Most mothers would be shouting from the rooftops if their daughter snagged George Clooney.
But
the mom of Clooney's fiancée, Amal Alamuddin, is not so impressed with
her daughter’s choice - and instead wanted her to marry within their
strict Lebanese religious sect, according to close family friends.
High-profile
human-rights lawyer Amal, 37, was born in Beirut to a prominent and
highly respected family within the Druze sect, a medieval offshoot of
Islam, who are forbidden to marry outsiders. For traditional Druze
families intermarriage results in excommunication and social boycott.
However,
as pictures of Baria appeared today with her arms around the Oscar
winner's mom, Nina Clooney, as they strolled in the Italian sunshine -
it would appear that she has been won over.
And
a Lebanese friend of the family in London, where Amal was raised and
Baria still lives, told MailOnline: ‘You would think Amal has hit the
jackpot with George Clooney, but Baria is not
happy.
'She thinks Amal can do better. She has been telling half of
Beirut, in fact anyone that will listen, there are five hundred
thousand Druze. Are none of them good enough for her?'.
There can
be harsh penalties for those Druze who marry outsiders. Several women
have been murdered for disobeying the rules. Last year a Sunni Muslim
man had his penis severed by the male relatives of a Druze woman who
defied her family by marrying him.
The friend added: ‘There have a been a few jokes in the family about the same thing happening to George!'
Druze
make up around five per cent of Lebanon and number about a million
worldwide, a community that is gradually shrinking as you cannot convert to
be a Druze - and are only considered a member of the religion only if both your
parents are Druze.
Those who marry outside the religion are cast
out of the community and not allowed to return. Druze sheikhs will cut
them off and refuse to pray over their grave when they die.
If George
and Amal have children she will be unable to pass on her religion to
them.
Their wedding, thought to be taking place near Lake Como on September 12 will not be a Druze wedding and Druze sheiks will not
officiate, as Amal will be considered to be leaving the community and
taking on the traditions of her husband, the source explained.
A civil
wedding may offer a loophole in that she may be allowed to keep her
religion.
The Alamuddin are a feudal aristocratic family that
trace their roots back to the 14th century. The family still owns vast
landsand and their ancestral home is one of the grandest in the mountain
village of Ba’qalien, where Amal's father, Ramzi was born and
raised.
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