Evening star., 1928-05-13

1
"A with Hollywood sheik. In a
\ few years he has created an
empire. has become the pro-
tector of the believers and the prospcc-
tive spiritual chief OF Islam The re-
cent raids of his followers on Trans
jordania and Mesopotamia have revived
the worlds interest In this extremely
picturesque Oriental despot
'"he Koran permits the Mohammedan
| to have four wives. Since. however,
Ihn Saoud Is the head Of the puritans
| of Arabia. the Wahabis, he has only
three wives at a time. Counting all
| his wives. past and present, he has
| had about lao. In the last 20 years
alone he has had 45 wives The figures
| cannot be quoted with accuracy. be-
cause the King OF HedJaz and Sultan
| Of the Neid~-this is Thn Saoudis otheial
| title-~has had several court chroniclers.
and their calculations do not always
| agree with the recollection OF their
chief There Is no law in Islam to pro-
| hibit divorce,
| whenever Ibn Saoud wants TO get rid
| Of A wife he sends her writ OF sep
aration. When the eunuch appears OH
| the threshold Of the women's quarters
with the paper In hts hand there is
much wailing and beating Of breasts.
| The writ Of separation ts the only for
mality that the laws OF Islam require
| for u divorce. The husband does not
pay alimony to the divorced wife.
In spite of the uncertainty of the
Kine'S affections there is tremendous
| competition among the beauties OF the
realm To be welded to Arabia'S strong
man. Riad. the capital OF Ihn Saoud.
Ii crowded with women. They all hope
TO caDtivnte the Kings affections for
a lifetime He Is an impressive person.
alty, massive and tall with glowing
eyes and flaming lips as his many adj
mirers assert. Oriental stalidity Is COM
hined in Arahias Muss0linl with a DASH
ing Vivacity which marks him rs \ man
Of intense vitality.
Ibn Saoud does not indulge to excess
| IN all the pleasures generally considered
as typical Of the sensual man, lie does
not drink and does not smoke, In ohedi-
cnce to the religious laws OF the Wa
hahis. II is capital offenae 10 take
plcohoi or tobacco into his realm, Even
foreign enVoya immune to Auch pro"
| hibitions, are warned To conform To
| the customs of the country for fear
| that some fanatic Wahahl might pun
| ish them for violating the law, In the
| desert, where the shedding OF human
blood Is not necessarily q crime. II Is
considered a capital offenae to be found
drinking or smoking,
In addition Ia tho quick Attenuation
! at wives, power and nghtina are Ihn
fiaeuds passions, Ten years ago he was
an outlaw exile, uaufpers the Rashid
| dynasty, occupied the throne OF his
fathers IN the capital city, HAL The
place WAS merely patch OF mud hnts
| huddled near few seofehed palm
trees The possession of thean huta was
| the aim nf the exiled prince, because
| In them lived about thousand soldiers
or as nearly soldiers as Arabian no.
mads can he-,rwhn upheld the rule OF
| the Raahids
| Never mad Tin Seoud more than The
! equivalent III Aa0 In the best lays ~
| his exile. such an amount was, af
course, Insufficient 10 hire an army 10
oppose the nsufperA, II was not unth
| the World War that lhn aaoud's for
tunes turned He had anme pteatlae
| among the desert men, and both Hhgs
llsh and Turks paid him The former
| tn stir up revolt against the Tllfks
J the latter To emharrasa The Hrlllsh
forces In a no mans land like Arabia