"Saudi Arabia bans forced marriage," from the BBC, with thanks to Elvendell:
Saudi Arabia's top religious authority has banned the practice of forcing women to marry against their will.Grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said forced marriage was against Islamic law and those responsible for it should be jailed....
The ban is a significant victory for women's rights in Saudi Arabia, where females face a range of restrictions.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who heads the Council of Senior Ulema (Scholars) said: "Forcing a woman to marry someone she does not want and preventing her from wedding that whom she chooses... is not permissible" under Islamic law.
He said fathers who coerce daughters into in marriage should be jailed and not released "until they change their minds".
According to Saudi media, about half of marriages in the country end in divorce, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Women are subject to number of restrictions in the kingdom - an absolute monarchy, governed according to a highly conservative interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
They are obliged to wear a veil and are not permitted to travel alone or mix with men other than relatives.
Women were not able to obtain separate identity cards until 2001, and even then only with the permission of a male relative.
They do not have the right to vote or run for public office and, until June this [last] year, were forbidden from working in most jobs.
You mean the 12th century don't you?
Forced marriage was banned in England during the 12th century.
I'm sure this will mean nothing! The practice will continue like nothing happened; after all, old habits die hard and cultural traditions are often eternal.
Unless many other issues regarding females are changed, what good is this? Women are chattel in Islam, owned by their fathers and then their husbands. Obviously when one is "owned", her life is not her own.
This gives women a real choice: either they marry the man chosen by their parents or suffer the consequences--death by honor killing. Who would choose to be murdered by her own family over marriage to a stranger? Where there is life, there is hope.
I'd like to see the Saudi version of the old show "THE DATING GAME"-
Veiled woman is seated (with escort) on a stool, and around the corner are three eligible 'princes'.
Veiled Woman:
Bachelor Number 1, where would you take me on a romantic first date?
Bachelor Prince #1:
You impertinent Westernized hussy, how dare you ask me anything without my permission! I will have you flogged on our first date at the corner of the Ka'aba for this usurpation of the natural Koranic order!
Veiled Woman:
Bachelor Number 3. Same qurestion.
Bachelor Prince #3:
Romance is the decadent concept of mongrelized infidels! Ban Valentine's Day, now! Are you wearing lipstick!?! I'll rub it off with sandpaper! Then you won't be able to eat much at the Thai restaurant I take you to. And soon Thailand will be Muslim, too! I swear it!!!
CUE: Music for a commercial break.
(Theme: "Rock the Casbah" on rams' horns.)