Dinah Lord

Saudi Arabia: "It's okay to slap the wife around if she spends too much."

And this from a judge at a seminar on domestic violence, no less.  Just more of those Muslim family values in action, folks!

From Arab News:

A Jeddah court judge’s approval of husbands slapping their wives on the face if they spend money lavishly on unnecessary things triggered a hue and cry during a seminar on domestic violence here recently.

“If a person gives SR1,200 to his wife and she spends SR900 to purchase an abaya (the black gown) from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment,” said Judge Hamad Al-Razine.

The judge made this comment in the presence of Princess Adila bint Abdullah, deputy chairperson of the National Family Safety Program, who attended the seminar on the role of judicial and security institutions in preventing domestic violence.

Al-Razine was explaining the causes of an increase in domestic violence in the country, adding that women were also equally responsible. “But nobody puts even a fraction of blame on them,” he said before making the controversial comment.

(I say why not blame Islam?)

More Muslim family values: Another 8 year old gets married to an old Saudi dirtbag.

The Saudis have 'announced a review' of the law and the UN is "deeply concerned"  (I'm telling you if I had a nickel for everytime a liberal said they were deeply concerned I would be rich).

From the Telegraph.

The country is a patriarchal society that applies a form of Sunni Islam that gives fathers the right to wed their sons and daughters to whoever they deem fit.

But Justice Minister Mohamed al-Issa said his ministry wanted "to put an end to arbitrariness by parents and guardians in marrying off minor girls".  He said the regulations would "preserve the rights, fending off blights to end the negative aspects of underage girls' marriage".

A court in the Saudi town of Unaiza upheld the marriage of the Saudi girl to a 58-year-old man on the condition he does not have sex with her until she reaches puberty.

Bwa-ha-ha. 200 Mosques in Mecca point the wrong way for prayers.

So much for that old facing the Kaaba, bowing down, and throwing your ass up in the air rule.  According to Saudi government officials,  'it doesn't effect the prayers.'

<- A Mecca arrow at Camp Gitmo.

From the BBC

Some 200 mosques in Islam's holiest city, Mecca, point the wrong way for prayers, reports from Saudi Arabia say.

All mosques have a niche showing the direction of the most sacred Islamic site, the Kaaba, an ancient cube-like building in Mecca's Grand Mosque.  But people looking down from recently built high-rises in Mecca found the niches in many older mosques were not pointing directly towards the Kaaba.

Some worshippers are said to be anxious about the validity of their prayers.

There have been suggestions that laser beams could be used to make an exact measurement.

Tawfik al-Sudairy, Islamic affairs ministry deputy secretary, downplayed the problem in remarks quoted by the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.

"There are no major errors but corrections have been made for some old mosques, thanks to modern techniques," he said.

"In any case, it does not affect the prayers."

For the love of GOD! 75 yo Saudi woman gets 40 lashes for having men guests.

Imagine if this was your Gran.  (Thank you Thanos over at the LGF link thingy._ 

A 75-year-old Saudi Arabian woman has been sentenced to receive 40 lashes for hosting two unrelated men in her house, local media reported.

The Saudi daily newspaper al-Watan said the woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, has appealed her sentence after being charged with offenses against Islam by the religious police, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, CNN reported Monday.

Sawadi says the two men in her house were a man she considers her son because she breast-fed him as a baby and a friend who was escorting him as he delivered bread to the elderly woman.

"It's made everybody angry because this is like a grandmother," Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Huwaider told CNN. "Forty lashes -- how can she handle that pain? You cannot justify it."

The U.S. broadcaster reported that Saudi religious police last week also detained two male novelists for questioning after they approached a female writer, Halima Muzfar, for an autograph at a book fair in Riyadh.

In other news of the Kingdom:  Saudi Arabia arrests women driver in holy city.  (Phew. For a minute there I thought this might be our friend Sabra over at Stilettos in the Sand. Then I remembered that its MUSLIMS only in Mecca.)

Oh, those frisky Saudis and their temporary marriages.

In the kingdom the expatriates are disposable and so are wives.  It's a perfect match!  And interestingly enough, it's particularly prevalent in it's holy roller city of Medina, too.  (hat tip of the niqab to TROP.)

From Arab News.

With an increased number of expatriates in Madinah, Saudi men ­— often already married — are resorting to marrying young expatriate women through nonstate-recognized nikahs/marriages known in Arabic as Al-Zawaj Al-Urufi.

“The number of expatriates in Madinah — those who are resident, legal or illegal — has far exceeded the number of Saudis here,” said a source at Madinah Municipality, who asked his name not be published.  “Some expatriates try to earn cash by marrying their daughters or sisters to Saudis. This has resulted in a remarkable increase in the number of such marriages,” he added.

Marriage registers — known in the Kingdom as “mazuns” — are accredited by the Saudi authorities and are not allowed to carry out marriages, especially those between Saudis and non-Saudis, without legal permits. Saudis wanting to marry non-Saudis must first obtain marriage permits from the Ministry of Interior, something that can take months to years to acquire.  There are, however, unregistered expatriate sheikhs who are ready to conduct the rites of an Islamic nikah. Such marriages are legal according to Islamic Law, but not acceptable under Saudi rules.

The testimonials:

Kamal Muhammad, an IT teacher at a boys’ school in Madinah, said such marriages cost no more than SR10,000. “I learned about them from a friend who arranged an appointment for me with an expatriate man who was looking for a husband for his daughter,” he said.

“The father showed me three of his daughters and asked me to choose one. He made a condition that the dowry should be no less than SR7,000 and that I should stay with her at the same house,” he said.

He added that after agreeing to the condition he made his choice.

Saudi Arabia: Man eats 22 live scorpions.

But wouldn't dream of eating a BLT.

Bwa-ha-ha!

Somalia: Star crossed pirates.

Remember how we learned that the Sirius Star was released by its captors following the reported payment of a $3million dollar ransom?

Can you say 'poetic justice'?

From The Daily Mail:

However things went badly wrong for the pirates soon after the drop - they squabbled over how to split the money and then a wave washed off their getaway boat and drowned five of them.

The pirates originally wanted more than £16 million to release the boat and its £65 million load of oil. Eventually they accepted the offer of $3million (around £2million). But as they made off they continued to row about the payout.

'Two of them swam and survived. One is still missing.

The weather was so terrible that it blew the boat over, then sank it.

We got five dead bodies and we are still searching for the missing one. The waves were disastrous,' said Farah Osman, an associate of the gang.

It is not known what happened to the money or those who survived.

How much do you think Saudi Aramco is kicking itself for paying the ransom right about now?

Somalia: Sirius Star released

From the BBC

The Sirius Star was reportedly seen moving south-east away from the Somali coast. A pirate spokesman was quoted as saying the pirates had left the vessel.

The ship and its crew have been held near the Somali coast during reported negotiations over a ransom payment.

There were more than 100 pirate attacks reported off Somalia's coast last year.

"All our people have now left the Sirius Star. The ship is free, the crew is free," Mohamed Said, one of the leaders of the pirate group, told the AFP news agency.

A man described as an associate of the pirates, Farah Osman, added that the pirates released the ship after receiving a $3m (£1.95m) ransom payment.

"Pirates holding the Saudi ship took $3m yesterday evening and then released the ship this morning," he told Reuters news agency.

Saudi women going to Bahrain for drivers licenses.

From Arab News.

Hundreds of Saudi women each year apply for Bahraini driving licenses and drive legally on the island’s roads without any fear, something impossible in the Kingdom where women driving is taboo.

“The Traffic Directorate last year issued about 1,354 licenses to Saudi women who underwent driving lessons and passed the test,” said Col. Khalifa bin Hassan from the Traffic Directorate.

Somalia: Sirius Star to be released?

Somali Pirates to Release Sirius Star.  Will the MV Faina be next?

Somali pirates have reportedly agreed to release the Saudi super-tanker, Sirius Star, withdrawing a 25 million dollar ransom demand.

"We decided to respect the request of Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Saud Al-Faysal who asked us to release the ship..." Press TV correspondent quoted pirate's spokesman Mohammed Said as saying.

However, he did not say when the giant oil tanker would be released.

The news comes amid other reports suggesting the possible release of the 'arm-laden' Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina, which was captured by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa in September.

Update from Mareeg Online:  About that ransom?  Word on the street is they got half the 25 mil.

As Said handed over the phone to one of the pirates Noh Adde he told Mareeg that they received no ransom money but want to release the ship to respect Muslim government, but sources close to the pirates told Mareeg that they’ve received half of the ransom money they demanded.

Said has noted that the crew of the ship are safe and happy the good news of their release.“All 25 crew members on board are safe," He said.

The update from AllAfrica.com has an additional comment on the ransom.  It appears if a ransom was paid, it was paid by Saudi Aramco.

The pirates demanded a $25 million ransom, but the Saudi authorities strongly opposed the idea of negotiating with hijackers and Prince Saud al-Faysal said it would be up to the owners of the vessel to decide how to deal with piracy.