ABSTRACT

Over the centuries, Saudi Arabia, the land of several prophets, and the birthplace of Islam and Arabic civilizations, has developed protective mechanisms for the weak and the vulnerable. Each system and society has builtin protective mechanisms as well as risk factors. Saudi Arabia, as an Islamic and Arabic culture, has been dealing with ways to counter family maltreatment for centuries. The problem has been viewed within a larger context of moral and spiritual development. Treating family members with compassion, justice, and mercy is seen as a product of personality and moral qualities of fear of God, humbleness, fairness, mercy, compassion, and wisdom that should be nurtured in people from birth. Islam and many traditions aim at cultivating these qualities.