Saudi Arabia Finally Bans Forced Marriages

April 14th, 2005 · No Comments

Women in abbaya

The BBC is reporting that Saudi Arabia has taken another step towards finally joining the civilised world. Of course, which countries constitute the civilised world is a matter for discussion (For all you people that assume the west, I suggest you watch the news some time). Anyway, an excerpt:

Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority has banned the practice of forcing women to marry against their will.

Grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said forced marriage was against Islamic law and those responsible for it should be jailed.

A high number of forced marriages in Saudi Arabia is believed to be a factor in the country’s steep divorce rate.

The ban is a significant victory for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, where females face a range of restrictions.

For a country that’s supposed to be the center point of Islam, they sure took their sweet time to pass these laws (Well, since things have gone astray in the past. But that’s a whole different story). The prophet (PBUH) said this stuff over 1400 years ago. It’s disgraceful that it took so long to be implemented by law…..