Saudi Men Can’t Marry Women from Pakistan, Bangladesh... Gulf Kingdom Bans Brides From 4 Countries

Emirates 24/7 ^ | Friday, 8 August 2014

[nickcarraway]

Saudi men have been banned from marrying women from three Asian and one African country as the Gulf state toughens the rules restricting marriage with foreigners, a local daily said.

Marrying women from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Chad is no longer permissible, Makkah newspaper reported.

It said the total population of these communities in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 500,000 people, citing unofficial statistics, implying that this might be the reason.

[Vigilanteman]

Thanks. It is an interesting chart. I makes sense that India would have almost as many as Pakistan given its huge population. Even 15% of that many people is huge.

Worldwide, roughly one in four people on earth is a Muslim. Fortunately, a lot of those live in Bangladesh and southwest Asia where the brand isn't so militant. Bangladesh, in particular, owes its independence to India and a lot of people there still have vivid memories of the sheer brutality of Pakistan style Islam prior to independence.

Unfortunately, even the less militant brand of Islam in place there has kept the country a basket case.

Malaysia and Indonesia have largely functional economies thanks to a large population of ethnic Chinese who have largely tamed the brand of Islam practiced there even more than the Bengladesh version. When I did business internationally, it was an unspoken rule that if you needed a supplier in either Malaysia or Indonesia, it was best to look for one owned by an ethnic Chinese. Many of them took on Muslim names to blend in and hired a largely Muslim workforce, but you really needed the dependability of the Chinese to be sure your contract would be carried out.