A Saudi woman has reportedly lost a legal battle to marry the man of her choice after her family objected because he played a musical instrument.
Relatives of the woman, a bank manager, refused to allow her to wed the man, a teacher, saying his oud (lute) playing made them "religiously incompatible".
A lower court backed that view, and its verdict has now been confirmed at appeal, a lawyer and local media say.
Some people in the conservative Muslim state say music is "haram" (forbidden).
Despite that, Saudi Arabia has a distinctive musical tradition - in which the oud features - and public concerts by Arab and Western artists are permitted. [BBC] Read more
