International pressure gets results, in an update on this story. "Saudi Arabia to reunite divorced couple: UN," from Reuters:
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has promised to allow a couple who were forced to divorce by a religious court to live together again, a UN official said on Wednesday, ending a case that has embarrassed the Islamic state abroad.
Fatima Azzaz and Mansour Al Timani were forced to separate in 2006 after her brothers persuaded judges that her husband was not of sufficiently prestigious tribal stock.
It is one of a series of cases that have drawn international criticism of human rights in Saudi Arabia, a key US ally which is also the world’s top oil exporter.
‘I met Fatima and Mansour and they are both in a terrible state, they are both suffering,’ Yakin Erturk, UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women said.
‘I have been assured by the authorities this issue will be dealt with and, God willing, they will reunite,’ she told reporters after a 10-day fact-finding trip to the country of 24 million.
Fatima Azzaz is being held in a government home for orphans with a young son. She refuses to return to her family home as required by a court order divorcing her from her husband, who has custody of their daughter.
‘It has no basis in Islam, that’s for sure, because in Islam everybody is equal,’ said Erturk, a Muslim from Turkey.
Some are just more equal than others, in little matters such as domestic violence, testimony in court, inheritance, or, on the other hand, Muhammad's survey of the demographics of hell.
Greetings:
Recently, I was reading Bernard Lewis' book, "The Middle East" and came across the term "kafa'a" which he explains as Muslims marrying above/below their social station.
As one of my interests is the insidious synergy between Islam and the Middle Eastern tribal culture, I would appreciate any information about whether this term is "Koranic" or cultural. I would also be interested in its prevalence and geographical extent.
‘It has no basis in Islam, that’s for sure, because in Islam everybody is equal,’ said Erturk, a Muslim from Turkey.
It's just too easy to make a joke, Erturk.
"It has no basis in Islam, that’s for sure, because in Islam everybody is equal,’ said Erturk, a Muslim from Turkey."
Uh Huh. Yeah, right. LOL! Keep spreading the taqiyya!
Don't rely on me but I like to amateurishly identify Arabic words with biblical Hebrew or Talmudic Aramaic words from my studies.
'Kafa'a' sounds like is the Hebrew word 'kav', the noun meaning a line.
There is also the Hebrew word 'kaf', usually referring to the palm of ones hand ('kaf yad') or the sole of ones foot ('kaf regel'). Also means a spoon. Hard to see the connection here.
There is also the Aramaic word 'kafa', which means to cover something. That begins with the Hebrew letter 'chaf'. However, there is also the Aramaic word 'kafa', beginning with a Hebrew letter 'kuf', which means 'floating', also 'on top'. That latter meaning might be relevant.