"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.

The Good Women of China

The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran is a fantastic piece of non-fiction. It is a collection of stories on Chinese women, their thoughts and slowly emerging rights and glimpses into their lives of suppression under Communism and patriarchalism. As a radio reporter, Xinran, meaning 'with pleasure', started the program Words on the Night Breeze to talk about some of the women in China and to peek at their suppressed lives. There was a lot of controversy about permitting her some license in speaking for just 10 minutes on radio about the lives of women. Of course what she said was heavily censored, and since it was a show that invited the public's questions, there was extremely heavy censoring on the incoming questions. But Xinran felt like "manna from heaven" had fallen in just being allowed to talk about a topic, women, that had been so overlooked for many centuries.

Since 1949, the media had been the mouthpiece of the Party. State radio, state newspapers, and later, state television provided the only information Chinese people had access to one the one-sided voice of the media. When Deng Xiaoping started the slow process of 'opening up' China in 1983, it was possible for journalists, if they were courageous, to try and make subtle changes to how they presented the news. It was also possible, though perhaps more dangerous, to discuss personal issues in the media, and it was in these 1980 years of 'opening up' that Xinran conceived the idea of Words on the Night Breeze, in which to allow the spirits of women to breathe through a tiny hole and cry out.

Because of her radio program which gained rapidly in popularity for its freshness of topic, Xinran began to receive a large amount of mail of voices from the public, both far and near. One of the earliest letters for help was from a boy who pleaded anonymity or his family would be ostracized by the community they had lived in for many generations. However, the boy pleaded the case of a very young girl who was shackled with irons so that she wouldn't run away from the old man who had married her. The urgency of the message sent to Xinran was interpreted by the chicken feather attached to the letter, the signal in China of an urgent distress signal. Just what was a life of a woman in China worth became clear when her radio station supervisors brushed aside her concerns for the girl. Eventually with pressure and argument, Xinran, with the very begrudging help of her radio staff and connections, went to the village and rescued the young girl, who, come to find out had been kidnapped and sold to the 60-year-old man while her distressed parents spent thousands of yuans in their desperate search for her. This was Xinran's first 'rescue' of a Chinese girl/woman. She told the story on the air and more letters of woe and distress poured in.

Xinran also met a young woman activist on a university campus who was known for her independence and outspokenness. Xinran felt compelled to meet this unusual young lady who defined for Xinran what her analytical interpretation of a 'good woman' in China was. "Good Chinese women are conditioned to behave in a soft meek manner, and they bring this behavior to bed. As a result, their husbands say that they have no sex appeal, and the women submit to oppression, convinced the fault is their own. They must bear the pain of menstruation and childbirth, and work like men to keep the family when their husbands don't earn enough. The men pin pictures of beautiful women above the bed to arouse themselves, while their wives blame themselves for their care-worn bodies. Anyway, in men's eyes, there is no such thing as a good woman."

The university student then went on to explain that men, demanding absolute control and power, had very bigoted expectations of women. "Men want a woman who is a virtuous wife, a good mother, and can do all the housework like a maid. Outside the home, she should be attractive and cultivated, and be a credit to him. In bed, she must be a nymphomaniac. What is more, Chinese men also need their women to manage their finances and earn a lot of money, so they can mingle with the rich and powerful. Modern Chinese men sigh over the abolition of polygamy. That old man Gu Hongming at the end of the Qing dynasty said that 'one man is best suited to four women, as a teapot is best suited to four cups'. And modern Chinese men want another cup to fill with money too.'"

The outspoken university student finished her discussion with Xinran by citing the types of fish men said women were. "When men have been drinking, they come out with a set of definitions for women. Lovers are 'swordfish', tasty but with sharp bones. Personal secretaries are 'carp', the longer you 'stew' them, the more flavor they have. Other men's wives are 'Japanese puffer fish', trying a mouthful could be the end of you, but risking death is a source of pride. Their own wives are 'salt cod', because salt keeps a long time and when there is no food, salt cod is cheap and convenient and makes a meal with rice." Women, according to the student, were objectified and merely had a function.

China is a superstitious land, and many superstitions surround women, particularly in child bearing. One of Xinran's colleagues had a baby and so many from the office wished to visit her in the hospital to bear gifts symbolising blessings and good luck. One colleague, Mengxing, was not to go as in China a woman who has not given birth brings bad luck to newborn children if visiting them. Mengxing went anyway, pooh-poohing the old superstition. Foods are central to ceremonies, and birthing is no exception. Presented on the young mother's hospital table were brown sugar and ginseng for her blood, pigs' trotters and fish to help her breastfeed, and chicken and fruit to build up her constitution. Mengxing was there with the rest, eating boiled eggs dyed red to symbolise happiness at the birth of a new child. For this woman, the child was a boy, which gave her a glow of satisfaction and elevated her status, as for countless generations, the following saying was held true: "There are thirty-six virtues, but to be without heirs is an evil that negates them all." When the visitors left, the young mother's mother-in-law slipped Xinran a piece of red cloth and instructed Xinran to burn it to 'drive away the evil influences brought by Mengxing'. Xinran dared not disobey and quietly noted that even citified families often retained their superstitions when it came to having and dispelling luck despite their educated upbringings.

One of the most extraordinary stories uncovered by Xinran was in the very remote village of Shouting Hill, that had neither electricity nor cell phone. In fact, the place was so barren and destitute of water that even had they wished, the villagers could not have promoted a better lifestyle through tourism because they didn't even have enough water to brush their teeth every night or wash their hair but upon special occasions. And it was here in the modern 1980s that women were the most suppressed in China, and the women were locked into previous centuries of labor and child bearing. Women there were resources to be bargained for and purchased and then to be 'used', the exact word that men used to describe the women's function. In written Chinese, the word 'womb' is made up of the characters for 'palace' and 'children'. Almost every woman knows that the womb is one of her key organs, but the women in Shouting Hill did not even know what a womb was!

Women in Shouting Hill were pregnant almost every year, but there was no sense of eager anticipation for the child among themselves or among the men. Even while heavily pregnant, they labored as before and were 'used' by the men, who reasoned that 'only children who resist being squashed are strong enough'. When Xinran journeyed to Shouting Hill with other reporters, a doctor was also taken along. When examining one woman who continually miscarried, the doctor was dumbfounded to find that the woman had a prolapsed womb. The friction and infection of many years had hardened the part of the womb that was hanging outside of cutin, tough as a callus. The woman when asked what caused her condition, disapprovingly told him that all women in Shouting Hill were like that. The doctor told Xinran and asked her to confirm such an outrageous thing, but Xinran later confirmed that it was true. Xinran had wondered why the women walked with legs akimbo and the prolapsed wombs as well as the tough fibrous leaves with edges that rubbed against the thighs were the causes.

Xinran in her rambles around Shouting Hill had continually seen, secluded from mainstream traffic, leaves in a cluster and appearing to be dried for a purpose. She queried a grandmother about the leaves and found that they were the only possessions a girl was systematically given on her marriage and the only burial goods she would have. The leaves were gathered from trees very far away, and 10 were given to a girl by her mother or another woman of the older generation upon her marriage. The leaves had to be cut to the right size so they could fit in the woman's trousers. Small holes were pricked into the leaves with a awl to make them more absorbent, and the leaves which were relatively elastic would expand with the woman's menstruation and then pressed and dried after each use. These leaves, precious for their absorption and for their ability to be reused and reused, were precious in the land of virtually no water, and the 10 leaves given to her upon marriage were her inheritance as a woman.

Xinran left China after her experience in Shouting Hill. She felt the need to breathe new air, and to know what it was like to live in a free society. Four days after she arrived in London, Lady Diana died and thousands carried flowers to lay at the gate of Buckingham Palace. Unable to resist the journalistic impulse, Xinran asked a woman what Princess Diana meant to her. She and the woman talked for some time about women in British society, and finally the woman queried Xinran about the women in China. The woman had observed that for Westerners the modern Chinese woman still seemed to wear an ancient veil and she believed it was important to try and see beyond the veil. This conversation sparked the conception of an idea to write about the women of China, the "good" women of China.

Perspectives on Cross-cultural Marriage Differences

To give background, Moon Orchid, invited by her elder sister Brave Orchid, arrives in the US without her husband's knowledge. It has been 30 years since her husband left China and went to the Golden Mountain (the US) to study and work and hopefully earn money for her passage over, but in those years he had faithfully sent money back for her living and money to raise and educate their daughter but not once had he suggested that she come over to join him. So her elder sister Brave Orchid labored for her passage and finally Moon Orchid arrived. Brave Orchid, business-like and very matter-of-fact and so proud that she never changed her name from Brave Orchid in the new country, immediately set to work to force a reuniting of her estranged sister and brother-in-law.

"You're husband is going to have to see you. We'll make him recognize you. Ha. Won't it be fun to see his face? You'll go to his house. And when his wife answers the door, you say, 'I want to speak to my husband,' and you name his personal name. 'Tell him I'll be sitting in the family room.' Walk past her as if she were a servant. She'll scold him when he comes home from work, and it'll serve him right. You yell at him too."
"I'm scared," said Moon Orchid.
"We know his address. He's living in Los Angeles with his second wife, and they have three children. Claim your rights. Those are your children. He's got two sons. You have two sons. You take them away from her. You become their mother."
"Do you really think I can be a mother to sons? Don't you think they'll be loyal to her, since she gave birth to them?"
"The children will go to their true mother - you," said Brave Orchid. "That's the way it is with mothers and children... You have to ask him why he didn't come home. Why he turned into a barbarian. Make him feel bad about leaving his mother and father. Scare him. Walk right into his house with your suitcase and boxes. Move right into the bedroom. Throw her stuff out of the drawers and put yours in. Say, 'I am the first wife, and she is our servant.'"
"Oh, no, I can't do that. I can't do that at all. That's terrible."
"You walk right into the bedroom, and you open the second wife's closet. Take whatever clothes you like. That will give you an American wardrobe."
"Oh, I can't do that."
"Make life unbearable for the second wife, and she'll leave. He'll have to build her a second house."
"I wouldn't mind if she stays," said Moon Orchid. "She can comb my hair and keep house. She can wash the dishes and serve our meals. And she can take care of the little boys."

Weeks later Brave Orchid take Moon Orchid to Los Angeles to confront the husband. The whole 500 miles to LA, Brave Orchid is giving her sister last minute instructions on how she should comport herself during the grand encounter after 30 years. Moon Orchid, timid and delicate, finds it difficult to agree with anything her enthusiastic, hard-driven older sister suggests. Once in LA and they get to the address, they realize it's an awfully big building, which possibly the renegade man owns, especially as they do know that the husband has some kind of job important to the Americans. Brave Orchid went inside the building for reconnosiance. She realized the brother-in-law is some kind of doctor, and when she fakes a flu, she meets a very young and pretty Chinese woman who speaks Chinese worse than her children. Ah, so she realizes, this is the wife! She goes back to her sister waiting in the car.

"I met his second wife," she said.
"What's she like?" asked Moon Orchid. "Is she pretty?"
"She's very pretty and very young; just a girl. She's his nurse. What a terrible, faithless man. You'll have to scold him for years, but first you need to sit up straight. Use my powder. Be as pretty as you can. Otherwise you won't be able to compete. You do have one advantage, however. Notice he has her be his worker. She is like a servant, so you have room to be the wife. She works at the office; you work at the house... What a petty man he turned out to be. Giving up responsibility for a pretty face."

The above are excerpts taken sporadically from the chapter "At the Western Palace" in The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston. This is a prime example of projecting one's own culture on the new culture which creates confusion, anger, hatred and withdrawal; communication needs and expectations are not met and huge misunderstandings result. Moon Orchid was later admitted to an insane asylum for having her expectations thwarted and becoming detached from her perceived reality.