Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

The Hajj – Czech Style

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Humour is the best medicine.  It is also the best weapon against bullies, totalitarians, or anyone who takes themselves too seriously.  Perhaps that is why humour is one of the first things curtailed when freedom of speech is threatened.

We have seen various comedians in the US lament how Political Correctness is preventing them from performing on college campuses.

We have seen Canadian comedians fined thousands of dollars for telling a politically incorrect joke.

We have seen German comedians charged and threatened with extradition to Turkey for authoring a humorous poem about Recep Erdo?an.

We know we are not far from the days when Socialist Regimes on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain would routinely jail people for telling jokes…

Well, some of us know…

Perhaps those who lived behind the Iron Curtain remember it better than most of us. Perhaps that is why they cherish their Freedom of Speech and why they use humour to ensure it does not become as eroded as it has become in much of The West.

And Czechs do love their humour.  It is therefore not surprising that Dr. Martin Konvicka, a brave patriot who is fighting to preserve his cultural heritage – and his freedom of speech – and his organization IMK (Iniciativa Martina Konvicky) have turned to humour to deliver their message.

And deliver it they did!

On August 21st, Czechs mark the anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union of and the rest of their Warsaw Pact ‘allies’.  This invasion had ended the liberalization of Czechoslovakia, called Prague Spring (after which the Arab Spring freedom movement was named), and was opposed by the vast majority of the population.  Yet, when it became clear that the invaders were going to succeed in rolling back the progress towards liberalism and that hard socialism would indeed be imposed, many people had started licking the heels of their oppressors in order to improve their social status.

Now, Europe is experiencing a very different type of an invasion:  millions of young, strong, able-bodied Muslims are flooding in, falsely claiming to be fleeing war, and imposing Sharia restrictions on the Freedom of Speech through threats of violence and massacres should the local governments refuse to impose them.  And there is absolute proof that these people are not poor refugees fleeing war:  some of the ones who had already been granted asylum in Europe – and living off of government subsidies – are also holidaying in their countries of origin.

Dr. Konvicka and IMK took the opportunity to draw parallels between the two invasions:  the  invasion of Czechoslovakia by their socialist brothers on the one hand and the Muslim invasion on the other.  And the anniversary of the Warsaw Pact occupation was the perfect occasion!

 

 

 

As you can see from the videos above, it was a fun skit, people were enjoying it, except for the few who disagreed with the message – and who were not afraid to say so…which they would presumably be if they had thought this really was ISIS.  Despite all of this evidence, Czech and International media corporations have universally reported panic, injuries and havoc…

And that is why you have to go to the blogosphere to see what had actually happened.

Following this street theatre, Dr. Konvicka was kind enough to grant this interview:

As you can see, humour is an effective tool to use against totalitarians of all stripes (or stars).

After the skit, many ‘Progressive’ politicians demanded an investigation into how Dr. Konvicka had managed to get a permit to stage this skit, calling for the bureaucrat who had granted it to be fired and Mr. Konvicka to be charged with something.  Anything!  Spreading false news, perhaps?  (Would this not apply even more to the mainstream media?)

Well, there is still some sanity in Czech and the investigation had concluded just last week and found that everything was fine, and nobody has to get fired or charged with anything.  Even more sanity:  a judge has just dismissed all charges against the protesters who had carried gallows during last year’s anti-migrant demonstrations.

And Dr. Konvicka is far from being done.  To mark the 15th anniversary of the Islamic attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11, he held a demonstration in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Prague:

 

The event took place on the 11th of September, 2016, in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Prague, from 2 pm until it had been disbanded about 30 minutes later.

The large sign behind Dr. Konvicka, hanging on the Saudi Embassy fence, has a delightful little rhyme:

HE WHO LIVES

WITH A LITTLE GIRL

IN MY BOOK, HE IS A

PEDOPHILE

 

Dr. Konvicka was not the only one to speak at this demonstration.  Beata Radosa, a former Muslima who explained that she used to believe that a hijab would keep her modesty and protect her from sexual harassment.  When wearing the hijab did not protect her from harassment by Muslim men, she began to loose her faith and eventually left Islam. Now, she is an activist and a blogger.  Her site (in Czech) is called Women Against Islam.

In her above-linked post, she points out that the Magister’s office warned them against using the port-a-potty to represent the Ka’aba…even though this was not specified in the permit application.  This can only bring us to one conclusion:  in the minds of the Magister’s office bureaucrats, the Ka’aba and a port-a-potty are closely  related.

And, she writes, the Port-a-Ka’aba was such a danger to public safety that a whole squad of police in riot gear had to come and monitor the situation.

Martin Vitek was the third speaker and he pointed out some negative aspects of Islam and how they are connected to Saudi Arabia.

Then came the street theatre, until, that is, uniformed police officers pulled the plug on it and heavily armoured police officers arrived to let everyone know they are willing to use force on unarmed citizens if they don’t obey the order fast enough.  Photos of the armoured police dispersing the citizens are at this Czech language site.

The lesson of the day?  ‘Piss Christ’ is art, ‘Dung Madonna’ is art, but ‘Port-a-Ka’aba’ is hate speech.  And the Czech Republic, despite being one of the most enlightened societies, is perfectly willing to use physical force to curb speech it does not like.

Czechs are, however a tenacious peoples.  (Is it still allowed to say that or is that now racist?)  Dr. Konvicka and IMK are planning more activities:  on September 17, 2016, and on November 17, 2016.

Stay tuned, dear readers, for what is coming next!

 

 

Saudi Arabia: Islamic Supremacist “Police” to “Set Up Human Rights Unit” — Woman Rights Activist Calls It “Biggest Joke in History”

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beating-backslidersR.E.A.L… – “Jerusalem/Riyadh, Oct 5 : A plan by Saudi Arabia’s vice police to set up a human-rights division within its ranks to improve its image has been described as the biggest joke in history by human rights
activists.”
– “‘This is the best joke in history. The commission and human rights? How can two opposites sit together! Get real. The commission and its activities go completely against human rights and freedom,’ wrote A-Salihi.”
– “The Jerusalem Post quoted Wajiha Al-Huweidar, a Saudi human-rights activist, as saying the move was nothing short of hypocritical.”
– “‘Since when is interfering in people’s private lives part of the human-rights agenda?’ she asked The Media Line rhetorically. ‘It reflects what they do. They harass people all year long and during holidays they give away candy to people,’ Al-Huweidar said.”
– “‘The religious police know very well that most Saudis want to see them disappear from streets and public places, because they only represent aggressiveness and oppression,’ Al-Huweidar said.”
– “‘I think the Saudi government has realized that its reputation is damaged worldwide and its image is ruined among Saudis, so now they are trying to beautify this repressive institution by using a new slogan… The religious police have to understand their time is over and they have to go,’ he added.”
– “Other human-rights activists welcomed the idea. ‘We think this is a good thing and an appropriate step,’ Muflih Al-Qahtani, president of the Saudi National Society for Human Rights, told The Media Line. ‘We hope this unit will play an active role in spreading the culture of human rights and work on protecting people from any violations they are exposed to,’ Al-Qahtani said. ‘It should be noted that the recent changes in the way the members of the commission have dealt with issues, and their efforts to become closer to the different social levels, indicates a desire to protect rights,’ he added.”
– “The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the kingdom’s religious police, has come under fire over the past few years for their strict and sometimes brutal clamp-downs on what is perceived as un-Islamic behavior, fueling international criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human-rights record.”
– “The organization enforces religious rules such as a ban on men and women mixing, Islamic dress code, prayer attendance and the prohibition on the possession and consumption of alcohol.”
– “The features of the restructured commission would include restructuring the legal administration and creating new units, among them one that will deal with human rights.”
– “This new unit will begin operating shortly under the direct supervision of the commission’’s director and it will deal with human rights ‘in accord with just Islamic principles and international rights treaties.’”
– “The decision to set up the human-rights unit coincides with several cases for which Saudi religious authorities are coming under scrutiny from human-rights organizations.”
– “Saudi Arabia is governed by a strict interpretation of Islamic law known as Wahhabism. Earlier this year Saudi King Abdallah Bin Abd Al-Aziz initiated sweeping reforms which included firing the head of the religious police. It is thought that the reforms were an effort to moderate the country’s leadership and present to the West a more toned-down image of the Saudi kingdom.”

Saudi Columnist Attacks Custom of Honor Killing in Saudi Society

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MEMRI… Recently, in Saudi Arabia, two sisters were murdered by their brother after they were picked up by the Saudi religious police on suspicion of hanging around with boys. The incident inflamed the Saudi press, particularly because the brother killed them immediately after their father arrived to collect them from the police station. In her column in the Saudi daily Al-Watan, liberal Saudi columnist Maliha Al-Shahhab wrote that Saudi society was backsliding, and that honor killing was just like the custom of burying girls alive that prevailed during the Jahiliyya  – which, she said, was one of the customs that Islam came to eradicate.

Following is a translation of her column, which was titled “[The Custom] of Burying Girls Alive is Still With Us”:

“Early last month, a catastrophe shocked [our] society. The publication of the news in the papers caused a deluge [of reactions] from writers. As for me, I was not just shocked; I simply could not comprehend it, and it took me some time to understand what had taken place.

“Two girls in the dawn of their youth, aged 15 and 16… [and] not yet emerged from the cocoon of innocence, were suspected [of hanging around with boys] and were apprehended [by the religious police]. The officials who arrested them were from this society, and knew better than anyone how a family reacts to being informed of such an incident involving one of its daughters, and also what a girl would be exposed to on the part of her family and society after being arrested. But these [officials] had no pity for the girls, [despite] the air of girlhood wafting from them, and they phoned their father.”

“I imagine [the two girls] Rim and Nouf waiting for their father, their young hearts full of joy at being rescued, despite the fear that filled them… Once their father had picked them up… they hadn’t taken their first step… [before] they were welcomed by shots of death, burying them alive. What were their souls praying for at that moment? A brother murdered his two sisters!

“Who planted in a young boy the notion of purging the [family] honor? Who programmed him to be a ticking bomb set to detonate at a specific time – without equipping him with the tools of insight that would give him some self-control? Who is responsible for this crime, for this senseless [act of] burying [them] alive, for the contempt for the lives and fate of others?

“These painful questions must be answered, in order to stop this frightening backsliding of a society that thinks itself part of human civilization… It would be proper for us to prepare ourselves to take part in the development of humanity by [contributing] all the values of which we boast to the nations.

“We thought that we belonged [to human civilization] – but suddenly we discovered that not only are we outside it, but that… we are going backwards, to the Jahiliyya, and adopting its concepts – concepts that Islam came to ban.”

Yemen a new hot spot for terrorists: says Canadian minister

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Canadian officials observing ‘flow’ of extremists

Thanks for doing your job Mr. Van Loan

Thanks for doing your job Mr. Van Loan

 National Post… Three years after police disrupted an al-Qaeda-inspired bomb plot in Toronto, Canadian extremists are continuing to seek terrorist training, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said Friday.

Mr. Van Loan said in an interview that Canadian security officials were still observing a “flow” to terrorist hot spots but that Yemen was replacing Afghanistan and Pakistan as the preferred destination.

“We’re having considerable success,” he told the National Post. “But there still continue to be cases of people flowing to — we don’t know for sure [they are] gaining terrorist training — but certainly some of the destinations and the countries that people are going to, there are strong implications that people are still going and meeting up with known terrorist organizations.”

As the Minister in charge of the RCMP and CSIS, Mr. Van Loan is largely responsible for Ottawa’s counterterrorism program. He was commenting a day after an Ontario judge sentenced Saad Khalid to 14 years in prison for his role in a 2006 plot to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto.

The Saudi Arabia-born Khalid was one of the “Toronto 18,” a group of young men that trained at a camp in Washago, Ont., in December 2005. The group had also allegedly sought weapons training in Pakistan and intended to flee there after the bombings.

The Minister said he would have liked to see a tougher sentence but “there is also a clear message here that terrorism won’t be tolerated and a clear message to Canadians that we do have a real problem with homegrown terrorism.”

The term homegrown terrorism refers to violence by Westerners who are not formally connected to terrorist groups but have embraced the al-Qaeda philosophy. Homegrown terrorists sometimes seek training abroad in places such as Pakistan, but the Minister said they were looking increasingly to the Arabian peninsula.

“A lot of the activity that’s been happening recently in north Pakistan and Afghanistan has caused a lot of disruption to the terrorist training camps, to the efforts of the core of al-Qaeda and associated organizations,” Mr. Van Loan said.

“And I think that has had some impact on the flow and traffic there. But there are other parts of the world, too, where we are seeing flows of people from around the world who are potentially linked with Islamic extremism, particularly to places like Yemen and other parts of the Mideast.” Continue Reading →

Digging up the Saudi past: some would rather not

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Nice little read that sheds light on the Muslim mindset.  So much for that “religious tolerance” crap they continue to spout.

A visitor looks at a bronze lion from the 1st centry BC at an exhibit at the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula has a rich, largely unexplored history - dotted with ancient kingdoms and crisscrossed by caravan routes carrying frankincense to the Mediterranean that drew in the Romans. But its treasures are little known outside a small circle of archaeologists and academics.

A visitor looks at a bronze lion from the 1st centry BC at an exhibit at the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula has a rich, largely unexplored history - dotted with ancient kingdoms and crisscrossed by caravan routes carrying frankincense to the Mediterranean that drew in the Romans. But its treasures are little known outside a small circle of archaeologists and academics.

Toronto Star…

 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Much of the world knows Petra, the ancient ruin in modern-day Jordan that is celebrated in poetry as “the rose-red city, ‘half as old as time,'” and which provided the climactic backdrop for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

But far fewer know Madain Saleh, a similarly spectacular treasure built by the same civilization, the Nabateans.

That’s because it’s in Saudi Arabia, where conservatives are deeply hostile to pagan, Jewish and Christian sites that predate the founding of Islam in the 7th century.

But now, in a quiet but notable change of course, the kingdom has opened up an archaeology boom by allowing Saudi and foreign archaeologists to explore cities and trade routes long lost in the desert.

The sensitivities run deep. Archaeologists are cautioned not to talk about pre-Islamic finds outside scholarly literature. Few ancient treasures are on display, and no Christian or Jewish relics. A 4th or 5th century church in eastern Saudi Arabia has been fenced off ever since its accidental discovery 20 years ago and its exact whereabouts kept secret.

In the eyes of conservatives, the land where Islam was founded and the Prophet Muhammad was born must remain purely Muslim. Saudi Arabia bans public displays of crosses and churches, and whenever non-Islamic artifacts are excavated, the news must be kept low-key lest hard-liners destroy the finds.

“They should be left in the ground,” said Sheikh Mohammed al-Nujaimi, a well-known cleric, reflecting the views of many religious leaders. “Any ruins belonging to non-Muslims should not be touched. Leave them in place, the way they have been for thousands of years.”

In an interview, he said Christians and Jews might claim discoveries of relics, and that Muslims would be angered if ancient symbols of other religions went on show. “How can crosses be displayed when Islam doesn’t recognize that Christ was crucified?” said al-Nujaimi. “If we display them, it’s as if we recognize the crucifixion.” Continue Reading →

Clowns bad. 80 year old paedophile good. A typical Saudi day under Sharia.

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6a00e54eeb143188340115722d9c5a970b-120wi  JEDDAH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s religious police is cracking down on summer festivals that the government hopes will promote domestic tourism, in the latest battle between liberals and conservatives in the world’s biggest oil exporter.

The Saudi government is trying to promote internal tourism but restrictions on singing, dancing and mixing of unrelated men and women by the powerful religious establishment has complicated the effort.

Conservative clerics backed by some powerful members of the Saudi royal family oppose efforts to liberalize the country of 25 million, where women are also forbidden from driving.

“These acts contradict the faith and must not be done, taught, spread or encouraged,” religious police spokesman Abdullah al-Mashiti told al-Watan daily this week, referring to circus acts such as fire-eating and lying on beds of glass that he believes is a form of magic outlawed by Islamic Sharia law.

“They must be fought and those performing them must be reported and punished so as to be deterred and their evil restricted,” he said.

The religious police is one of the key instruments of clerical control in society, with powers to enforce gender segregation in most government and commercial buildings and search for drugs, alcohol or other items seen as immoral.

Jeddah’s summer film festival was canceled this year despite the support of local governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal. King Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 2005, is seen as backing the reformers but he must balance the opposing forces.

“Unfortunately such actions carried on by religious police do not adhere to the official political will and they sabotage the government efforts to improve and maintain the internal tourism industry,” said Mahmoud Sabbagh, a newspaper columnist.

This month music concerts were also banned from the Abha tourism festival, in the mountainous southwest of the kingdom.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s entertainment firm Rotana managed to stage screenings of a Saudi comedy movie last December, but religious police disrupted shows in Riyadh.

“There are no activities here, and when they do have activities they are not accessible to women,” said Samar Edrees, who travels abroad regularly to escape the restrictions.

“Here they have festivals that only target children and men, there is nothing for us to do and there are no cinemas.”

 

FOX NEWS… A Saudi Arabian father forced his 10-year-old daughter to return to her 80-year-old husband Sunday, after she was found hiding at the home of her aunt for 10 days, Arab News reported.

The young girl’s husband, who denies he is 80 despite family claims, accused the aunt of violating the terms of his marriage, allowed by Sharia Law.

“My marriage is not against Sharia. It included the elements of acceptance and response by the father of the bride,” he told a local newspaper.

A member of the National Society for Human Rights said there are no regulations in place to stop the marriage of young girls, which is seen as harmful to their wellbeing.

“Such marriages are considered a gross violation of charters on the rights of children, which the Kingdom has signed and which set the age of adulthood at 18,” Maatouq Al-Abdullah told Arab News.

Saudi Arabia Arrests 44 Suspected Militants

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[kaltura-widget wid=”r9yebntkdc” width=”410″ height=”364″ addpermission=”3″ editpermission=”3″ /] Like Pakistan, the Saudis are only concerned with Islamic terrorists when it effects them personally.

 FOX NEWS…RIYADH, Saudi Arabia  —  The Saudi Interior Ministry says authorities have arrested 44 suspected militants who sought to recruit youths and finance their “deviant activities” through charitable donations.

In a statement carried Wednesday by the official Saudi Press Agency, the ministry says the 44 were arrested in a campaign that began July 9 and ended Aug. 2.

It says some of those arrested have received training on the use of light and heavy weapons in the kingdom and abroad. It says all but one are Saudi.

Saudi Arabia has pursued an aggressive campaign against militants since May 2003, when they first began attacks in the kingdom. The country is the birthplace of Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden and home to 15 of the 19th Sept. 11 hijackers.

A proposal Saudis can’t refuse

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eunice-lieveld-burka1guardian.co.uk…It may be the world’s most puritanical kingdom but there are still legal ways to have sex on the side.

Saudi Arabia’s conservative society stands divided on the issue of misyar, a no-strings marriage of convenience that has become increasingly popular in the kingdom.

Misyar is a form of marriage that allows couples to live separately but come together for sexual relations. For the women who accept it – spinsters, divorcees and widows – it’s a something-is-better-than-nothing option, though they waive almost all the rights that a normal Muslim marriage entitles them to. For men it offers an opportunity for a bit of fun on the side, in secret, and at a huge discount.

Reasons for popularity of misyar include the high cost of marriage – the dowry, several dinners, parties, decoration of a flat or a villa and the honeymoon. All this may set back the groom by several hundred thousand riyals. Misyar for cash-strapped men is a boon.

Hamdan, a Saudi colleague of mine back in Jeddah – distraught and depressed after the break-up of his first marriage – entered into a succession of misyar marriages. None lasted for more than six months. He confided that he had hoped to find a compatible partner for a permanent relationship but it didn’t work out. He also said that misyar wives are crafty and inclined to extract money and gifts. In his words: misyar marriages are not cost-effective. The colleague is now married again – in a normal marriage – and hopes to live happily ever after.

Thanks to Bluetooth technology, friendly websites and an abundance of furnished apartments in major cities like Riyadh and Jeddah, there are tales of misyar wives who have clandestinely entered into more than one misyar contract. These enlightened ladies say misyar husbands never tell their full-time wives about their relationships so why can’t misyar wives have similar arrangements? Clerics view this as a dangerous trend.

Website ads for misyar marriages often reveal the immaturity and desperation of those looking for partners:

 

• Young man, 21, excellent monthly income, seeks marriage as soon as possible to single girls up to 70 kgs, living in Jeddah.
• Saudi clerk, 38, from a well-known family, seeks pretty, white, delicate, businesswoman or clerk for misyar marriage. With Allah’s help, if things work out, the marriage will be official.
• Accountant, 30, seeks misyar marriage with Saudi woman. Age, experience, number of children, widow or single or divorced unimportant. What is important is her ability to satisfy the needs of a man who desires things permitted by religion (halal). Continue Reading →

Saudi child sold to pay fathers debts

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Islam put’s very little value on females. However, when sold as a sex slave the female then has value. This dirty deed goes on with the support of the Saudi government and legal system.

Slavery 1. thralldom, enthrallment. Slavery, bondage, servitude refer to involuntary subjection to another or others. Slavery emphasizes the idea of complete ownership and control by a master: to be sold into slavery. Bondage indicates a state of subjugation or captivity often involving burdensome and degrading labor: in bondage to a cruel master. Servitude is compulsory service, often such as is required by a legal penalty: penal servitude. 4. moil, labor.sexslave2

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.”

In March, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib’s verdict, and sent the case back to al-Habib for reconsideration.

Under the Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing.

The relative, who said the girl’s mother will continue to pursue a divorce, told CNN the judge “stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty.” Continue Reading →

Hardline Prince moves closer to Saudi Arabia’s throne

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abdul-aziz-hardline-saudi-princeOne of Saudi Arabia’s most conservative Princes has moved closer towards the throne, casting a shadow over the Kingdom’s tentative reforms.

Telegraph By Richard Spencer in Dubai

Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the interior minister and a half-brother of King Abdullah, has assumed second place in the line of succession. His appointment as second deputy prime minister places him next in line after Crown Prince Sultan.

Because King Abdullah is about 84 and the Crown Prince is of the same vintage and in poor health, this makes Prince Nayef highly likely to succeed to the throne. He will take temporary charge of Saudi Arabia while the King attends the G20 summit in London and Crown Prince Sultan recovers from surgery in New York.

Prince Nayef, who at 75 is a relatively youthful member of the royal family’s senior circle, is a deeply controversial figure. Shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, he was sceptical about the involvement of any Saudis and publicly suggested that “Zionists” were responsible. But he adopted a tough line against al-Qaeda after the kingdom was rocked by a series of attacks in 2003 and 2004. Continue Reading →

Saudi Arabia: Doctor halts wedding of 5-year-old girl

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Saudi Arabia: Doctor halts wedding of 5-year-old girl

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/024138.php

Sharia Alert: “We cannot technically impede a marriage with a girl of this age. However, we can delay the process (by refusing to carry out the [state-mandated pre-marital] tests).”

“Saudi Arabia: Doctor stops wedding with five year-old,” from Adnkronos International, December 30:

Riyadh, 30 Dec. (AKI) – A doctor in Saudi Arabia was able to stop the wedding of a five and 11 year-old whose family wanted to marry them to protect financial assets. “Thanks to the law that compels spouses to carry out blood analyses before marriage, we were able to stop a wedding with underage girls, among them a five year-old,” said Hani Harsani, the doctor in charge of laboratory analysis in an interview with Saudi daily al-Watan.

“Two sisters came to us accompanied by their parents to undergo pre-marital blood analyses. The first one was five, and the other 11 years-old. When we asked the mother why they wanted to do the tests, she told us that she wanted to marry the girls to cousins to preserve the family’s property rights.”

During the interview, Harsani remembers an episode when a 10-year-old orphan was brought to do pre-marital blood tests by her brother, who wanted to marry the sister to a 40-year-old friend who already had two other wives.

“We cannot technically impede a marriage with a girl of this age. However, we can delay the process (by refusing to carry out the tests),” said Harsani.

“I hope a law can be passed sooner rather than later to establish a minimum age for marriage.”

That would be nice. But opposition will be fierce, and the defenders of child marriage will invoke Muhammad’s own example in marrying Aisha at the age of 6, and consummating the marriage when she was 9. They may also invoke Qur’an 65:4, which takes child marriage for granted in allowing for the divorce of pre-pubescent girls.

Pre-marital blood tests are compulsory in Saudi Arabia to ensure the spouses are in good health, but also to prevent the spread of hereditary diseases to the children.