Growing Up Bin Laden - Jean P. Sasson [34]
In Medina we moved into a spacious villa owned by my husband. It was huge, at least four times the size of a normal home, with four large storeys. But with four wives, soon to be eight children, and many servants, our family easily filled most of the space.
As Osama’s first wife and the mother of his firstborn son, I lived on the top level, but each wife had her own separate floor, including bedrooms, bathrooms, sitting areas, and kitchens. While the excitement of living in the City of the Prophet never ceased, it soon became clear that most members of the family missed Jeddah.
My seventh child soon livened up our lives, however.
Despite the move, my pregnancy had been calm. After giving birth to six sons, pregnancy had become routine in my life. I had finally accepted that I would be the contented mother of many sons. I had even trained my thoughts not to drift to the pastel tints of the girl’s clothes locked away in a storage box.
Osama made certain he was home at the time I gave birth and once again we made a predictable dash to a hospital in Medina. Thankfully, my labors were becoming easier and the baby came quickly. Through a fog I heard my doctor speak, bringing me news that brought forth a gasp. After thirteen years of marriage and six sons, Najwa Ghanem was the mother of a baby girl! A thrill of anticipation swept throughout my body. The feeling in my heart was like no other when I looked upon a face so sweet I felt I was gazing at pure sugar.
Osama seemed pleased as well, but said that his happiness came from witnessing my elation. We named our darling girl Fatima, a favored Muslim name for girls because the Prophet had named his daughter Fatima.
I was in a rush to return home with my precious daughter so that I could dig into those boxes of girly clothes. What joy! That first year with my little daughter was one of the happiest of my life.
Chapter 6
Growing Up bin Laden
OMAR BIN LADEN
The children of Osama bin Laden regarded as normal our father marrying women other than our mother and bringing those women to live in our home. I was two years old when my father married his second wife; four when he married his third wife; and six when he married his fourth wife.
I thought little of the fact there were four women living under one roof, and that all four women were married to the same man, my father. My mother’s demeanor appeared positive so there was no reason for her children to respond in any other way. In fact, my mother sweetly taught us to respect the women my father married.
There are many reasons that multiple wives are viewed so favorably in Saudi Arabia. Saudi culture is dominated by men. Although there are a few token women in organizations that deal exclusively with women’s issues, it is men who make all the important decisions. When it comes to private life, it is true that some women take personal charge of the organization of their households, but their actions are based on the hope of pleasing their husbands.
In our home, the wives of my father were instructed in the behavior that was expected of them and their children, although my mother has said that her husband often discussed personal matters with her before making a final decision.
This patriarchal system has been in place in the Arabian Peninsula since the beginning of time. In ancient days, men married as many women as they pleased, with some men marrying hundreds of women. When a man wearied of a woman, he could desert her without any legal obligations. The same was true regarding female babies. It was not unusual for unwanted female offspring to be buried alive. Quite simply, females were the property of males and could be discarded at the will of the man who was in charge of their destiny, whether that man was her father, husband, uncle, or son.
After Prophet Mohammed laid the foundation of the Islamic faith, women’s lives vastly improved. Islam forbade the killing of baby girls. Females were provided with specific financial rights, including the right to own property. Islam limited a man to no more than four