Mr. Pierre Trudeu once said “there is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation”. In Saudi Arabia, the state has a place, and not in the fun kinky way you might be thinking of

06

Mar

Saudi Law Post #1

Male (inevitably) Saudi Arabian citizens who are in the diplomatic field, foreign service, military, government, or other “sensitive fields”, who wish to marry non-Saudi women will have to abdicate their position first. Why yes, that was an attempt at a King Edward VIII/Wallis Simpson joke.

What’s Going On, Eh?

A Saudi man who works in one of the industries listed above may not marry a female non-Saudi Arabian citizen without the explicit written permission of the Ministry of the Interior, if he would like to keep his job after the honeymoon. Even if the lady in question is the offspring of a female Saudi Arabian citizen and non-Saudi Arabian male, she’s still viewed as a potential honey trap who will sleep with you, just to steal all those totally very serious important state secrets you have stashed under your bed.

It is possible that this law was put forward by someone who’s watched too many Russian spy caper films and fancies himself a bit of an Arabian Bond.

Notes:

1)      This law only applies to men, because only Saudi Arabian males are allowed to work in the military or diplomatic field. There have been small concessions made in the political field (and I use the term “political” very, very loosely), but not enough to warrant having a law preventing women in this field from potentially marrying a foreign spy.

2)      Having said that, it’s also because Saudi Arabian women are restricted from marrying non-Saudi men in general. For a Saudi Arabian woman to marry a non-Saudi (man), she must apply for permission and meet certain (lengthy) criteria. Technically, this rule applies to Saudi Arabian men (regardless of where they work) but for them, it’s considered a mere formality. Of course, if you’re willing to avoid this, there are “ways”, but I always advocate going through the legal route because it establishes precedent for others who may one day face the same problem.

3)      I feel that this law comes from a grossly exaggerated sense of what Saudi Arabian state secrets are worth. Unless by state secrets, they’re worried about someone leaking the secret recipe behind Al-Baik Chicken’s batter, the Saudi Arabian equivalent of KFC’s secret 11 spices. Personally not a fan, but it is part of the local cuisine.

Conclusion:

Military pilots: if that babe from Thailand (a country with strained diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia) is “totally” checking you out, you might want to check to make sure she’s not just eyeing your Al-Baik shrimp wrap.

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