Princess Sultana's Daughters

wives as
slaves, caring little about their happiness, careful to wed girls
at first puberty so that they knew little of man’s nature and
accepted his perverse behavior as normal. In addition to four
wives, Ali settled one concubine after the other in his home. As a
father, he virtually ignored his daughters and showered affection
on his sons.
    It was only natural that his son Majed,
brother of Faten, grew into a sadistic youth who considered women
nothing more than sexual objects.
    Looking back, I know now that Majed would
have been beheaded or shot to death by a firing squad had his crime
become common knowledge. Nothing could have saved him from this
fate, not even the fact that he is the son of a high-ranking
prince, for his sin was without precedent in the Al Sa’ud
family.
    *
    We had returned to our home in Riyadh, where
each afternoon after school Amani continued her daily Koran
sessions with those relatives who were interested in returning to
the times of darkness, when women would remain silent on all
aspects of life that did not occur within the confines of their
homes.
    It was a Wednesday afternoon, and I watched
from my bedroom balcony as one after another of my daughter’s
friends and relatives left our driveway in the safety of their
chauffeur-driven limousines. Faten, the daughter of my brother,
Ali, was the last to leave, and I thought it odd that she and Amani
talked for many long moments, with passionate embraces exchanged on
more than one occasion. Sadly, I guessed that Faten, in her
desperate unhappiness as the daughter of my unfeeling brother, had
fiercely seized the cause my child had offered her.
    Desperate to return to a normal relationship
with my child, I cautioned myself not to introduce the topic of
religion with Amani ever again, but to let God lead her where he
wanted her to go. Still, I thought to interest Amani in a game of
backgammon or cards, to see if I could focus her mind on something
other than her faith.
    When I timidly knocked on my daughter’s door,
there was no response. I heard the sound of weeping and entered her
room. I felt irritation sweep through my body, for there sat Amani,
holding the Koran in one hand and wiping her tears with the other.
While I wanted to shout that religion was not meant to sadden a
person, I resisted the urge and knelt at my child’s feet. I began
to pat her knee and calmly question her on the cause of her
grief.
    Expecting to hear that she had received some
message from God not meant for my ears, I was startled when she
replied, “Mummy, I am truly grieved by what I must do!”
    Then my child threw herself into my arms and
wept as one who has heard the most devastating news!
    “Amani! Daughter! What is this?”
    “Mummy!” A spasm shook her small frame as she
sobbed. “A terrible sin has been committed. I have learned a
loathsome secret. God has told me to make this sin public.”
    “What sin?” I shouted, alarmed that Amani had
somehow heard of Maha’s love relationship with her friend Aisha,
knowing that if their affair were made public my daughter and our
family would suffer greatly.
    Amani looked at me with big eyes. “Faten has
revealed a confidence that is troubling her soul. This sin is too
terrible to reveal, yet I must.”
    Relieved that Amani was not speaking of her
sister, I speculated on which of the Al Sa’ud scandals might be
plaguing my child. In a family the size of the Al Sa’ud clan, there
is much gossip regarding the ungovernable conduct of the young
princes and, on rarer occasions, the youthful princesses. Male
members of the family will often be featured in foreign newspapers
after a great gambling loss or having been caught in a sexual
misadventure with a foreign woman. After family holidays in the
West, more than one princess has returned to the kingdom expecting
an illegitimate child. Rarely is the complete truth revealed, as
the various relatives rush to cover the misdeeds of their children
to prevent their personal misfortunes from becoming common
knowledge throughout the Al Sa’ud clan.
    Amani blurted out, “Mummy. It is Majed. Majed
has committed a sexual sin.”
    I had difficulty maintaining a serious face.
“Majed? Amani, Majed is his father’s son.” I pulled my daughter’s
face to mine, warning her, “If you speak of this matter, the men of
our family will do nothing more than share a laugh at your expense.
Ali is proud of his son’s success with foreign women.”
    Everyone in our family