Princess Sultana's Daughters

father, a man I knew to be a
molester of young girls. Surprisingly, he was a youthful man of
dignified appearance.
    I thought to myself, beware of those who look
like a rose, for even roses have spikes. With our daughters the
main topic of the evening, I had little time to dwell upon the dark
secrets of the home we were visiting.
    What Kareem and I uncovered that evening
about our eldest daughter’s shocking convictions will haunt our
memories until we cease to walk the earth.
    While I question the unjust practices and
cruel customs inflicted upon the female population of Saudi Arabia
by those who so rigidly interpret—and thus often misinterpret—the
laws laid down by the Prophet, there is no doubt in my mind of the
existence of one God as preached by his messenger, Mohammed. Our
three children have been raised to revere the teachings of the
Prophet and the Koran, which was passed down from God. That a child
of mine would curse God and denounce his word brought a chill to my
heart and numbed me.
    When it was announced to Aisha and Maha that
their parentshad reasonably concluded that the two girls should
henceforth avoid each other’s company and seek out other friends
and new interests, my daughter yanked the veil from her face,
raised her head in fury, and displayed such a look of evil that
terrorized her own mother, who had carried her in her womb and
suckled her at her breast. If I had not heard Maha’s words with my
own ears, no person could convince me of their validity.
    Her full lips tight with determination, our
daughter yelled, “I will not do as you say! Aisha and I will leave
this land we hate and make our home in another place. We hate it
here! We hate it! To be a woman in this awful country you must
defile your life with the most tremendous injustices.”
    Spittle dripped from Maha’s lips. Her body
shook with uncontrolled rage. Her eyes sought mine. “If a girl
lives modestly, she is a fool. If she lives normally, she is a
hypocrite. If she believes there is a God, she is an imbecile!”
    Unable to move, Kareem did manage to find his
voice. “Maha! You blaspheme!”
    “Blaspheme? What is there to blasphemy? There
is no God!” Kareem jumped to his feet and squeezed Maha’s lips
together with his fingers. Aisha’s mother screamed and fainted, for
such a statement can cost a life in the land of my birth.
    Aisha’s father shouted out for us to remove
our unbelieving daughter from his home.
    Kareem and I struggled with Maha, who
suddenly had the strength of a giant. My daughter had lost her
mind! Only the insane have such unnatural power! After much pulling
and pushing, Kareem and I managed to shove our child into the back
seat of the automobile and we raced back to our home. Kareem drove
while I tried to quiet my child, who no longer knew her mother.
Finally, she lay still, as someone in a swoon.
    We summoned an Egyptian physician, who was
trusted by our family physician. In a vain attempt to calm us, he
said there were many such disorders in teenage girls the world
over, and proceeded to cite statistics on the strange malady that
seems to affect females only.
    The physician had his own theory. He claimed
that at puberty, a girl often receives large spurts of hormones,
and such an event drives her crazy for short periods of time. He
said that he had treated many such psychological cases within the
royal family, without any complications or permanent effects. He
grinned and stated that he had not lost a patient yet.
    In the doctor’s opinion, Maha should be kept
sedated for a few days; she would recover from the case of
hysterics on her own.
    Leaving us with an ample supply of
tranquilizers, he said that he would return in the morning to check
on his patient.
    Kareem thanked the doctor and walked him to
the door. When he returned, we exchanged a long and thoughtful
look. There were no words necessary between us.
    While Kareem arranged for our private plane
to be readied, I telephoned my sister Sara and gained permission
for Abdullah and Amani to stay with her until our return. Kareem
and I were taking Maha to London. She was in desperate need of the
best psychiatric care available. Sara was asked to keep Maha’s
condition a secret. If inquiries were made, our families were to be
told that Maha was in need of dental care that required a number of
visits to London.
    Many members of the Saudi royal family
routinely travel abroad for medical and dental treatment. Such a
trip would arouse little