Inside The Kingdom by Carmen Bin Ladin (2004, Hardcover)

I enjoyed Carmen Bin Laden's memoir, although it doesn't have the staying power some other memoirs may have. Still, because of the subject matter, I think it's an important read and one that can shed some light on how women are treated in this backward misogynistic Saudi culture.

Wahhabism is unforgiving-- a strict and literal Koranic interpretation, and what is practiced in the country of the Bin Ladens. Carmen Bin Laden was fortunate enough to only have to spend part of her time here; she also lived in the United States and Europe.

She shares with us what it is like to be a woman in such a repressive culture. The women she knew there who were raised that way didn't even question the status quo. That, in itself, would be blasphemous to do, since women are taught to believe that the way they are living is the way Allah wishes them to live. They are literally second class citizens. And, imagine what happens to men who live among themselves being taught to believe that they are superior to women in such a grand way? Well, they believe it. And, they treat "their women" more like pets than as partners. Marriage isn't considered a partnership there. How can it be when men are permitted 4 wives and the women often are not able to choose their mates or the three other women who may share their lives. In Bin Laden's book, the women accept their lives and are unquestioning regarding their state. In other memoirs I've read regarding Islamic life, some of the women do indeed question their status but they just do not have the power to try and change it.

Although this book may have included detail of day to day life in Saudi Arabia, it seemed to lack some emotion regarding its horrors. The author didn't share as much how she felt so, at times, it seemed to be more of the sharing of facts rather than the sharing of her feelings regarding these facts-- which is what makes great memoirs great.

Still, it's worthwhile reading and another indicator of why Islam is so incompatible with Western Civilization. We all may know by now that Islam is the fastest growing religion, but I'm not sure all of us are aware that Wahhabism is the fastest growing type of Islam in the United States and Europe. As a matter of fact, the spreading of Wahhabism in prisons is a formal agenda that is funded by the Saudis. More information regarding this can be found on the web. . . just enter wahhabism prisons and see what you come up with.

Fascinating story. When I was looking for a reading assignment for my rising 9th graders, I chose this book because of its relevance to our course about the Middle East and its relevance to today.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most secretive countries in the world. No one enters without permission and a sponsor. No one can marry a foreigner without permission of the King, whose power is nearly absolute. No one leaves without the express permission of a sponsor, so foreign wives who discover their virtual imprisonment too late often cannot leave. In this culture, alleged adultery by a woman is punished by stoning to death; a husband can divorce his wife for any reason merely by saying "I divorce you" 3 times; and he can keep the children and do anything he wishes with them, including marrying daughters to husbands they loathe, or killing a child who defies his orders (particularly a girl child who "dishonors" her family by marrying against her kinfolk's wishes.) Censorship is rampant, laws are medieval, punishments are harsh, and freedom of the press or democratic principles are reviled as western ideas. Yet the USA is one of Saudi Arabia's greatest trading partners and allies, despite its abysmal human rights record.

Into this well-guarded kingdom and closed society, came optimistic young Carmen Bin Lden, married to one of the 28 sons of the eldest Bin Ladin. As her young daughters grew older and Saudi society failed to modernize its medieval views of women's place in it, she realized she could not give them the freedoms of choice she had grown up with, and when her husband proved intractable and uncaring of their children, she divorced him in Europe. She spares us the blow-by-blow recounting of the humiliations and legal opposition her ultra-wealthy Saudi ex-husband has thrown in her way, but alludes to his vindictiveness and the complete rejection of her daughters by the Bin Ladin family. She ends with an analysis of Saudi Arabia's funding not merely of some of the activities of Osama Bin Ladin, her ex-brother-in-law, but of Wahabism worldwide. It is a sobering account of a little-known culture and society, well worth reading.