Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Kingdom's courts are full of cases of male guardians preventing their female relatives from getting married, with over 600 such cases currently awaiting trial, according to Al-Madinah daily. The practice, known as adl, is proof to many that tribal considerations still largely define acceptability of marriages in the Kingdom. In one recent incident, tribal elders in Hail objected to the engagement of a woman from their tribe to a man from another tribe, according to media reports. The marriage, scheduled to take place on Thursday, was approved by the woman's father, but men from his tribe have been trying to convince him to call off the wedding. They were offering him a new car and money equal to his daughter's dowry. The incident has outraged the online community in the Kingdom. One group posted tweets and messages, saying this was case of forced marriage. A source told Al-Watan daily that the marriage was arranged by the fathers of the bride and the groom with the intention of uniting two tribes. “The wedding is scheduled to be held on Thursday and protesters on social media are trying to stop the wedding. A group of the bride's tribe approached her father with double the amount of the dowry to stop the wedding but he refused,” said the source. Popular social figure Firas Bugna tweeted that tribal pride should not turn into tribal discrimination. Others have protested that forced marriage and discrimination is against Islam. Many viewed that the old tradition of tribal compatibility should be put to rest in this age because tribes no longer determine people's social status, but education does. In another case in June, authorities in Makkah region arrested a man later found guilty of shooting his sister at her workplace in Jeddah after she insisted on proceeding with what he believed to be a marriage incompatible on tribal grounds. The woman was 33 years old and her brother killed her despite her father approving the marriage. The man was easily identified using CCTV footage from the woman's workplace. Police questioned the man's family and apprehended him in Madinah. Legal consultant and lawyer Ali Al-Ghamdi said if the marriage was consensual, then it is perfectly valid regardless of the reason behind the marriage. "The Islamic conditions for marriage are clear. If the marriage complies with all the conditions, then no one has the right to cause any commotion,” said the source. In 2007, the controls tribal ties have over marital relationships in the Kingdom attracted international media attention with the story of Fatima and Mansour making headlines. A judge forcibly divorced the couple, and Fatima was imprisoned and separated from her husband and two children after her half-brother filled a lawsuit accusing her husband of providing false information about his tribal background. In Qatif, another judge divorced a couple in absentia, despite them having a child, also on the grounds of tribal incompatibility.
