.

The Laws of Saudi Arabia

The criminal laws of Saudi Arabia adhere to strict Islamic precepts. The word Islam means "surrender to the will of God". The most important concept of Islam is the Shari'a, or the "path", which embraces the total way of life ordained by God. All peoples of the Islamic religion are expected to conduct their lives by the traditional values set by Muhammad, the Prophet of God, who was born in AD 570 and died in AD 632.

It is difficult for most Westerners to understand the complete and total submission of Muslims to the laws of the Korean in every aspect of their daily life. The Koran, along with traditions set by Muhammad, is the law of the land in Saudi Arabia.

While Jean Sasson was living in Saudi Arabia, she once asked a noted scholar of Islam who made his living as a lawyer, to describe the Saudi Arabian application of justice that stems from the teachings of the Prophet. His explanations helped dispel her misunderstandings of Saudi law.

1. There are four main sources of the Shari'a: the Koran, which is compiled from thousands of religious verses revealed by God through his Prophet, Muhammad; the Sunna, which are the traditions the Prophet addressed that are not recorded in the Koran; the Ijma, which are the perceptions of the Ulema, or religious scholars; and the Qiyas, which is a method whereby known jurists agree upon new legal principles.
2. The king of Saudi Arabia is not exempt from the regulations set forth by the Shari'a.
3. The court system itself is complicated, but if a judgement is taken to appeal it is reviewed by the court of appeals. This court, usually consisting of three members, increases to five members if the sentence imposes death or mutilation. The king is the final arbitrator who serves as a final court of appeal and as a source of pardon.
4. Crimes are classified into three divisions: Hudud, Tazir, and Qisas. Crimes of Hudud are crimes that are denounced by God; the punishment is made known in the Koran. Crimes of Tazir are given to the appropriate authority to determine punishment. Crimes of Qisas give the victim the right to retaliate.

CRIMES OF HUDUD

Crimes of Hudud included theft, drinking of alcohol, defamation of Islam, fornication and adultery.

Persons found guilty of theft are punished by payment of fines, imprisonment, or amputation of the right hand. (The left hand is amputated if the right hand has already been amputated.)

Persons found guilty of drinking, selling or buying alcohol, sniffing drugs, taking injections of drugs or stirring drugs into dough are punished by a sentence of eighty lashes.

Persons found guilty of defamation of Islam are sentences according to the circumstances. The harshness of the sentence varies depending on whether the person is a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Flogging is the general punishment for Muslims.

Persons found guilty of fornication are flogged. Men are flogged while standing and women while sitting. The faces, heads and vital organs of the guilty are protected. The usual number is forty lashes, but this number may vary according to the circumstances.

Adultery is the most serious of crimes. If the guilty party is married, her or she is sentenced to death by stoning, beheading or shooting. Stoning is the usual method of punishment. Proof of the crime must be established by confession or by four witnesses to the act.

CRIMES OF TAZIR

The crimes of Tazir are similar to misdemeanor crimes in America. There is not set punishment, but each person is judged on an individual basis, according to the seriousness of the crime and the sorrow shown by the criminal.

CRIMES OF QISAS

If a person is found guilty of crimes against an individual or a family, the aggrieved family has the right to retaliate. The sentence is decided in private by the family, and the actual punishment is carried out in private.

If murder has been committed, the family has the right to kill the murderer in the same method their loved one was murdered, or in any method they choose.

If a member of a family was accidentally killed (such as a road accident), the family of the deceased may collect "blood money". In the past, camels were used as pay for blood money; today the rate of exchange is in currency. There are set damaged according to the various circumstances: the payment can be anywhere from 120,000 to 300,000 Saudi riyals ($45,000 - $80,000). If a woman is killed, the payment is half that of a man.

If a person cuts off another person's body part, the family or the victim may commit the same act upon the guilty party.

Who may testify in criminal proceedings: 

The witness must be deemed sane, the age of an adult, and a Muslim. Non-Muslims may not testify in criminal court. Women may not testify unless it is a personal matter that did not occur in the sight of men. Actually, the testimony of a woman is not regarded  as fact but rather as presumption. The court may decide whether the testimony is valid according to the circumstances.  

Why women are forbidden to testify in criminal proceedings: 

There are four reasons given why women's testimony is not valid in a Saudi court.

1. Women are much more emotional than men and will, as a result of their emotions, distort their testimony.
2. Women do not participate in public life, so they will not be capable of understanding what they observe.
3. Women are dominated completely by men, who by the grace of God are deemed superior; therefore, women will give testimony according to what the last man told them.
4. Women are forgetful, and their testimony cannot be considered reliable.

Chronology of the book:

570         Prophet Muhammad is born in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

610         Prophet Muhammad sees a vision from God proclaiming him to be the messenger of God. Islam is born.

622         Prophet Muhammad flees an angry mob in Makkah and escapes to Madinah. This flight is forever after known as “the Hegira”, the great crisis of Muhammad’s mission on earth. The Muslim calendar begins on that date and is called Hegira in honor of the journey.

632         Prophet Muhammad died in Madinah

650         The sayings of Prophet Muhammad are collected and written down. Known as the Koran, this book, which recorded the word of God as told by Muhammad, became the holy book of Muslims.

1446       The first documented Al Sa’ud, ancestor of Sultana, leaves the nomadic life of the desert and settles in Dar’iyah (old Riyadh).

1744       Muhammad Al Sa’ud establishes a partnership with Muhammad Al Wahhab, a teacher who believes in the strictest interpretation of the Koran. Combined forces of a warrior and a teacher unleash a rigid system of punishment upon the people.

1802-6    Sons of Muhammad Al Sa’ud and Muhammad Al Wahhab, inspired by the teachings of the Koran, attack and capture Makkah and Madinah. They are ruthless, massacring the entire male population of Taif, a settlement above Makkah. With this victory, most of Arabia unites under one authority.

1846-65  The Sa’uds extend authority southwards to Oman.

1876       Sultana’s grandfather, Abdul Aziz ibn Sa’ud, founder of the kingdom, is born.

1887       The city of Riyadh is captured by the Rasheeds

1891       The Al Sa’ud clan flees Riyadh into the Empty Quarter.

1893-4    The Al Sa’ud clan marches across the desert to Kuwait.

1901       September. Abdul Aziz, now twenty-five years old, along with his warriors leaves Kuwait for Riyadh.

1902       January. Abdul Aziz and his men capture Riyadh. The new Al Sa’ud dynasty begins.

1915       Abdul Aziz Al Sa’ud enters into an agreement with the British government to receive £5,000 per month to fight the Turks.

1926       Sultana’s father is born.

1932       Unification of the dual kingdoms of Hijaz and Najd. Named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it becomes the twelfth-largest country in the world.

1933       Sultana’s mother, Fadeela, is born.

1934       Saudi Arabia goes to war against Yemen; peace is established one month later. 15 May. In revenge for the Yemen war, King Abdul Aziz is attacked at the holy mosque in Makkah by three knife-wielding Yemenis. His eldest son, Sa’ud, flings himself in front of his father and is wounded instead.

1938       20 March. Oil is discovered in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

1939       War in Europe halts oil production.

1944       Oil production in the kingdom rises to 8 million barrels a year.

1945       14 February. President Roosevelt meets King Abdul Aziz aboard USS Quincy. 17 February. Britain’s prime minister, Winston Churchill, meets King Abdul Aziz aboard USS Quincy.

1946       Oil production soars to 60 million barrels a year. December. Sultana’s parents marry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

1948       Radio Makkah, the first radio station in the kingdom, is opened despite fierce opposition from the Ulema (religious men). 14 May. The state of Israel is established. The first Arab-Israeli war begins.

1952       King Abdul Aziz bans alcohol imports for non-believers.

1953       9 November. King Abdul Aziz, Sultana’s grandfather, dies at the age of seventy-seven. His eldest son, fifty-one-year-old Sa’ud, becomes king. His half-brother Faisal becomes crown prince.

1956       Sultana is born into the family of Al Sa’ud, the tenth daughter of her parents.

1958       March. With the kingdom in financial turmoil, Crown Prince Faisal takes administrative control of the government.

1960       December. King Sa’ud dismisses his brother from administrative duties and assumes control of the government.

1962       Slavery is abolished in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most slaves continue to live with the families that owned them.

1963       The first girls’ school opens; religious factions riot.

1964       3 November. King Sa’ud abdicates and leaves the kingdom for Beirut. Faisal is declared king, and his half-brother Khalid crown prince.

1965       Despite protests, the first television station is opened in Riyadh. September. Prince Khalid ibn Musa’id, nephew of King Faisal, is killed as he leads an armed protest against the opening of the television station.

1967       June. The Six-Day War begins between Israel and her Arab neighbors. Saudi Arabia sends forces.

1969       February. Deposed ex-king Sa’ud ibn Abdul Aziz dies in Athens after spending more than $15 million each year of his exile.

1973       6 October. The October 1973 war begins between Israel and her Arab neighbors. Saudi Arabia sends troops. 20 October. Furious at America’s military assistance to Israel, King Faisal announces a holy war and oil embargo against America.

1975       25 March. King Faisal is assassinated by his nephew Prince Faisal ibn Musa’id, brother of the prince who was shot and killed during a riot in 1965. Crown Prince Khalid is declared king. His half-brother Fahd is named new crown prince.

1977       King Khalid issues a government decree that forbids women from traveling outside their homes unless accompanied by a male family member. A second order follows that forbids women from traveling abroad to study. Both decrees resulted from an international incident involving Princess Misha’il, who was publicly after meeting and falling in love with another Saudi student in the American University in Lebanon. Her lover was beheaded.

1979       November. The Grand Mosque in Makkah is attacked. Protestors complain of women working outside the home in the kingdom. In the months to follow, women’s freedom is curtailed in response to government fear of increased fundamentalist unrest.

1982       June. King Khalid dies of a heart attack. Fahd, his half-brother, is declared king; his half-brother Abdullah is named new crown prince.

1990       5 August. Kuwait is invaded by Iraq. Western Allied forces gather in Saudi Arabia to join Arab armies in repelling Saddam’s army.

1991       Mutawas – the moral police of Islam – react with fear and hostility to the presence of the foreign female soldiers. Pressure increases to force the Saudi government to tighten restrictions on the female population of all nationalities as religious factions return to strict interpretation of the Koran.