Many stories are heard in the corridors of courts about the disobedience to mothers by children. The mothers, on the other hand, show nothing but mercy and compassion despite the pain of denial and disobedience of their children. Court records show that mothers drop disobedience charges registered against their children in 98 percent of cases. Former judge Turki Al-Qarni said 98 percent of mothers do not want to see their children behind bars and withdraw their complaints after the courts issue verdicts sending them to jail. "As soon as a sentence is issued to imprison the disobedience son, the mother gives up her case, a fact that reflects the mercy and compassion of mothers at their utmost despite the pain and suffering they go through," Al-Qarni said. "Disobeying parents has several reasons, which include a lack of stability in family, separation of the married couple, drug abuse and financial disputes. Although not common, filial disobedience happens in wealthy families and sometimes in collusion with one parent against the other," he added. Al-Qarni said disobedience is generally committed by sons and there was not a single case against daughters in dozens of cases he had examined. He cautioned that some divorced people exploit disobedience lawsuits to blackmail their children and former spouses. Recently, the Court of Appeals upheld a new provision to sentence a young disobedient son up to 18 months in prison and 200 lashes and that the son may not leave prison until the mother is satisfied with him. Social researcher Nasreen AbuTahir requested scientific studies to explain the reality and various dimensions of the phenomenon and develop plans to reduce the incidence of filial disobedience. She said manifestations of disobedience vary from abandonment, insults, verbal abuse and beating. Lawyer Nasrin Al-Ghamdi pointed out that the criminal court has jurisdiction in cases of disobedience of parents. Disobedience lawsuits require arrests in accordance with the law. As for the sanctions issued in these crimes they are discretionary in accordance with the nature of the crime and the circumstances that led to it. Saudi courts had looked into 326 cases involving abuse and attacks against parents last Hijri year, with 109 cases occurring in Riyadh province alone. There was only a single case in Hail region. Meanwhile, the criminal court in Sakaka convicted three individuals for attacking their mother and sentenced them to one year in jail and 300 lashes. The three men were charged with beating their mother, trying to set fire on her house and destroying its furniture. Security authorities arrested the three sons after receiving complaints that they were continuously causing problems to the mother and beating her daily. The sons have denied the charges and said the mother used to threaten them when they prevent her from leaving home with the driver. During the court hearing, the mother said she had forgiven many of their wrongdoings in the past, thinking it would change their minds and improve their behavior. She asked the court to punish them so that they would not threaten her life and that of her small children. The three defendants pledged in front of the court that they would never attack their mother again and are ready to leave the house to live in another region but the woman insisted that she would not withdraw her charges against the defendants. In its verdict, the court said the three sons had committed a major crime prohibited by the Shariah.
