Growing Up Bin Laden - Jean P. Sasson [62]
We had other visitors from the family. Some of Osama’s siblings and their spouses came to visit, which was a happy occasion for us all. Even Auntie Allia and her husband, Muhammad al-Attas, traveled to Khartoum for two lovely visits. Osama was in a particularly good mood when his mother was with us. He adored showing her the city that was now our home, as well as his farms so that she would know what her son was producing for Sudan and for the world. Although Allia, like me, wanted all the troubles to go away so that her son and his wives and children could return to Saudi Arabia, she did not protest to me or to Osama because she knew she had no way of changing the situation.
There were not so many pregnancies among my husband’s four wives during the four years that we lived in Khartoum, only three in fact. Siham, Osama’s fourth wife, was first, giving birth to her fourth child, and third daughter, Sumaiya. Then Osama’s second wife, Khadijah, became pregnant soon after our arrival in Sudan. Khadijah had her first daughter, and last child with my husband, a little girl named Aisha.
The family was in for a shock. Shortly after little Aisha joined our growing family, Khadijah chose to return to Saudi Arabia. My husband agreed with her plan. Many people have speculated about their divorce, but there are special secrets in every family, secrets that I would never dishonor myself and my family by unveiling. All I will say is what is already known, that Khadijah returned with her three children to Saudi Arabia, where she lives to this day. Khadijah was sorely missed by her sister wives, and I am certain that my sons pined for Ali and Amer, for the boys had been playmates from the time they were toddlers. Other than Ali, who came back to Khartoum for a visit to Sudan when he was eleven years old, Khadijah’s children were gone from our lives forever.
With Khadijah’s departure, we were suddenly only three wives and thirteen children.
Happily, I became pregnant with my ninth child in early 1993. Osama said that I should travel back to Jeddah to be with his mother, Allia, and to give birth in the fine hospital where they have excellent female doctors. When given the opportunity, I always chose to be attended by a female physician because of my womanly modesty.
A short time before the estimated due date for the birth, I learned that Osama would be unable to travel back with me to Saudi Arabia. Although disappointed, I was not surprised, for I was aware that past problems kept my husband out of the kingdom. So it was necessary for Osama to select our eldest son, Abdullah, who would turn seventeen during the year and was of a responsible mind-set, to be my guardian.
You may or may not know that Muslim women in Saudi Arabia are forbidden to travel alone. Our traveling companions cannot be just anyone, but must be a suitable guardian, called a mahram, who can only be a male family member whom the woman is forbidden by religious law to marry. Blood mahrams include a woman’s grandfather, father, brother, husband, son, grandson, or nephew; and there are in-law mahrams, such as a father-in-law, son-in-law, stepfather, or stepson. There is one last group of men who can be a woman’s mahram. If any woman acts as a wet nurse, she becomes the child’s milk mother, or rada. Blood mahrams apply to this group of people associated with the milk nurse, including milk mother husband, father, brothers, sons, uncles, and so on.
While I was pleased to return to Jeddah, I was despondent at the idea of leaving my family in Khartoum. Despite that hint of sadness, there were many joyful moments in Jeddah. I was delighted to see that beautiful city once again. I had visits from girlfriends I had not seen in a long time. Allia and her children, as always, were the kindest hearts, taking care of my every need. My friends and family would even take an afternoon walk in the family garden with me, something many Saudis avoid due to the tremendous heat generated by the desert sun.