Saudi court takes over distressed woman's guardianship

Dubai: A 57-year-old Saudi woman has finally succeeded in clinching her right to transfer her male guardianship to a Sharia Court to be able to get married after her male guardian deprived her from her right to marry and have a family, local media reported.

The woman filed a lawsuit at the Personal Status Court in Mecca, which issued a ruling transferring her male guardianship to a Sharia court after it found that her brother, who is her male guardian, refused all her marriage proposals.

Her brother, who became her male guardian after the death of her father, refused all men proposed to her and deprived her from her right to marry and start a family throughout the past years.

Asmaa Al Zahrani, the woman’s lawyer, said: “Depriving women from their right to marriage is prohibited in Islam. Courts are permitted to drop the male guardianship and take over his role to enable a woman to marry whosoever is qualified.” Saudi woman cannot marry without a male guardian’s permission.

Under the Saudi customary law, every woman is required to have a male guardian, often her father. The guardian has the power to make a range of critical decisions for a woman.

There has been a growing call by Saudi women to amend laws and permit adult women to marry a partner on their own.