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

KORAN:
    SURA III, 3
    Marry women of your choice,
    Two, or three, or four;
    But if you fear that you shall not
    be able to deal justly,
    Then take only one woman
    or a captive
    That your right hand possess,
    That will be more suitable
    to prevent you
    from doing injustice.
    Upon marriage, give the women
    their dower, as a free gift;
    but if they of their own good
    pleasure remit any part of it
    back to you,
    Then take it and enjoy it
    with good cheer.
    --
    SUBJECT
    The inheritance for children is explained
below. Male children are to receive twice what female children are
given.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA IV, 11
    God directs you as regards to
    your children. The male shall
    receive a portion equal to that
    of two females.
    --
    SUBJECT
    Specific instructions are given on what to do
with women who break the law against sex crimes. A second verse
speaks of the action to be taken against men under similar
circumstances.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA IV, 15
    If any of your women
    are guilty of lewdness,
    Take the evidence of four
    witnesses from amongst you,
    Against them; and if they testify,
    confine them to houses until
    Death do claim them.
    --
    SURA IV, 16
    If two men among you
    are guilty of lewdness,
    Punish them both.
    If they repent and amend,
    Leave them alone.
    --
    SUBJECT
    The Koran specifically names women who are
forbidden to men for marriage.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA IV, 22
    Marry not women
    whom your fathers married.
    SURA IV, 23
    Prohibited to you are:
    Your mothers; daughters;
    sisters; father’s sisters;
    mother’s sisters; brother’s
    daughters; sister’s daughters;
    step-daughters under you; those
    who have been married to your
    sons; and two sisters in wedlock
    at one and the same time. (If you
    divorce one sister then you may
    marry the other.)
    SURA IV, 24
    Also prohibited are women that
    are already married.
    --
    SUBJECT
    A Muslim man may not go to God with his
prayers if he has touched a woman. There is a special verse
advising him what to do if he has touched a woman and there is no
water to wash.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA C, 43
    Or if you have been
    in contact with women,
    and you can find no water,
    Then take for yourselves
    sand from the earth,
    And rub therewith
    your face and hands.
    --
    SUBJECT
    Sex crimes are crimes against God. Serious
punishment is reserved for those who commit such acts.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA XXIV, 2
    The woman and the man
    guilty of adultery or fornication,
    flog each of them with a hundred
stripes,
    Let not compassion move you
    in their case, in a matter
    prescribed by God.
    SURA XXIV, 3
    No man guilty of adultery or fornication
    marry but a woman similarly guilty, or
an
    unbeliever, Nor let a woman marry anyone
    but a man similarly guilty, or an
unbeliever.
    --
    SUBJECT
    The charge of fornication or adultery is of
such a serious nature that four witnesses must be produced.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA XXIV, 4
    And those who launch
    a charge against chaste women
    and produce not four witnesses,
    [To support their allegations]
    Flog them [the accuser] with eighty
stripes;
    And reject their evidence
    ever after, for such men
    are wicked transgressors.
    --
    SUBJECT
    If a man accuses his wife of adultery or
fornication, and has no witnesses to support his allegations, he
must swear by the name of God that he is speaking the truth.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA XXIV, 6
    And for those who launch
    a charge against their spouses
    and have no evidence but their own,
    Their solitary evidence
    [can be received]
    if they bear witness four times
    [With an oath] by God,
    That they are solemnly
    telling the Truth
    SURA XXIV, 7
    And the fifth [oath]
    that they solemnly invoke,
    The curse of God, on themselves
    if they tell a lie.
    --
    SUBJECT
    Muslim women in Saudi Arabia cover their
faces or subject themselves to great harassment by the men of
religion. The segregation of the sexes is absolute in all walks of
life.
    ACTUAL VERSE FROM THE KORAN:
    SURA XXIV, 31
    And say to the believing women
    that they should lower their
    gaze and guard their modesty;
    that they should not display
    their beauty and ornaments except
    what must ordinarily appear.
    Therefore, they should draw their veils
    over their bosoms and not display
    their beauty except to their husbands,
    their fathers, their husbands’ fathers,
    their sons, their husbands’ sons, their
    brothers or their brothers’ sons, or
their
    sisters’ sons, or their