Lilith
02-24-2007, 01:41 PM
(gg)
RIYADH, Jan 28 (Reuters Life!) - A Saudi couple have
been forced to divorce against their will by a top
court because of arcane tribal customs which allowed
the woman's family to seek a split, the pair's lawyer
said on Sunday.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem said the court had upheld a
ruling from a lower court and backed the divorce on
the basis of the man's family background.
"The appeals court in Riyadh has supported the divorce
because of 'inappropriate lineage'," he said in a
statement.
The family of the Saudi woman, called Fatima, began
legal action in 2005, saying her husband was not of
sufficiently prestigious tribal stock to marry her,
and had lied about his tribal background.
The woman and her two children were imprisoned for
refusing to return to her family's custody after the
lower court first annulled the marriage. Custom in the
conservative kingdom requires women to live with their
families until marriage.
Saudi Arabia rules by an austere school of Islamic law
often termed Wahhabism, and judges in family courts
are themselves Wahhabi religious scholars.
Lahem said the ruling contradicted the principles of
sharia, Islamic law, which objects to discrimination
in terms of color, nationality and race.
The issue was dramatized in a popular comedy show
aired in October that ridiculed the idea of tribal
superiority, which is still strong in parts of the country.
RIYADH, Jan 28 (Reuters Life!) - A Saudi couple have
been forced to divorce against their will by a top
court because of arcane tribal customs which allowed
the woman's family to seek a split, the pair's lawyer
said on Sunday.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem said the court had upheld a
ruling from a lower court and backed the divorce on
the basis of the man's family background.
"The appeals court in Riyadh has supported the divorce
because of 'inappropriate lineage'," he said in a
statement.
The family of the Saudi woman, called Fatima, began
legal action in 2005, saying her husband was not of
sufficiently prestigious tribal stock to marry her,
and had lied about his tribal background.
The woman and her two children were imprisoned for
refusing to return to her family's custody after the
lower court first annulled the marriage. Custom in the
conservative kingdom requires women to live with their
families until marriage.
Saudi Arabia rules by an austere school of Islamic law
often termed Wahhabism, and judges in family courts
are themselves Wahhabi religious scholars.
Lahem said the ruling contradicted the principles of
sharia, Islamic law, which objects to discrimination
in terms of color, nationality and race.
The issue was dramatized in a popular comedy show
aired in October that ridiculed the idea of tribal
superiority, which is still strong in parts of the country.