Saudi judge upholds man's marriage to 8-year-old

[The Straight Story]

Saudi judge upholds man's marriage to 8-year-old


(CNN) -- A Saudi mother is expected to appeal a judge's ruling after he once again refused to let her 8-year-old daughter divorce a 47-year-old man, a relative said.

Sheikh Habib Al-Habib made the ruling Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza. Late last year, he rejected a petition to annul the marriage.

The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when Al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. His dismissal of the mother's petition sparked outrage and made headlines around the world.

The judge said the mother, who is separated from the girl's father, was not the legal guardian and therefore could not represent her daughter, the mother's lawyer, Abdullah al-Jutaili, said at the time.

The girl's husband pledged not to consummate the marriage until the girl reaches puberty, according to al-Jutaili, who added that the girl's father arranged the marriage to settle his debts with the man, who is considered "a close friend."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/12/saudi.child.marriage/index.html?eref=ib_topstories

Standard DU Disclaimer: I am not advocating war with Saudi Arabia, America is as bad as all other countries if not worse, Christians would do this to if they were in power (like say, if bush was ever elected the fundies would ban abortion, make wife beating legal and desirable, etc), this was not an attempt to bash another culture because ours is the worst and we should not complain about others, this was not an attempt to foment hate against a group that we are not supposed to foment hate against (christians are exempt from this, as are smokers, people who own guns, breastfeeding mothers, homeschoolers, those who eat out, those overweight, those who drive non-electric cars, folks who live in the south, et al - getting people to not like certain groups won't cause violence against them and spreading fear that they will increase your health rates, lock you up in camps, destroy the earth. Hate speech only incites certain people we don't like so we should get them off the air because our hate is not hate it is just educating the ignorant about how our way is best and our culture is the only good one, etc)

:)

[SmileyRose]

1. Oh brother

"Christians would do this to if they were in power"


We are, we don't, and we put people in jail who do.



BIG EDIT - on second reading I think I misunderstood. Sorry about that.

[BlooInBloo]

2. Nothing says "I love you" more than a father giving away his daughter to a pedophile for a debt.

[seabeyond]

3. the whole world watching yet still.... it is done. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

5. Are you refering to people who are attacked in front of many witnesses, and none of them do anything

to stop it, such as calling the police?

[seabeyond]

11. i hear that. i have seen some articles on that. i know that is a phenomenon, yet still

the few times i have seen articles of late on that, it is not exactly how the story goes. that bothers me too. goes against who i am as a person, dont get it much, but we can extend that further. to the laws broken by bushco and people allow. to airports taking away all rights and people embrace it.

yes, this can go into the same scenerio....

[ZombieHorde]

4. Is the OP about the article, or does the article serve as a vehicle for the disclaimer? nt

[The Straight Story]

7. well, as I was getting ready to hit post

I remembered a few articles I had seen lately where folks made note of the fact that country being posted about was not as bad as the US, so we (apparently) should not be bitching about them, and then I recalled all the talk about war with Iran and anyone who posted negative stories about them were promoting the idea of war, and recently stuff about Afghanistan being posted was seen as promoting us staying there. And so on.

Sometimes, a post is just a post :)

[ZombieHorde]

16. "a post is just a post"

True, but your disclaimer was not just a disclaimer, it was kind of funny.

[The Straight Story]

17. Sometimes we have to poke fun at ourselves :) (nt)

[BlooInBloo]

8. A little of column A, and a little of column B.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. In my state of NH a 13 year old 'woman' can get married.

Yes arranged marriages are an abomination. Yes 8 is way too young even for an arranged marriage that will not be consummated until the girl reaches puberty. However before we get way too upset, some of our states have no age limit for marriages with parental consent, and some have shockingly low age limits.

http://lawdigest.uslegal.com/family-laws/marriage-age-requirements/7117/

[treestar]

9. The Muslim world, at least that part of it

is further behind. Religion is still entangled with government. Whether the reasons for that prove us somehow superior, I don't know. Maybe we'd be that way still if we had been colonized by them instead of the other way round. It is probably in human nature to cling to your culture and avoid change within it when some outside force is pushing on your culture right there in your home area.

If the Muslims had colonized Europe, we'd probably be rabid Catholics on the order of what the Vatican might expect today. It would be natural rebellion to the outside oppressor.

[JerseygirlCT]

15. Not really - see post #10 below

This is a reflection of long-held cultural sickness - one that existed among the Bedouins long before Islam existed. Their particular sect of Islam - Wahabbism - is so extreme, and simply reflects (and codifies) those long-held cultural biases.

In many parts of Europe, things were a bit more open and forward-looking during Muslim occupation.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. This isn't about pedophelia. It is about treating women as property

with no real rights. This is not, I repeat, NOT what all Muslims believe or support. It is a mindset about women that was common amongst the tribesmen before the Beloved Prophet was even around. Back then it was common for girl babies to be killed at birth, to rob women of their dowries and then throw them out of their husband's house. I believe that Wahhabism was developed not along the lines of the Qur'an but rather to bolster the inherent prejudice of the society. And what society with such ancient prejudices wouldn't welcome a religious sect that "approves" of the way they've always done things?

The Saudis are the most patriarchal and conservative of all Muslim countries. Bear in mind that they don't allow other sects of Islam to even be openly practiced within their borders. Could one of the reasons be that it would open up hearts and minds?

[JerseygirlCT]

14. Exactly right! nt

[JerseygirlCT]

12. Women to the Saudis are so much chattel - to be used as the men

wish, and given away as children to settle debts. It's despicable, and no amount of cultural relativism would ever make it anything less.

I can't stand that regime!

[vadawg]

18. unless you are prepared to force other cultures at gunpoint to change their ways

im afraid its something you are going to have to hate but accept. Yeah theres education, but theres nothing worse than someone coming to your home and telling you that your culture is wrong and its okay because they can teach you whats right.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. Computer burb - delete nt