Place to meet your girl friend

Maged.Seddik wrote:

Hi Everybody,
I know what I will ask about is something that has been discussed millions of times here and there but I am looking fro some experts here. I live here in Riyadh and I have a friend who is a girl and I wanted to meet her at some place. I want to know whether there is any place like cafe, restaurant or public place where we can meet and talk
May be in compound or mall or whatever. Please let me know if you have any experience with that.
Thank you.

A compound is best. But I have been with women in public places, burger joints, cafes without an issue.

meet your gf in the public places with full confidence and i bet you, you'll never get caught............ if you want some privacy you people can go to fast food restaurants' family section............ last weekend, my female friend spent around 3-4 hrs with her boyfriend in the mcdonalds' family section enjoying the food and having chit chat

soni_ali85 wrote:

meet your gf in the public places with full confidence and i bet you, you'll never get caught............ if you want some privacy you people can go to fast food restaurants' family section............ last weekend, my female friend spent around 3-4 hrs with her boyfriend in the mcdonalds' family section enjoying the food and having chit chat

Wow! that's the only reaction I can  think when I read this

For compounds what are the available compounds that are available for anyone to go and for coffee shops is there any coffee shop that has a family section with privacy. It will be great if it has smoking area as well

soni_ali85 wrote:

meet your gf in the public places with full confidence and i bet you, you'll never get caught............ if you want some privacy you people can go to fast food restaurants' family section............ last weekend, my female friend spent around 3-4 hrs with her boyfriend in the mcdonalds' family section enjoying the food and having chit chat

your female friend and his boyfriend needs some standing ovation....applause for the guts 

Djzubaid wrote:

soni_ali85 wrote:

meet your gf in the public places with full confidence and i bet you, you'll never get caught............ if you want some privacy you people can go to fast food restaurants' family section............ last weekend, my female friend spent around 3-4 hrs with her boyfriend in the mcdonalds' family section enjoying the food and having chit chat

your female friend and his boyfriend needs some standing ovation....applause for the guts 

Hahaha may be you are new here or you dont know the real situation here. Its easy to be with someone and it happens a lot of time. I know many of them who spend time with their gfs or meet stranges and spend time. Places like restaurants and food courts do have family sections and you wont find anyone who can try to catch you there. Also meeting someone in malls going around with a talk is usual. Only in public sometimes it happens when you and her are too young and going along and someone will stop you to check your papers. But if you are 35 or 40+ going along with someone  of same age would never let anyone stop you.

suribhai wrote:

Djzubaid wrote:

soni_ali85 wrote:

meet your gf in the public places with full confidence and i bet you, you'll never get caught............ if you want some privacy you people can go to fast food restaurants' family section............ last weekend, my female friend spent around 3-4 hrs with her boyfriend in the mcdonalds' family section enjoying the food and having chit chat

your female friend and his boyfriend needs some standing ovation....applause for the guts 

Hahaha may be you are new here or you dont know the real situation here. Its easy to be with someone and it happens a lot of time. I know many of them who spend time with their gfs or meet stranges and spend time. Places like restaurants and food courts do have family sections and you wont find anyone who can try to catch you there. Also meeting someone in malls going around with a talk is usual. Only in public sometimes it happens when you and her are too young and going along and someone will stop you to check your papers. But if you are 35 or 40+ going along with someone  of same age would never let anyone stop you.

Yup am new ..just few years but I know
The real situation that going around the kingdom but the fact is some of my friends did this...and unfortunately got caught ( u know teens) by elders..they had some worst experience and I unwillingly witnessed this menace

teens are easy to get caught, but if you are 35+ , then less chances to get caught. Also in saudi, if you are a married man in your country and going around with another women, they would only ask your marriage certificate and will not ask the identity of the women. In this case you can easily take someone to hotel and places. I have seen some doing this and also the locals do that.

suribhai wrote:

teens are easy to get caught, but if you are 35+ , then less chances to get caught. Also in saudi, if you are a married man in your country and going around with another women, they would only ask your marriage certificate and will not ask the identity of the women. In this case you can easily take someone to hotel and places. I have seen some doing this and also the locals do that.

You have a valid and legit point Bhai but hypothetically speaking who would in their right minds and mid-thirties,married in their country want to come to  KSA and hang around or lets even say DATE other women/men??  even if this is the case wont the authorities just ask  Iqama/Passport  of the couple .Because who would carry a marriage certificate while strolling in a mall,also lets not forget if the couple are married then isn't there a place where its written sprouse name and status.I just have my doubts though the "not asking identity of women might work"

As i got info, here officials will only ask for papers if you are found with some women. Incase if you provide papers, they wouldnt dare to ask for the women identity. Its the rule here and mostly followed everywhere. Even you go to any hotel with a women, they would only ask for your papers not identity of women.  As told by a saudi lawyer to me, in KSA everything is legal when you choose illegal way. He also mentioned many cases how some men go around with different women freely, cause of this special rules not to ask any womens identity when found with a man. In case the man cannot provide papers, then both get in trouble. Its ok, it just depends on different individual how they take or make things...

Well, my husband and I must meet officials who don't know those rules you talk about suribhai because they always ask for both our iqamas, and the information on my iqama states his name and the fact that he is my spouse.

nzpounamu wrote:

Well, my husband and I must meet officials who don't know those rules you talk about suribhai because they always ask for both our iqamas, and the information on my iqama states his name and the fact that he is my spouse.

thats exactly what i was pointing out to Suribhai   

I believe, you already got quite a lot of good advises ...but just be vigilant while u dating

Has any1 heard about the coffee shop in Madareem compound. It a cool place to date n u also dont need any1 to invite u if u have a couple u can get in easliy. stags r not allowed ;-)

Have fun & Stay safe

of course you cant meet your lady friend, but first you've got to marry her, then you are free to go anywhere you want with her. If you don't have any intention to marry this girl then why come to KSA? go to Dubai for such a thing!

Djzubaid wrote:

nzpounamu wrote:

Well, my husband and I must meet officials who don't know those rules you talk about suribhai because they always ask for both our iqamas, and the information on my iqama states his name and the fact that he is my spouse.

thats exactly what i was pointing out to Suribhai   

Thats fine, people enjoying their styles of meeting their gfs and you stick to the rules. I just shared what some of my colleagues are doing and meeting their gfs. Till now, no one had any problem with officials even they been stopped, as they said they just showed the papers, officials wont dare to check the lady weather she is the right one or not.

but it is wrong as it is against the rules of the country which are based on Islam. Anypne who wants a girl friend just get married = simple and enjoy your life in Riyadh or KSA as it is a great country in my view.

HUMBLEMAN wrote:

but it is wrong as it is against the rules of the country which are based on Islam. Anypne who wants a girl friend just get married = simple and enjoy your life in Riyadh or KSA as it is a great country in my view.

i absolutely agree with you , let me quote "Between friendship and relationship there is always flirtship" ,i dont know how accurate is this but anyways whether its USA or KSA there was dating going on or atleast flirting and it is going on as i write and it will go ,irrespective of any Law ,so peoples way of live is merely gonna change because of any law.

HUMBLEMAN, why don't you bring your family here rather than passively looking for a second wife, as per your profile?

P.S. Have you never broken any laws here or in other countries you have lived in?

Trapezius wrote:

HUMBLEMAN, why don't you bring your family here rather than passively looking for a second wife, as per your profile?

P.S. Have you never broken any laws here or in other countries you have lived in?

ohhh..the Irony ,   well though no puns intented

Who told you my family are not here? They moved here and we are very happy thank Allah for that. Of course I broke some rules in other countries just as anyone would but this is not a human rule this is "HARAM". If you are caught and your head is chopped off you would then complain that they are too strict in this country. I say: don't do it in the first place! Get married and enjoy! where is the problem? If you are Muslim and can afford to marry the second, third or even fourth wife then that's up to you and it's all halal. That's my view anyway and you are free to disagree if want but please don't do "zina" as it is haram.

hii am from India, never been to Saudi. I came across this forum and out of curiosity want to know that really a guy and a girl cannot meet at public places if they aren't married ? I mean come on they can also be just friends. So students and friends ( both boys and girls ) there don't hangout together ?

Who told you my family are not here?

Your profile, which I see you have edited now and taken out the sentence which said you are here alone.  LOL, and you have also taken out the sentence which said you are passively looking for a second wife!  If it is halal as you say, why did you edit that out?!

Taani wrote:

hii am from India, never been to Saudi. I came across this forum and out of curiosity want to know that really a guy and a girl cannot meet at public places if they aren't married ? I mean come on they can also be just friends. So students and friends ( both boys and girls ) there don't hangout together ?

hey Tanni ..wass up yes indeed boys and girls can be friends over here and quite fact can even date each other if you have read the above posts ,though not legal to ''DATE'',but people sure do it without hesitation over here.

HUMBLEMAN wrote:

Who told you my family are not here? They moved here and we are very happy thank Allah for that. Of course I broke some rules in other countries just as anyone would but this is not a human rule this is "HARAM". If you are caught and your head is chopped off you would then complain that they are too strict in this country. I say: don't do it in the first place! Get married and enjoy! where is the problem? If you are Muslim and can afford to marry the second, third or even fourth wife then that's up to you and it's all halal. That's my view anyway and you are free to disagree if want but please don't do "zina" as it is haram.

Seriously you need to calm down no one is targeting you neither am i wanted to point out about your personal views on second marriage,but if you passively wanting to a have second marriage do it or even third but please revert from your status because now it seems you feel guilty,and removed it and whatever you posted above seems nothing but a fanatical joke

I wish people would stop judging one another. Expat.com was basically created to help expats get through with their everyday lives. We are all here coz we want to obtain free information and advice on living and working overseas,  from our fellow experienced expats. Yes, we are free to give our opinions and advices, but please observe proper decorum to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. Let's maintain an intelligent, friendly and respectful environment in EB.

It is absolutely clear from the texts that Islam does not allow men and women (unless with mahram) to meet each other whenever and however they like. But if you still insist on doing it, it's your choice but remember that you alone will face the consequences of your actions. I have a colleague who was imprisoned for a week in Jeddah then deported back to the Phils., she was blacklisted from coming to KSA. Her offense, she was alone in a car with a Saudi guy (I have no idea what happened to the guy). Apparently, they were stopped, searched for marriage papers and they cant produce one. Just always remember why are you in this country in the first place, check your priorities. Salam.

Taani wrote:

hii am from India, never been to Saudi. I came across this forum and out of curiosity want to know that really a guy and a girl cannot meet at public places if they aren't married ? I mean come on they can also be just friends. So students and friends ( both boys and girls ) there don't hangout together ?

No, it is not allowed.  Friendship between the sexes is not allowed, let alone other kinds of relationships, except marriage.

This is a gender-segregated society.  Schools are segregated by gender from grade 1, including universities.  Restaurants are segregated too, with each restaurant having 2 sections: "family section", for families, couples, and single women, and the "singles section", for single men.  Yes, they are not named correctly, but that's how it is in the whole country.

Despite all the restrictions, all sorts of stuff does go on, as in every society, but just at a much reduced level, and a lot of it through phone, email, and sms.  Unmarried couples do go out on dates, but they have to be vigilant and have to act normal as if they are married.  And so, you will not see mixed groups of teenagers (of any age) hanging out in public, or even couples of teenagers, as of course, there is a high chance they are not married if they are just teenagers, and so, would invite suspicion and arrest.  You will see groups of boys in malls, and groups of girls, but never mixed groups.  Since schools are segregated, they don't get a chance to be friends with members of the opposite sex, until much later in their late teens, using technology.  Religious moral police patrols malls, shopping centers, and restaurants.  Rare to see them, but I definitely come across them on about 5% of my trips.  Mixed gatherings of children, teenagers, and adults do take place in private, of course, but even then, they have to be careful (if they are not in a gated community, called "compounds"), because there certainly are cases of neighbors calling police when they see "suspicious activity"; men and women who are not married entering an apartment or a villa!  Newspapers report such stories once in a while.

So what would happen if an unmarried couple is caught together?  Well, it depends mainly on nationality, social status, and connections.  If they are local, their parents are called to the police station, and they have to sign a pledge that their children will not repeat the offense again, unless they were caught actually doing something in a secluded place or area.  In that case, they might be jailed or fined, unless of course, they are from a prominent family and/or have connections to princes.  If they are not locals, they will probably be fined and jailed, maybe even whipped if caught doing something, and then deported, unless they are Westerners, in which case simply deported, or not even face any action.  Yup, justice is blind here!

Thank you sister. I do appreciate your comment and certainly agree with you. I really don't care if Tapezius and Djzubaid are targetting me and attacking me but I am not going to judge them but am only reminding them and anyone else in this forum not to do "ZINA" as it is HARAM. Al Hamdullah I am happilly married and it's all halal. I can go with my wife anywhere I want without looking over my shoulder. If you are not married why would want to be hanging around coffee shops or reataurants with girl friends? would you like that for your sisters Djzubaid and Tapezius? If you are Muslims fear Allah and go back to basics. If you are not Muslims respect this wonderful country please. If you can't then go to a country where you are allowed to hang out with girl friends. I am only reminding you/us of the basics of our beautiful religion which is being tarnished by the West. Pls guys don't add fuel to the fire and respect our religion: ISLAM. Al hamdullah I passed on the message as if you guys,Djzubaid and Tapezius, are Muslims will be asked about this in the day of judgement.  I am honestly trying to help you here. Salam and peace to you all. May ALLAH bless us all

HUMBLEMAN wrote:

Thank you sister. I do appreciate your comment and certainly agree with you. I really don't care if Tapezius and Djzubaid are targetting me and attacking me but I am not going to judge them but am only reminding them and anyone else in this forum not to do "ZINA" as it is HARAM. Al Hamdullah I am happilly married and it's all halal. I can go with my wife anywhere I want without looking over my shoulder. If you are not married why would want to be hanging around coffee shops or reataurants with girl friends? would you like that for your sisters Djzubaid and Tapezius? If you are Muslims fear Allah and go back to basics. If you are not Muslims respect this wonderful country please. If you can't then go to a country where you are allowed to hang out with girl friends. I am only reminding you/us of the basics of our beautiful religion which is being tarnished by the West. Pls guys don't add fuel to the fire and respect our religion: ISLAM. Al hamdullah I passed on the message as if you guys,Djzubaid and Tapezius, are Muslims will be asked about this in the day of judgement.  I am honestly trying to help you here. Salam and peace to you all. May ALLAH bless us all

Well as i had already mentioned ,i am not targeting you nor i have any intentions.If you feel offended am sorry  .And i will make this short because neither did i started this thread nor did Trapezius .Let me remind you we were here only to give advice and opinions ,well for your information i have never dated but have witnessed it gone disastrous here.Clearly you have taken this personally but i will remain in my cool and tell you that clear your head and check the whole thread and read every single line. Then feel free to come and blame .And as matter of fact i have not even encouraged anyone to go on a date.Well lets not make this personal. But i ever wanted was a healthy debate

I compeletely diagree with you Trapezius. In my view justice is not blind here. If you obey the rules then you have nothing to worry about. I asume you were debriefed before you came to the Kingdom about dos and don'ts. So in my view, if you didn't like that or thought that justice is blind here, why did you CHOOSE to come to the Kingdom? Also, not all schools are segregated in this wonderful country. I work for one and it is mixed all the way from the little toddlers to those who are 19 or 19 years old: American school, The British School, Multi National School the list goes on. So please before you post lies about this country get your facts right. Don't come to country and post lies about it in forums like this one as there are people who would probably want to come here to work and have children then they would be scared when they read your lies.
Also, my view is that segregation is good and healthy. It protects our women and men from adultery and unlawfall sexual relationaships. If you accept that for your sister then that's you but I like it the way it is set up here. Teenagers are protected as their hormones are all over the place and they usually make mistakes. Look at the rate of teenage pregnancies in the west compared to here! Pls get your fact rights before you post rubbish about KSA.

 
If you really wanna have a debate on the topic of dating and KSA ,please make a different thread and post over there and lets not make it inconvenient to the thread creator,because the question was asked about how to date , not why to date and why not to   
 
                                            respect to all

You sure love to make assumptions, man.  I am married too, so not, I am not "hanging around coffee shops or reataurants with girl friends", or anywhere else for that matter.  But, if someone wants to do it, I am not going to judge them.  They are only harming themselves, as opposed to the barbaric drivers (more than half the drivers) who put others' lives at risk, but no one seems to care about that or bat an eyelid!  But any time a woman shows her hair or goes on a date, it is the end of the world, and her family should be ashamed!

There seems to be too much emphasis on the wrong crimes/misdeeds here.  Vast majority of people throw rubbish on streets, drive like mad men, cut lines, are rude and disrespectful, etc., but no one seems to care about that, including the so-called authorities, both police and religious police.  But a couple goes for a meal at a PUBLIC place, OH NO, it is the end of the world.  Arrest them, flog them, and deport them!

Do as you please, but if you are going to break laws, do it at your own risk, BUT don't do actions which put others' lives at risk, or cause damage to infrastructure.

Also, not all schools are segregated in this wonderful country. I work for one and it is mixed all the way from the little toddlers to those who are 19 or 19 years old: American school, The British School, Multi National School the list goes on. So please before you post lies about this country get your facts right. Don't come to country and post lies about it in forums like this one

What are you going to do about it? 

Use your logic, if you have any.  Those schools are the EXCEPTION, not the NORM.  Next you will tell me that there is no segregation in compounds and in embassies, right?  And oh, KAUST is mixed as well!!!

All those places have exceptional permission from the government to be mixed.  The country's education system is segregated, and all Saudi schools, whether public, or private, are segregated.  And so are nearly all international schools.  There are only 5-10 mixed schools (Western-managed schools) in each of the 3-4 major cities of the country, THAT'S IT.

WELL OVER 99% of students in this country go through segregated schools, and because I generalized because of that 99%, you saying I am lying?  YOU get your facts straight, and don't accuse me of lying!

Djzubaid wrote:

 
If you really wanna have a debate on the topic of dating and KSA ,please make a different thread and post over there and lets not make it inconvenient to the thread creator,because the question was asked about how to date , not why to date and why not to   
 
                                            respect to all

AGREED!

aman11022 wrote:

http://i.imgur.com/S6HAKVZ.gif

seriously man 

thank you for your answer brother. I am happy that you too are happilly married and may Allah bless your marriage. As for the driving, the rubbish, rudeness etc I agree this should not happen as it is not Islamic nor it is civilised but you can't compare this to zina akhee. I don't you would agree that our sisters are going out with boyfriends to coffee shops or restaurants. Please tell me, what would they do? eat, drink and have an intelligent conversation...yes I agree then what? I am sure you know the hadith that says: any men alone with a woman the third presence is.... you know who brother yes. So better avoid that as it might lead to zina, unlawfall sex, unwanted pregnancy and so forth. I would never judge you nor would I judge anyone who goes out with his girl friend that's their choice but if caught they have to be ready to face the consequences. I lived almost all my life in the UK and run away to come to live here and feel very content. I certainly don't want KSA turning into UK or USA. There is too much of that already. KSA is different, it's wonderful to see all shops, malls, restaurants, petrol staions etc close when it's time to pray. Isn't that great? Where would you see that?Is there any other country that kept this Islamic rule? NO. So Al hamdoullah for KSA that it is helping us pray on time and in the mosque most of the time. Peace akhee. Salam and may Allah bless you and bless us all.

There are laws and every individual must follow them. As i said in earlier replies, its not hard, its not easy, but still things happen. I am a single man and i never thought of doing any illegal activities here, coz the reason am here is to work and only work. But as i have seen few of my people around me doing that and also its so easy for them to manage. As earlier case Ms Lina Mentioned someone was caught being with a saudi guy in the car. That is illegal to travel with anyone who is not related to you, either family or a sponsor, also belong to different countries. If two people of same country are travelling and stopped by the officials, they will ask for marriage papers, if the man can provide this paper, they wouldnt check the women inside the car, this is a law here, not to check the women. This has been explaind to me by some really famous lawyer when we had some discussion about laws and rules in saudi.  No matter how things would take you, but still thee is a caution, be careful.

Also Mr HUMBLEMAN, its just a discussion, so consider this a small topic, no one is trying to target you, but the questions and answers are going way beyond the topics.

Good Day Guys, Enjoy your lives.....

HUMBLEMAN wrote:

thank you for your answer brother. I am happy that you too are happilly married and may Allah bless your marriage. As for the driving, the rubbish, rudeness etc I agree this should not happen as it is not Islamic nor it is civilised but you can't compare this to zina akhee. I don't you would agree that our sisters are going out with boyfriends to coffee shops or restaurants. Please tell me, what would they do? eat, drink and have an intelligent conversation...yes I agree then what? I am sure you know the hadith that says: any men alone with a woman the third presence is.... you know who brother yes. So better avoid that as it might lead to zina, unlawfall sex, unwanted pregnancy and so forth. I would never judge you nor would I judge anyone who goes out with his girl friend that's their choice but if caught they have to be ready to face the consequences. I lived almost all my life in the UK and run away to come to live here and feel very content. I certainly don't want KSA turning into UK or USA. There is too much of that already. KSA is different, it's wonderful to see all shops, malls, restaurants, petrol staions etc close when it's time to pray. Isn't that great? Where would you see that?Is there any other country that kept this Islamic rule? NO. So Al hamdoullah for KSA that it is helping us pray on time and in the mosque most of the time. Peace akhee. Salam and may Allah bless you and bless us all.

Indeed i understand your emotions and also where these are coming from ,but lets not forget that it not we who are dating,indeed you have some political and religious issues with the USA or whatever but lets face it you can preach but you can force anyone to accept your believes and please once again ,lets have some respect to the thread creator.All he wanted was to know how meet his girlfriend . 
and i also agree with suribhai