RIYADH, 14 September 2007 — Saudi Arabia has seen many rapid changes in the past decades. One that is becoming more obvious is that of Saudi women who are increasingly opting to marry foreigners. Recent statistics issued by the Interior Ministry showed that 20,000 marriages have been registered between Saudi women and foreign men in the past five years.
Saudi women are prohibited from marrying non-Saudis, except with special permission from higher authorities. Permission is also required before a Saudi woman is able to marry an Arab, who is not a citizen of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
According to Majed Al-Sharif from Riyadh’s Marriage Court, the year 2007 has seen, in comparison to previous years, a higher number of cross-nationality marriages.
He added that his office had received (at the time when this report was being written) 28 applications for such marriages.
Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Askar, a marriage registrar, told Arab News, that the number of marriages between Saudi women and expatriates are way below the number of marriages between Saudi men and foreign women. “The former doesn’t go above 13 percent of the total cross-nationality marriages that are registered,” he said.
Sheikh Al-Askar said that this is due to the fact that applications by men to marry foreign women take less time to get approved than applications by women.
He added that men also have options to have more than one wife and this explains why the number of marriages between Saudi men and foreign women surpass the number of marriage between Saudi women and foreign men.
“Cross-nationality marriages are discouraged by many members of society, particularly when it involves a daughter marrying a foreigner,” said Dr. Muhammad Al-Zulfa, a member of the Shoura Council.
He pointed that living in a rich and tax-free country is attractive for many foreigners, who can easily achieve this by marrying a Saudi woman.
For this reason, some families remain unsure about a foreigner’s real intention in getting married and so reject them.
Some Saudi social experts believe that Saudis — the majority of whom have tribal roots, which used to consider marriage to another Saudi tribe as a source of disgrace — are now becoming more accepting to the idea of cross-national marriages.
Dr. Nasir Al-Oud, associated dean of academic research at the Imam Muhammed ibn Saud University in Riyadh, said that Saudi families, who regularly travel abroad, are generally more broad-minded when it comes to their daughter marrying foreigners.
One example of such a marriage is that of Mona Makkawi, a 33-year-old Saudi dermatologist, who is married to a German man of Lebanese descent. The couple, who met at a medical training course in Hamburg, faced opposition from Makkawi’s family.
Makkawi’s father, who has worked abroad for many years, accepted her choice. However, her relatives opposed the idea and still do so. Something she thinks will never end.
“It’s the relatives who can be the greatest source of pressure on such a marriage. However, the actual decision lies with the person getting married and her parents,” she said.
Dr. Al-Oud told Arab News, “The socio-economic development that the country has been going through for the past two decades has affected some of the old ideas that people firmly used to believe in.”
Al-Oud highlighted another major factor, which he believes has played an important role in changing people’s attitude about cross-nationality marriages. “It is the steady rise in divorces in the Kingdom, which has even made the government more flexible in their procedures relating to divorced women wishing to marry foreigners,” he said.
He added that parents allow daughters to marry foreigners rather than seeing them not married at all.
According to statistics published in 2006 by the Economic and Planning Ministry there are many Saudi women who are unmarried and that the common age for girls to get married in Saudi Arabia is 17 to 26.
Fawaz, a Saudi employer who requested that his full name not be published, arranged for his divorced sister’s marriage to an Arab engineer who lived in his neighborhood. Fawaz’s family experienced a lot of problems for many years with his sister’s ex-husband.
He now believes that a person should not be judged on their color or nationality.
Fawaz confesses that he never believed in cross-nationality marriages and did not believe that a foreign national could make his sister happy. He felt only a Saudi man could do this.
Saudi women know that marrying a non-Saudi has its drawbacks, especially in relation to children, who would not be able to enjoy the privileges that Saudi citizens have and would need an iqama (residential permit) to reside in the Kingdom.
However, this still has not prevented them from marrying foreigners, who are plentiful in the Kingdom.
Qualitative information gained from marriage registrars indicate that Saudi women who marry foreigners tend to marry Egyptian and Jordanian men. From Western nationalities, Canadians were the top choice.
Choosing to marry a Westerner is a challenge. Saudi courts often receive requests from Saudi families asking for approval for their daughters (who are mostly working in medical fields) to marry Westerners.
Such couples, who come from diverse parts of the world, not only face cultural and religious challenges but are also faced with legal problems and social stigma. This perhaps explains why most Saudi women, who are married to Westerners, reside abroad.
Converting to Islam is a condition for any legal marriage in the Kingdom. However, converting is not enough for many culturally-oriented Saudis. Dr. Ahmed Al-Hariri, a Saudi researcher and psychiatric therapist, said, “Most of those who approve their daughter marrying a non-Saudi Arab might disapprove them marrying a Westerner.”
He added, “The West is known for its liberal-minded people who practice a free lifestyle, which many families find irritating. Parents assume that girls would give up on their traditions if she married a Western man.”
Dr. Suhaylah Zain Al-Abadin, a women activist and member of the International Federation for Muslim Scholars, said that in Islam women have a free will to choose their partner and forced marriages are prohibited.
She added that a man is allowed to get married to a non-Muslim woman and that Muslim women can only marry non-Muslims once they convert to Islam.
“The reason why it prohibits women from marrying non-Muslims is because in Islam children born to a Muslim must be brought up as Muslim. If the father is not Muslim then the children may not also be brought up as Muslim,” she said.
She also clarified that Islam does not fix any specific origin and color for people to get married, as all Muslims are equal.
She added that in the Qur’an it is written to the effect that, “We have created you as several nations and tribes to get to know each other. The best of you to God is the one with good deeds.”
Dr. Ahmed Al-Hariri said, “Most Saudis are unable to accept their daughter marrying other Saudis, who is from a different geographical region or tribe.
“This makes it clearer why we don’t believe that a Muslim foreigner can be a good husband to women. I think we need to work hard to change the society’s view toward marriage.”
He added, “Marriage is not a way to legalize sex! Marriage is human bond that should be based on mutual love and understanding and mental, psychological and social correspondence.”
quote:Originally posted by Tigerlily: Dr. Ahmed Al-Hariri said, “Most Saudis are unable to accept their daughter marrying other Saudis, who is from a different geographical region or tribe."
That's right, they have to be cousins otherwise it's just no good.
posted
eauck...I could not stomach marrying a cousin, I don't care how far out he is (3rd, 4th, etc.)... it's just weird. Am I the only one who feels this way? Posts: 13440 | Registered: Feb 2006
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