Riyadh newspaper IRECENTLY watched an episode of the TV talk show hosted by Dawood Al-Sherayyan. The show was focused on divorce and more specifically on the suffering women experience when seeking divorce through the courts. Traditionally referred to as ‘Khul' it revolves around judgments pertaining to her right to alimony (Nafaqah) for her children. What became clear during the program was the apparent unfairness with which the courts dealt with these cases. In spite of the husband's many faults and inhumane behavior, the judgments always seem to suggest that the woman wanted separation for the sake of it, rather than to preserve her safety and sanity. In keeping with the universal principle of the wrongdoer paying the wronged a compensation for the harm inflicted, women deserve to be treated more sympathetically – especially when they have already suffered innumerable indignities at the hands of their husbands. Instances such as when the husband is a drug addict, indulges in marital infidelity and does not treat his wife kindly. We have all heard of instances when a selfish man has instigated divorce for the mere reason that the wife had not cooked the food he likes, or if she had been afflicted with an incurable disease like cancer. Similarly if the case was related to placing more restrictions and control on a woman by her guardian, then the decision would have been issued overnight and would have been implemented to the letter. However it's a classic case of one rule for men and another for the women. A woman told me that her husband was suffering from schizophrenia and refused to take his medicine. Once he even left her alone in the desert at night! When she went to court to demand divorce, the judge refused to grant a judgment in her favor under the pretext that the patient can recover from the disease. For years airport employees have been carrying out their duty of ensuring that a woman does not exceed the green line in order to travel, without presenting a written permission from her guardian. Every time I travel I hide this card as I have passed the age when it is necessary to show my card. However, all my attempts to hide the document have proved futile except once. The humiliation of women is both ongoing and insidious and there seems no sign of the wholesale mistreatment abating. It is so far from the Islamic invocation that the woman is ‘the protected jewel'. The conditions of a divorced woman or one seeking divorce are difficult. None can feel the bitterness she tastes except those suffering from the same problem. Therefore, I implore the authorities concerned to stop the continued agonies of these women and start dealing with them with a higher sense of human morality. __
