I, too, think it's disgusting for an eight year old girl to be married off to a 47 year old man as a pay-off for a gambling debt. It's outrageous, and it's tragic.

I think this story is also pretty horrible. Though the elderly woman's lashes grab the headline, the two men involved were also sentenced similarly and in my opinion, it's just as bad.

Saudis order 40 lashes for elderly woman for mingling

(CNN) -- A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house, according to local media reports.

According to the Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan, troubles for the woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, began last year when a member of the religious police entered her house in the city of Al-Chamli and found her with two unrelated men, "Fahd" and "Hadian."

Fahd told the policeman he had the right to be there, because Sawadi had breast-fed him as a baby and was therefore considered to be a son to her in Islam, according to Al-Watan. Fahd, 24, added that his friend Hadian was escorting him as he delivered bread for the elderly woman. The policeman then arrested both men.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism and punishes unrelated men and women who are caught mingling.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, feared by many Saudis, is made up of several thousand religious policemen charged with duties such as enforcing dress codes, prayer times and segregation of the sexes. Under Saudi law, women face many restrictions, including a strict dress code and a ban on driving. Women also need to have a man's permission to travel.

Al Watan obtained the court's verdict and reported it was partly based on the testimony of the religious police. In his ruling, the judge said it was proved that Fahd is not Sawadi's son through breastfeeding.

The court also doled out punishment to the two men. Fahd was sentenced to four months in prison and 40 lashes; Hadian was sentenced to six months in prison and 60 lashes. In a phone call with Al Watan, the judge declined to comment and suggested the newspaper review the case with the Ministry of Justice. Sawadi told the newspaper that she will appeal, adding that Fahd is indeed her son through breastfeeding.

A top Saudi human rights lawyer, Abdulrahman Al-Lahem, volunteered to defend the woman and the two men and has been given power of attorney by them. He told CNN he plans to file an appeal in the case next week.

Efforts to reach Saudi officials at the Justice Ministry, religious police and other agencies were unsuccessful. A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington said he had no details on the case.

The case sparked anger in Saudi Arabia.

"It's made everybody angry because this is like a grandmother," Saudi women's rights activist Wajeha Al-Huwaider told CNN. "Forty lashes -- how can she handle that pain? You cannot justify it."

This is not the first Saudi court case to cause controversy.

In 2007, a 19-year-old gang-rape victim in the Saudi city of Qatif was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison for meeting with an unrelated male. The seven rapists, who abducted the woman and man, received sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison.

The case sparked international outrage and Saudi King Abdullah subsequently pardoned the "Qatif Girl" and the unrelated male.

Al-Lahem, who has taken on many high-profile cases in recent years, represented the girl and received an award from Human Rights Watch last year. However, a travel ban issued by Saudi authorities kept him from traveling to London, England, to receive it.

Many Saudis hope the Ministry of Justice will be reformed. Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz announced in February a major Cabinet reshuffling in which many hard-line conservatives, including the head of the commission, were dismissed and replaced with younger, more moderate members.

The new appointments represented the largest shakeup since King Abdullah took power in 2005 and were welcomed in Saudi Arabia as progressive moves on the part of the king, whom many see as a reformer. Among ministers who've been replaced is the minister of justice.

The actions of the religious police have come under increased scrutiny in Saudi Arabia recently, as more and more Saudis urge that the commission's powers be limited. Last week, the religious police detained two male novelists for questioning after they tried to get the autograph of a female writer, Halima Muzfar, at a book fair in Riyadh, the capital of the kingdom.

"This is the problem with the religious police," added Al-Huwaider, "watching people and thinking they're bad all the time. It has nothing to do with religion. It's all about control. And the more you spread fear among people, the more you control them. It's giving a bad reputation to the country."

Everyone knows Islam is a barbaric religion; that isn't the point. The point is that the bitches on Feministing never shut up about how great Islam is. It is funny to see PC Feminism versus PC Multiculturalism.

The Feministing ho bags wasted no time in proving me right. 2 comments so far. Here is the first

jjgirl23 said:
I've read the Quran. The Bible is way scarier.
Honestly, its no different than any other religion. There's the people who pick out the good parts, people who pick out the bad parts, conservatives, radicals, people who interpret it really liberally... its the same as anything. Saudi Arabia follows a more strict version than other regions.
Of course you're only going to see suicide bombers and guys marrying off little kids on American television, they've got to justify their wars. They do that by making sure people think Muslim = bad = threat = get rid of them all!
Back to the original post - is this man completely out of line? Yes. Do I feel sorry for his daughter? Yes. Does he represent every Muslim in the world? Of course not. No more than the Phelps family represents every Christian.

and here, the second

storygurl05 said:
Surprisingly, the Prophet Muhammed, was fairly pro-women for his day. He banned female infanticide and encouraged men to care for the widows of other men.
The Sharia is a tricky thing to negotiate. It is actually derived from 4 sources in Sunni tradition. Two of which are the Qu'ran and the Hadith (the sayings of Muhammed). It is quite possible that that particular law is more a product of culture than religion.
But then again the Bible also says that this kind of behaviour is allowed. Not a source derived from the Bible, the actual Bible. Thus, it becomes easier to see that this may indeed be more of a cultural thing than a religious thing.
Overall I'm not trying to say that what happened is right. In fact I think that it is gut-wrenchingly horrible. But I don't think that it is a common thing. The American/Western Media tends to focus on the bad/Extremist parts of Middle Eastern culture and then they present it as it if it something that happens everyday.
Did you know that there are more women in Saudi Arabia with University education then men?
Next time, you may want to do some background reading before you call something wacky or a bad place (though I will admit that Saudi Arabia isn't that great). But at least have a handle on what you are criticizing before you do.
And no I am not Muslim, I am also not Christian. I am, though, a second year university student who is double majoring in Women's Studies and Religious Studies.

okay, so far we got:
1. This is only a very small minority of Muslims (despite the fact that this is the LAW in the wealthiest and most important Islamic country)
2. The "anti Islam" Western media is exaggerating this to encourage a genocidal war against Muslims
3. Pre pubecent girls being forced into marriage is not a common thing in the Islamic world
4. Christianity is even worse than Islam

have we missed any pro Islam cliches so far? I'm sure they will come up with some others that I have forgotten.


Let me stress that I am not anti Islam. I love Islam. I want to see Islam take over the West. But I enjoy the hypocritical defense of Islam on the part of Feminists.

It's hard to imagine a feminist defending Islam...but then again, there seems to be all different sorts of self-proclaimed "feminists." There are those that are pro-pornography, too, and those who are vehemently against it. I guess feminists don't have a united front on much of anything. The Islam stuff surprises me a bit, though!

There is very little Feminist division on the topic of Islam. Every heavy hitter in the movement is fanatically pro Islam and only about 1 in 10 of the rank and file are anti Islam.

yup, forgot 1. Add #5 to the list: We have no right to judge them

April 13, 2009 4:33 PM
[3+] storygurl05 replied to Nietzsche :

As Westerners though we cannot speak for the Women in Islamic countries. That would make us no better than anyone else. Instead we need to listen to them.
Yes what is going on in this news report is wrong. But we cannot assume that we know what's best. That's how colonialism happened and I'm pretty sure most of us can agree that wasn't exactly the best thing to ever happen to the world.

and ofcourse, the comment has got +3 so far.

I think that if these women actually had to live under Sharia law, they'd have different things to say about it.

My take on this,the feminist organization fears the Islamic chaps,it knows if they pull the same shit on them as they do on western men,they will be torn a new one,feminism only takes on soft targets,that us chaps.

Quote from senach

My take on this,the feminist organization fears the Islamic chaps,it knows if they pull the same shit on them as they do on western men,they will be torn a new one,feminism only takes on soft targets,that us chaps.

It isn't just that, it is the fact that Feminists are far Leftists so everything Western equals Patriarchal and Bad and everything that isn't Western is legitimate because it is being done by "People of Color".

What do you expect from Feministingnasties ?

Odious the Sweetie ?

Quote from Otis the Sweaty

8 year olds getting married? a-OK! - Community

At the time I am posting this there are no comments responding to the OP.

my prediction: The PC bitches on Feministing are going to go crazy defending Islam as a glorious and great religion. Ironically, the only religion Feminists don't seem to hate is Islam. The chick who wrote this anti Islam post definately has some balls to say something anti Islam on Feministing.

Remember that one post from Feministing I posted a month or two ago where the commentors bashed the OP for criticizing Islam, even though she was a Muslim herself?


Wouldn't it be so great to see Jessica and friends forced to live under Sharia?

In the early 2000s there was a brutal gang rape of some Australian women that they also got beaten up. The rape was orchestrated by Muslims who have a fame around Europe for this type of attitudes. Guess what the feminists said after the trial? The trial was RACIST! Who cares about the poor women that actually got raped. lol

PC Multiculturalism and cultural relativism is a fraud, just like Islam is with their profit... I mean prophet who was more like a rapist, paedophile and slave trader all in one. Read the Quran and Hadiths if you want to know about the glorious acts of this dude.


Here's something I wrote about it.
Here's a tip. When a Muslim tells you about how the media is biased against them and how the Quran you read is just a translation that is misinterpreted(even though I ran the original one through a translator and it means the same shit), ask them to tell you what some of the verses I have there mean. They won't answer. lol

One chick on the thread who lives in Saudi Arabia blasts the Kingdom and says that it is the government which is pushing for more modernization and the people of Saudia Arabia who are rejecting it.


This proves my point that I made a month or two ago that uppity women all over the world take encouragement from America. The collapse of the US will destroy Feminism and Liberalism once and for always.

Quote from Otis the Sweaty

One chick on the thread who lives in Saudi Arabia blasts the Kingdom and says that it is the government which is pushing for more modernization and the people of Saudia Arabia who are rejecting it.


This proves my point that I made a month or two ago that uppity women all over the world take encouragement from America. The collapse of the US will destroy Feminism and Liberalism once and for always.

Her husband allowed her online? :O

But yes, I don't believe in the fact that the US should "civilize" their 12th century societies. Let them do whatever they want. After all, 9/11 happened due to other things besides their idiotic religion. How about bases in Saudi Arabia, overthrowing Iran's government, fucking around with the Iraq-Iran war, funding the Afghans against the US and participating at the radicalising of the people there due to the Russian war... I'm amused when people wonder why 9/11 happened. It's like China getting bases in Canada and Mexico and the US not doing shit about it. lol