Princess Sultana's Circle

better!”
    Kareem was becoming
increasingly alarmed. “What? What?”
    Maha spoke up. “It’s about
cousin Munira, Father. Uncle Ali has arranged her
marriage.”
    Even Kareem was sobered by
that news. Every member of our extended family knew of Munira’s
repulsion for men and marriage.
    Unlike many Saudi males, my
husband was not a man who believed in force when it came to
marriage. Kareem and I had agreed many years before that our
daughters should be educated before marriage and that, when the
time came for them to be wed, they would have the right to choose
their own husbands. Never would Maha nor Amani have to face
Munira’s grim situation. Indeed, our religion forbids the forcing
of females in a union not of their liking, but like so many things,
much that is good in our Islamic faith is misinterpreted or simply
ignored.
    “ Who is she to wed?” Kareem
asked loudly to make himself heard over the sounds of sobbing
women.
    “ You will never believe
it,” I sighed.
    “ It is a great disaster,”
Sara added, dabbing at the tears flowing down her
cheeks.
    “ Tell me, who?”
    I gazed up at Kareem with
sorrow. “Ali is going to wed his daughter to an old
friend.”
    “ Old
in years ?”
Kareem questioned with a grimace.
    “ Two
ways old ,”
I said, “An old friend, who is old!”
    An exasperated Kareem said,
“Please, Sultana! Don’t make me guess.”
    Sara could sit still no
longer. She rose to her feet, wailing. “It’s Hadi …Ali’s friend from many years
ago. The detested Hadi !”
    My husband’s face turned
white. His eyes grew fierce. His voice was disbelieving. “Hadi,
from the Egyptian trip?”
    “ That very Hadi! ”
    “ Oh! This will never do.”
Kareem looked at his son. “Abdullah, I must speak with Ali at once.
We’ll reschedule our morning meeting.”
    Abdullah nodded
solemnly.
    While Ali was a friend of
Hadi’s, none of Ali’s brothers-in-law claimed a relationship with
the man. He was so thoroughly disliked that everyone kept a
distance from him, except Ali. Only Ali was able to find admirable
qualities in Hadi. He was certainly not a part of our small coterie
of close relatives and friends.
    Although schooled as a man
of religion, Hadi now made his living working for the Saudi
government. As a friend of a high ranking Prince, he had maneuvered
himself in a perfect position to become fabulously
wealthy.
    Due to his excellent
financial prospects, those who did not know his wicked disposition
might consider him an eligible and desirable husband. But two of my
sisters-in-law were acquainted with Hadi’s three wives, and they
had heard that his evil nature had grown rather than lessened. It
was enough to know that Hadi was secretly named “Satan’s most
favored son,” by the women he had wed.
    With Kareem’s words I felt
a small flicker of hope. While I knew that the sisters of Ali could
never have the slightest influence on him, if the men of our family
took action, perhaps poor Munira could be saved from a destiny she
surely would consider worse than instantaneous death.
    “ When will you see
Ali?”
    “ Tomorrow.”
    “ Asad will go with you,”
Sara promised. “And, I’ll telephone Nura. Perhaps Ahmed will go
with you, too. This marriage must be stopped!”
    With such plans under way,
I felt somewhat relieved.
    Kareem and I were so
physically and emotionally exhausted by this family drama that we
slept that night without our usual loving embrace.
    Early the next morning, I
lay in bed while Kareem took his morning shower, wondering what the
day might bring. Since I feared that Kareem might forget to tell me
some important points in his talk with my brother, I was trying to
think of a way that I might listen in to their
conversation.
    When Kareem went into the
adjoining sitting room to telephone my brother, I slipped the
receiver from the phone by the bed and listened in on their call. I
heard them agree to meet at the palace of Tammam, where Ali was
taking Kareem’s call. Obviously, Ali had spent the previous evening
with his first wife.
    I rushed into Maha’s room
and said, “Dress quickly! We are going to visit your Auntie Tammam
and Munira. They need us.”
    When I told Kareem that
Maha and I were leaving to visit Tammam and Munira, I saw a line of
worry crease his forehead.
    “ Sultana, if you and Maha
wish to visit Tammam and Munira, I will not stop you. But, take
care and promise that you will not intrude on my meeting with your
brother.”
    Full of