Saudi Trivia

Mar 09 2009

Saudi Arabia: 75-year-old woman sentenced to 40 lashes and 4 months in prison for “mingling with men” Posted by: Nora in Islamism, Religion, Society, Women in Islam

A Saudi Arabian court sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to four months imprisonment, 40 lashes, and deportation from the country for having two men not related to her in her home. This incident occurred last year, but the woman, Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, was sentenced only recently. She was dining with two unrelated men, “Fahd” and “Hadian.” She nursed Fahd when he was young, while Hadian accompanied Fahd and brought her bread. Because she was with two men not related to her, the country’s religious police arrested both men (and sentenced both of them to several lashes and prison terms). According to Islamic law, if a woman nurses a boy then he is considered to be a son. However, this interpretation didn’t sway the “Mutaween” or “The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” religious police.