Imagine never being able to go outside un-chaperoned or to talk to a man in public. According to Carmen Bin Ladin, that is exactly what life is like for Muslim women in Saudi Arabia.
The veil that is worn by Muslim women is called an abaya and it is a sign of a proper and pious woman. As restrictive as the abaya may seem to Western culture, it is the norm for Saudi Arabian women and an aspect of the culture that was difficult for the author of "Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia" to accept.
On Sept. 11, the name Bin Ladin became a household word, particularly in the United States. For the most part, Carmen and her three children lived a life of relative obscurity until her brother-in-law, Osama Bin Ladin, became the main suspect in the worst act of terrorism that ever occurred on U.S. soil.
Now divorced from Yeslam Bin Laden, the older brother of Osama, Carmen Bin Ladin is now speaking out in an attempt to distance herself and her three daughters from the notorious family name.
Her book, "Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia," is a fascinating tale of her childhood in Switzerland and adulthood as the foreign wife of a member of the powerful Bin Ladin clan, Yeslam Bin-Ladin.
Yeslam Bin Ladin is the tenth son of Sheik Mohamed Bin Ladin, a man of meager means who worked his way up to become one of the wealthiest and most respected men in Saudi Arabia. His Bin Ladin Organization is the only construction company to be given an exclusive contract to renovate Mecca and Medina-the two most holy Islamic cities.
Carmen Bin Ladin was not born a Muslim. Her father was Swiss and her mother was a Persian from Iran. She grew up in Geneva. Both Carmen and Yeslam, when in their early twenties, decided to attend the University of Southern California, where they lived and planned their upcoming nuptials. Yet when the Bin Ladin Organization began having financial difficulties back in Saudi Arabia, Yeslam felt it was his duty to return to his homeland. Carmen wanted to accompany her soon-to-be husband and decided to quit school and move to the traditional country.
The outgoing and intelligent Carmen Bin Ladin soon realized that life in Saudi Arabia would be very different from the life she had known in Europe and the United States. She would never be able to complete her education and would always have to view the outside world through the folds of the abaya.
The lifestyle that she describes would be considered repressive to most Westerners. However, women raised in Saudi Arabia with the stringent rules of Islam may not agree. Carmen Bin Ladin's sisters-in-law seem to have accepted their subservient lifestyle and the power that is held over them by male relatives, which surprises and infuriates Carmen Bin Ladin.
"Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia" is a quick read that provides not only a rare insight into the lives of women in Saudi Arabia, but also into Osama Bin Ladin. For those interested in learning more about Islamic culture and the powerful Bin Ladin family, this book is a definite must read.
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