Forfeiture

Forfeiture is defined as the surrender of one's property because of criminal act, default, or failure to perform a duty. In Western countries, following bankruptcy or arrest citizens can have their money and assets seized by the government. In places with more conservative and traditional cultures, such as the Middle East, the penalty can be much more consequential.

In certain places where unmarried women are considered the responsibility of their parents, and married women are considered the responsibility of their husbands, they too can be considered subject to forfeiture. If women - wives or family - are dependant on a man and that man is imprisoned, the state must care for and manage these women. If assets are forfeited civilly, from citizen to citizen, and a man can neither pay his debts or provide for his woman or women, then his wives, daughters, or sisters may be expropriated to his creditor. Should a man with a wife and daughter become bankrupt, his creditor could assume the responsibility for his family by marrying his wife and taking care of her, and perhaps wedding his daughter to one of his sons. This compensates the wronged party and ensures dependant women aren't left penniless and destitute.

You live in Shahlah (pronounced sharr - lah), a smallish Arab state situated beside the Persian gulf. A traditional society enrichened by oil, Shahlah has developed similarly to its neighbours Qatar and the UAE, but has become less westernised in the process. Until recently you were a student, but you had dropped out since a fortunate turn of events meant you no longer needed to work. You were average looking, of average intelligence and average means, and in all honesty a little lazy.

You parents had recently passed and hoping to delay getting a job you had decided to risk gambling some of your inheritance (which was far from a fortune, but a nonetheless respectable sum). Bored of small-stakes, you upped the ante with a no-limits game of poker and your luck came soon after when a drunk, rich businessman wandered through the doors of the casino and sat down opposite you. The skinful of (illegal) he had clearly consumed dulled his senses and he spent the best part of two hours losing to you at increasingly high stakes. You wouldn't normally gamble so much but he was clearly in over his head. On three separate occasions he had exhausted his chips, left, then returned later with a new pile.

He returned one final time with the biggest pile yet: unbeknownst to you he had hurriedly leveraged his company to give himself a chance at winning back his money, which you later learned included his entire life savings and cash from the selling of his car in the casino parking lot. Perhaps the casino staff should have intervened, but they made 3% on all winnings and their job was to encourage, not prevent, customers from spending as much as possible. When he went all in you may have folded, after all you would have been risking everything you had won so far, plus your whole inheritance, but he had given you a drunken flash of his cards so you knew he was bluffing.

The whole experience felt incredibly surreal, and you didn't realise the consequentialness of your winnings until the next morning when you found the man knocking at your door. Introducing himself as Ahmed, he told you that his loss has pushed him into bankruptcy, and in a country with strict near-Draconian laws this would send him to prison unless his creditors would accept collateral and forgive his losses. He had no money to pay his outstanding debts, and having gambled his company away to you, he had no means of earning it back. The offer he pleadingly proposed was simple: take all of his remaining property and in return pay his debts so he could avoid imprisonment.

You already had all of his cash and liquid assets, but he still had some other assets to offer. His house, and more importantly to you, the women under his remit. You readily agreed, and left him to go wander the streets in search of a job and a chance to rebuild his life and family. You got in your car and drove over to check out your new house, and new family.