Page 35 - Personal Column (Charles Belgrave)_Neat
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disliking the idea of the heiresses* money falling into the hands of even approval of the older generation, who arc shocked at any suggestion that
their own cousins. An unmarried woman, of whatever age, is legally re purdah should be relaxed. Twenty years ago no respectable woman would
garded as a minor and the property of minors was administered by their appear in public without a heavy black cloak covering her from head to
male guardians. Fortunately there are about the same number of males foot, and very often a black mask made of stiff dyed calico, giving the
and females in Bahrain. wcarcr a black, bird-like appearance, hi hot weather the dye used to run
Marriage money, like the cost of living, has increased during recent in streaks over the wearer’s face. Ladies of the upper classes had their black
years. The dowry is paid by the husband to the wife, or rather to the ‘abbas’—cloaks—edged with gold thread and decorated with big gold
wife’s parents. Twenty-five years ago a working man could get a wife for tassels. When the abbas wore out the gold thread survived and hawkers
" £10 to .£15, now he has to produce a dowry of ,£150 to £200, of which used to go through the streets in the mornings singing ‘Zerri atiq, zerri
about half is paid in cash and the remainder is left as a debt against the atiq—‘Old gold thread’, which they bought from the women at the
husband, which he has to pay if he divorces his wife. This has caused many house doors. They refurbished it and sold it to the makers of abbas.
Bahrainis of the working classes to marry wives from Persia and Oman In recent years the social development of women, especially in the
where small dowries arc acceptable. In one or two Bahrain families there towns, has advanced more rapidly than that of men. This is mainly due
is a custom restricting the actual dowry to a fixed amount, which is a to the girls’ schools. Although they have only existed for a comparatively
sensible arrangement. In the Khalifah family the dowry is about .£30, short time they have brought about radical changes in the feminine out
though the value of the wedding gifts from the bridegroom may be thirty look. Travel, cinemas and wireless have also contributed to this change.
or forty times this amount, depending on the man’s financial position. Girls read novels, magazines and newspapers and know what is going on
The cause of most divorces was what we would describe as ‘incom- elsewhere. They compare their place in society with that of women in
patibility’, which was not perhaps surprising when a couple who had other more advanced parts of the Moslem world. Inevitably education
never met and knew nothing about each other became husband and wife. gives them an interest in politics. During political disturbances in Bahrain
The husband could divorce his wife without going to court; by stating the girls from one of the schools went on strike and a young woman,
the fact before witnesses he could give his wife a revocable divorce or a who had lately left school, took part in a demonstration and led a pro
final irrevocable divorce. In the latter case, if he changed his mind and cession round the town. Marjorie sent for the fathers of the girls who
wished to take her back, he could not do so until the wife had been were absent, who expressed strong disapproval of their daughters’ be
through the form of marriage with another man and had been divorced haviour, and obtained from each of them a written assurance that they
by the second husband, but instances of this were rare. Women scarcely would not in future allow their daughters to take part in political demon
ever divorced their husbands, though it was permitted for certain causes, strations and that should they do so the girls would be expelled. There
such as impotency. In my thirty-one years in Bahrain I only knew of two were no more incidents of that kind.
cases in which a wife divorced her husband; in one case it was because she Schoolgirls now wear uniforms and teachers wear European clothes
was made to marry a leper. To us the whole question of divorce appears under their abbas. When young women from Bahrain go abroad, usually
to be very one-sided, but in other respects the rights of women are well travelling by air, one sees them at the airport heavily shrouded in cumber
provided for in Islamic law. A widow automatically inherits one-eighth some black cloaks bidding farewell to elderly relations. Inside the aircraft,
of her husband’s estate before any deductions are made from it, though if as soon as it leaves the ground, off go the black cloaks and the ladies
he leaves four widows they share equally an eighth of the estate. appear in smart European dresses. Bahrain women have acquired good
The purdah system is still de rigueur in Bahrain and strictly enforced taste in clothes more rapidly than did the Turkish ladies when they came
in neighbouring Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.. But out of purdah. This is probably due to the influence of the Lebanese
I believe that in a few years it will be a thing of the past in Bahrain. It is Teachers'WRos? clothes, from Beirut, are French in style.
resented, by educated young men and women; the men say that if some It' has often been suggested that the purdah system enables women to
one would give them a lead they would let their wives appear in public, exert greater influence than if they appeared in public. This I have always
as they do when they travel abroad. But nobody dares to brave the dis- doubted. It is true though that some of the old ladies of the Ruling
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