Princess Sultana's Circle Read Online Free PDF

warmth
to flow through my body.
    Suddenly I was struck with
a second worry. During the past few months, my cravings for alcohol
had grown. Would the solace I was receiving from alcohol now lead
to a personal predicament? Was I becoming an alcoholic? Such an
idea caused me to throw the glass to the floor. I moaned and
covered my eyes with my hands.
    From my childhood on, I had
been taught that intoxicating spirits are evil and totally
forbidden to Muslims. I still remember my mother telling me that
Prophet Mohammed had cursed many men in connection with liquor.
Mother said that our great Prophet cursed the man who squeezed it,
the one who carried it, the one to whom it was carried, the one who
served it, the one who drank it, the one who dealt in it, the one
who devoured its price, the one who purchased it, and the one from
whom it was purchased. None were to be spared!
    Yet, despite my Mother’s
dire warning, somehow, I now found myself ensnared by the promise
of fleeting happiness so easily found in a bottle of
alcohol.
    In the Al Sa’ud family I am
not alone in this sin. Alcohol has taken a shocking toll on the
lives of many of my royal cousins. To speak truthfully, I must say
if these cousins are not buying or selling alcohol, they are
drinking it. And, they do this, regardless of both religious taboo
and the law. What would our mother think?
    Everyone who resides in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is fully aware that it is illegal to
consume alcohol. It’s common knowledge that every year there are a
large number of Saudis as well as foreigners imprisoned for the
offense of possessing or consuming alcohol. It is also well-known
that such laws do not apply to members of the Al
    Sa’ud family. But, while
the male members of the royal family remain unpunished for any
crime they might commit, it’s a different matter when it comes to
Al Sa’ud females. While we are saved from public condemnation for
our missteps because of the embarrassment such an admission would
cause our rulers, female members of my family are forced to pay a
high penalty should they develop any kind of addiction.
    Returning to bed, I tried
to count on my fingers all the female royal cousins who had become
addicted to alcohol or to drugs, but I ran out of fingers. Within
the past few years the problem has become so rampant that special
clinics for substance abuse have begun opening within the Kingdom.
No longer is it necessary for Al Sa’ud men to send their alcohol or
drug-addicted wives abroad for rehabilitation.
    Only a few months before, I
had visited a cousin committed to one of these clinics. The
atmosphere there was one of wealth and privilege. Soft steps and
hushed voices told the visitor that they were in a medical facility
like no other. The doctors and nurses were foreign, as were all the
other staff. To ensure that they were never alone, each patient was
assigned five personal nurses, all women who had grown accustomed
to working with over-pampered royal Princesses.
    I had found my cousin in a
large three-room suite where the luxuries of her normal life were
duplicated. Special chefs created the finest food, which was served
on costly china. My cousin continued to dress in expensive designer
gowns while entertaining her closest friends and relatives in the
clinic suites. The only accessories lacking in this new setting
were alcohol and drugs.
    Although her treatment
consisted of many sessions with qualified physicians, she was not
subjected to the humiliation—or the benefit—of group therapy, as
are addicts in Western countries.
    The cost for this special
treatment at that clinic was over SR 100,000 ($26,000) per week. My
cousin remained in the facility for sixteen weeks, and was
pronounced cured of her habit. Unfortunately, within a few months
of being discharged, she once again resumed her addiction to
alcohol. At last count, I hear this cousin has been treated at her
special clinic on at least five occasions.
    Yet, once admitted for