Man divorced for looking at wife's face

[faceless]

The Saudi woman who wants a divorce - because her husband tried to sneak one look at her face after 30 years of marriage
By Daily Mail Reporter
19th May 2008

After 30 years of marriage, cynics might say most husbands and wives would have seen quite enough of each other, thank you very much. But not in the case of one Saudi Arabian man who managed to live with his wife for three decades without setting eyes on her face.

Not that he had much choice about it. His 50-year-old wife followed the tradition of her native village near the south-western city of Khamis Mushayt and kept her features veiled at all times. Until one night last month, that is, when the husband was finally overcome by curiosity and tried to lift his wife's veil as she slept to take a look at her face. It was an error he is unlikely to be given a chance to repeat for his outraged wife woke up during his sneak peek and is now demanding a divorce.

'After all these years, he tries to commit such a big mistake,' she told Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh after leaving the house in disbelief. She said her husband apologised and promised never to do it again, but she insisted she wanted a divorce. It is not the first example of Saudi husbands with wives forever shrouded in mystery. There was the case of Ali al-Qahtani whose wife had been wearing a face veil for the entire ten years of their marriage. When he tried to take it off she threatened to leave and only decided to stay after he swore never to try again.

And neither the husband or children of Om Rabea al-Gahdaray, 70, have ever seen her face. It was a family tradition, also followed by her mother and sisters, which her husband accepted and never tried to change, she said. When asked how she could have children without her husband ever seeing her face, she replied: "Marriage is about love, not faces."

Many Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran require women to cover their faces in public but in the privacy of their homes there is no such compulsion. But always remaining veiled - even in front of your husband - is not an Islamic practice, but a very old tradition practised by a tiny minority of women in remote areas of Gulf countries. Most examples of it are in Saudi, one of the most conservative of countries.

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I wonder what all those people out there who say that wearing the veil is an abuse of women's rights will say now? I hope they're suitably confused... haha

[pirtybirdy]

It's an abuse only if the women don't want to wear it but are forced to wear it. Of course I'll never ever understand why someone would want to wear clothing to cover their face, but I'm in charge of myself, not others. I'm surprised though that the guy wanted to see what she looked like after 30 years...LOL! He married her knowing he'd never be allowed to see her, and he didn't risk it all those years. LOL! Very interesting article, thanks! :-)

[nekokate]

That's strange. I'm sure there must be more going on behind the scenes - I doubt she'd demand a divorce just for that... Or maybe she would!

Why did the Daily Mail pick the story up, though? They usually only run Muslim-related stories if there's a propaganda value, but I don't see anything about this story that could be twisted, although any mention of Islam is enough to get a Daily Mail reader ruffled - I should know, I live with two of them.

[Skylace]

What a weird story indeed. I have never heard of veiling being taken so far. I will have to see if my cousin, who is now living in Saudi Arabia has heard this story. I am sure it will interest her.

[Bat]

I wish divorce was THAT easy over here

[nico]

After reading this , I have now my doubts over the veracity of this report from Daily Mail Reporter . Maybe the whole report is fabricated.
it says many Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran require women to cover their faces in public. I don't mean that they don't have weird laws in the muslim countries but as far as I am aware there is absolutely no law in Iran that requires women to cover their face. Their hair yes but not the face.

[11antoniacourt]

What took him so long? I give him credit for waiting 30 years.

[pirtybirdy]

After reading this , I have now my doubts over the veracity of this report from Daily Mail Reporter . Maybe the whole report is fabricated.
it says many Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran require women to cover their faces in public. I don't mean that they don't have weird laws in the muslim countries but as far as I am aware there is absolutely no law in Iran that requires women to cover their face. Their hair yes but not the face.

True, but it says in the article a tiny minority remain veiled at all times. I do have a pakistani woman in my Danish class that covers everything except her eyes in class. Most other Muslims in my Danish school just where the scarves over their hair.

[nekokate]

Well spotted, Nico. It flew past me when I read the report but it does indeed inaccurately state that women have to cover their faces in Iran. It could just be a mistake by the journalist, though. This is the Daily Mail, afterall ;)

[Mandy]

Well spotted, Nico. It flew past me when I read the report but it does indeed inaccurately state that women have to cover their faces in Iran. It could just be a mistake by the journalist, though. This is the Daily Mail, afterall ;)

I agree with Kate. This sounds like a false story. I have never heard of a veil being kept on to hide a wife's face from her husband. This is reinforced by the Iran twist, and my fear that some readers would now think that this is a sign that these muslim women are mentally unbalanced (and same for their husbands for tolerating it).

[SpursFan1902]

It is also questionable that she would sleep with the veil on. It all sounds very fishy...