Top Saudi Cleric Backs Marriage of 10-Year-Old Girls

I understand, it is culturally relevant to the Saudi's... Yet, how could anyone comprehend, let alone validate the sodomizing of a child? How could we do business with a nation which validates such practices? We are hypocrites for tolerating such beliefs and behaviors. Islam (Salafi observance) validates such provisions... Salafi theology - The political and cultural environment of contemporary Saudi Arabia has been influenced by a religious movement that began in central Arabia in the mid-eighteenth century. This movement, commonly known as the Salafi movement, grew out of the scholarship and preaching of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence who had studied in Iraq and the Hijaz before returning to his native Najd to preach his message of Islamic reform. Some provisions within Salafi theology are unthinkable in the West... The vast majority of Saudis are Sunni Muslims. Around 10% of citizens are Shia Muslims, most of whom live in the Eastern Province, with the largest concentrations in Qatif, Al-Ahsa, and Dammam, another large concentrations is found in Najran, in addition to a small minority in Medina. Islam is the established religion, and as such its institutions receive government support (non-secular). Non-Muslim populations of Saudi Arabia are dominantly found in populations of foreign workers. Saudi Arabia has an estimated foreign population of 8 million, most of whom are Muslim. The foreign population reportedly includes 1.5 million Indians, 1.5 million Bangladeshis, 1.2 million Filipinos, 1 million Pakistanis, 1 million Egyptians, 600,000 Indonesians, 400,000 Sri Lankans, 350,000 Nepalese, 250,000 Palestinians, 150,000 Lebanese, 100,000 Eritreans, and 30,000 Americans. Comprehensive statistics for the religious denominations of foreigners are not available; however, they include Muslims from the various branches and schools of Islam, Christians, and Hindus. Open practice of a religion, other than Islam, is unquestionably prohibited. Reply

Agreed, newser001-- apparently we can look past human rights violations when it is the "best interest" of the United States... oil and money. Reply

There are creepy old men in every religion co-opting spiritual authority to justify the ways of creepy old men. Reply