"She said her husband apologised and promised never to do it again, but she insisted she wanted a divorce. It is not the first example of Saudi husbands with wives forever shrouded in mystery.

There was the case of Ali al-Qahtani whose wife had been wearing a face veil for the entire ten years of their marriage. When he tried to take it off she threatened to leave and only decided to stay after he swore never to try again.

And neither the husband or children of Om Rabea al-Gahdaray, 70, have ever seen her face. It was a family tradition, also followed by her mother and sisters, which her husband accepted and never tried to change, she said. When asked how she could have children without her husband ever seeing her face, she replied: "Marriage is about love, not faces."

I never knew that some Moslem women hid their faces from their own husbands (and children), I thought it was only in public that they they were covered. I learn something every day.

It is a stupid tribal tradition which has nothing to do with islam, when I heard that some years ago for the first time I beleived it is just a rumor, and now this is the first time I see some news with real names about this.

I don't understand the appeal of this tradition, but some women obviously desire it, to put up with it for so long. However, it just seems so lonely to me: To never have that connection with another person, to never have my baby stroke my cheek and call me "mama." I would miss that.

Exactly what is the point of that tradition and do the
ladies even know the answer?

OMG. Forget about intimacy.

i really can't understand this tradition. maybe the ladies just don't want to show their face.

This is the first i've heard of such a tradition. I find it very hard to imagine living like that.
Then again, my life might be difficult for others to imagine living.