Black Man Marries Arab Woman Ch. 03

Fathiyah Al-Fatah stood, resplendent in her beautiful white wedding dress, and gazed adoringly at her future husband Charleston Winston. The young Saudi Arabian woman smiled and silently reminded her future mate to steady his nerves. The big and tall young Black man was having an uncharacteristically emotional day inside the Saint Joseph Catholic Church in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Eight weeks ago, their world changed forever. Fathiyah found out she was pregnant, and her father Abdullah Al-Fatah, the wealthiest Arab businessman in the Confederation of Canada, tried to run her and her boyfriend over with a truck. Miraculously they escaped without harm. Abdullah Al-Fatah was now in police custody in Ottawa, Ontario. Awaiting trial for attempted murder. As for Carleton University sweethearts Fathiyah Al-Fatah and her African-American boyfriend Charleston Winston, it was a sign that life was short and precious. They decided to get married.

Charleston Winston and Fathiyah Al-Fatah decided to head to the City of Hartford, Connecticut, the heart of New England. A place where Fathiyah's crazy father and his cronies definitely wouldn't be able to reach them. Fathiyah was thrilled to meet her boyfriend's parents, Hartford City Police Department sergeant Oliver Winston and schoolteacher Martha Jean Winston. The lovely older African-American couple and their friends were thrilled to finally meet the young Saudi-Canadian woman whom their favorite son wouldn't shut up about. Throughout his first semester at Carleton University in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Charleston wouldn't shut up about Fathiyah Al-Fatah and how absolutely perfect she was. Of course, they were horrified to hear about the extremism of Fathiyah's psychotic father and the absolute sexism and racism which guided his actions as he tried to run down his only daughter and the young African-American she'd fallen in love with. Luckily, Abdullah Al-Fatah was in police custody but he was a legend to the Arab community of Canada. They would definitely try to carry out his orders to take out his daughter. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was taking the incident pretty seriously because they just about had it with psychotic Arab guys killing young women in the name of their vengeful God and their outdated honour system.

And so here they were. Standing before Father James O'Connor, a distinguished old Irishman, inside the most prominent Catholic church of Hartford. Prior to giving into atheistic beliefs, Charleston Winston's parents Oliver and Martha were lapsed Catholics. Fathiyah Al-Fatah told them that after her father attempted to murder her because of his radical Islamic beliefs in justified honour killings, she no longer felt like subscribing to the tenets of the Muslim faith. She could no longer bow her head and believe in a God whose followers treated women like slaves, and believed in killing anyone who believed differently from them. Fathiyah told Charleston and his parents that in that nearly fatal instant when her father Abdullah Al-Fatah tried to run them down, she cried out for God to help...and the God she believed answered her prayer was the Christian God, and not Allah. Inspired by the faith of this beautiful, brave young Saudi woman who loved their son enough to risk her life, the old African-American couple attended church for the first time in two decades. And they took their son and his girlfriend with them.

For weeks, Charleston and Fathiyah stayed at his family home in Hartford. However, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police contacted them through their FBI allies and requested them to return to Ottawa, Ontario, to testify in the trial of Abdullah Al-Fatah, multi-millionaire Arab businessman and attempted murder suspect. Charleston Winston and Fathiyah Al-Fatah were understandably nervous about returning to Canada. Fathiyah knew the extent of her father's wealth and power. She knew that he had many people working for him. And when she appeared in court to testify against him, her actions were condemned by Muslim men and Muslim women throughout the City of Ottawa and the rest of the Province of Ontario itself. Canada's secular and forward-thinking men and women were stunned to discover that their Muslim friends and neighbors for the most part disapproved of a Muslim woman who would testify against her father for trying to kill her. They felt that honour killings were justified. Canadian feminists were stunned to discover that the Arab women, Somali women and Djibouti women they thought they knew actually approved of the notion of honour killings. The case caused a severe ripple through the multiculturalism façade behind which so many Canadian minds slept peacefully.

In the end, Abdullah Al-Fatah was found guilty of attempted murder, and since he was such a high-profile member of the Arab community of North America and Europe, the Ottawa Criminal Court threw the book at him. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison at the Kingston Correctional Facility in the City of Kingston, Ontario. Abdullah Al-Fatah remained defiant during the trial, calling his daughter an infidel whore and comparing her African-American boyfriend to a Neanderthal. He swore that one of his faithful followers would 'take them out'. When the Judge ordered him to shut up, he called her an infidel whore as well and said that women shouldn't be allowed to be judges. Those inflammatory comments did not endear him to the mostly Caucasian and mostly female jury which presided over his fate. They saw that underneath the veneer of a successful businessman, dedicated philanthropist and proud member of the community hid a vile, racist, sexist and ultimately evil man whose mindset was stuck in the past. The old-school, sexist and intolerant Arab guy in his modern disguise. They threw the book at him alright. As for Fathiyah Al-Fatah and her boyfriend Charleston Winston, they were the talk of the town on CNN, CBC and whatnot. Talk of honour killings by Muslims always captivate western audiences. They declined any and all interviews, and chose to quietly move on with their lives.

Fathiyah Al-Fatah and Charleston Winston had some decisions to make. After what Abdullah had done, they knew they couldn't live in Canada. There were lots of Muslim students at Carleton University and many of them thought along the same lines as Fathiyah's father, a fact the young Saudi woman knew. She wouldn't be safe in Ottawa, Ontario, anymore. She would have to scrap her plans to graduate from Carleton University and attend McGill University's business school. Charleston told her that he'd be happy to study with her at Hartford University in his quaint New England hometown. And he also asked her to marry him. Fathiyah said yes on all counts. Which brought them here, inside the Saint Joseph Catholic Church. Fathiyah smiled at Charleston, and they shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Everyone cheered the new husband and wife as they said their vows. Thus, they would begin a new life together. In January 2012, Fathiyah Al-Fatah Winston would begin her studies in the MBA program of Hartford University, alongside her husband. A passionate, fun-filled and adventurous life awaited them both.