Claims and counter-claims are flying about in this rather convoluted case of Shariah law in the Saudi courts. A daughter claims her father isn’t permitting her to decide on her own marriage—the sin/crime of ‘adhal; the father claims that the child is legally disobedient—the sin/crime of uquoq. The brothers of the woman are siding with her, but could face criminal penalties of the court sides with the father. It has the makings of a classic soap opera, but it’s real life as this piece from Saudi Gazette/Okaz tells us.

Perhaps it’s time for Shariah law to start disregarding ‘crimes’ that are not actually crimes. Let adult children behave as adults. If they break laws (for instance, violence against their parents) there are other laws that could be brought to bear upon them. Disagreement over who to marry, however, should never be a crime.

Woman flees country, litigious father, ‘objectionable’ suitors
KHALID AL-JABARI

MADINA: A Saudi woman has fled the Kingdom in the company of some of her brothers after her father’s refusal to allow her to marry became a legal case of “uqouq” – parental disobedience.

Another brother has been questioned by the Commission for Investigation and Prosecution after objecting to the case and standing by his sister.

The 37-year-old woman from Madina told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that a foreign Arab suitor but from the same tribe asked for her hand in marriage. When he was turned down by her father, she took him to court.

The judge, however, sided with the father, who said that a number of Saudi suitors existed and that it was his daughter who objected to them.

When her father then brought a complaint charging parental disobedience, she was put before the very same judge at the General Court.
…