Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

supreme
and unquestioned power to Muslims of the words of Prophet Mohammed.
Each aspect of their lives is guided by the Koran, believed sacred
by Muslims. Although there are many Westerners raised as Christians
who scoff at the possibility of a higher being, it is a rare Muslim
who does not cling fiercely to an unshakable faith in the God of
Mohammed.
    In the Muslim world of Saudi Arabia, there is
no separation of religion and state as we find in the West. The
Islamic religion is absolute law.
    During the ten years that I lived in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, I asked a close Saudi friend to translate and explain
certain verses of the Koran. After observing the total segregation
of the sexes in Islam, I was particularly interested in the verses
that restrict the behavior of women.
    Since the verses were translated to me in the
context of personal conversations, there may be minor discrepancies
between my interpretations and those of Koran scholars. However, in
view of the fact that the Koran is thought “untranslatable,” and
much controversy exists over many English translations, I feel
confident in revealing the following verses on the subject of women
that were read to me directly from an Arabic version of the Koran.
Also, bear in mind that there are many verses in the Koran which
urge the protection of women and children.
    I encourage readers to read the entire Koran
for themselves as these verses to follow are only concerned with
the segregation of men and women and do not provide a full
knowledge of the Koran.
    --
    SUBJECT
    Sexual relations during the month of Ramadan,
when every good Muslim fasts and abstains from pleasures during the
daylight hours.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA II, 187
    Complete your fast
    til the night appears,
    But do not associate
    with your wives
    While you are in seclusion
    or in the Mosques.
    These are limits God has set
    signs to Men; that
    They may learn self-restraint.
    Permitted to you,
    On the night of the fasts,
    Is the approach of your wives.
    They are your garments.
    --
    SUBJECT
    Marriage of Muslims to nonbelievers. The
Koran states the same set of rules for both male and female; the
law is upheld only against females. Many Saudi men marry
Christians, but Saudi women are strictly forbidden from marrying
non-Muslims.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA II, 221
    Do not marry
    women who do not believe,
    Until they believe.
    A slave woman who believes
    is better than one who does not believe.
    Do not marry your daughters
    to unbelievers until
    they believe.
    A man slave who believes
    is better than an unbeliever.
    --
    SUBJECT
    Sexual relations during a woman’s
menstruation, which are strictly prohibited.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA II, 222
    They ask,
    concerning women’s courses,
    Respond: They are
    a hurt and a pollution,
    Keep away from women
    in their courses, and do not
    approach them until they are clean.
    But when they have purified themselves,
    You may approach them
    in any manner, time, or place
    Ordained for you, by God.
    --
    SUBJECT
    After a man divorces a woman, he must ensure
that she does not carry his child. If the woman is pregnant, she
must be cared for by the husband.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA II, 228
    Divorced women shall
    wait, concerning themselves
    For three monthly periods.
    It is not lawful for them
    to hide what God has created
    in their wombs.
    Their husbands have the right
    to take them back, in that time
    of reconciliation.
    And women have the rights
    similar to the rights,
    Against them, according to
    what is equitable;
    But men have more rights
    and power over them,
    For God is most powerful
    and wise.
    --
    SUBJECT
    After a man divorces a woman, he may remarry
her if she has married and divorced another man since. If he
divorces her a second time, he is forbidden from marrying her
again.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA II, 229
    A divorce is permissible
    two times only. After that, The parties
should hold together
    on agreeable terms,
    Or separate with kindness.
    SURA II, 230
    If a husband divorces
    his wife, He cannot,
    after that, remarry her
    until she has married
    another husband, and he
    has divorced her.
    SURA II, 241
    For divorced women
    a reasonable maintenance
    should be provided.
    --
    SURA II, 241
    For divorced women a reasonable maintenance
should be provided.
    --
    SUBJECT
    The number of women that a man may marry and
instructions to present them with a dowry are explained in the
following verse.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE