The vegetable market in Jeddah leaves something to be desired: cleanliness, according to this Saudi Gazette piece. It seems that the laborers hired to keep the market clean have discovered that they can earn more in tips in carrying groceries than by doing the job for which they were hired (and are still drawing their wages). As a consequence, coupled with a still developing sense of public health, the market is in danger of becoming a pestilent blight on the city.
Vegetables, cleaners all there, but where’s hygiene?
Salem Al-JahniJEDDAH – Overall hygiene at Al-Halaqa, the Jeddah Vegetable Market, located in Al-Safa District is deteriorating to such an extent that many environmentalists have warned of an imminent health hazard.
Shoppers are greeted with fluids from overflowing sanitary drains which cover the floor of the market as well as by nasty smells coming from overflowing septic tanks.
This has prompted consumers to urge the preventive medicine authorities at Jeddah Mayoralty to tighten control, strictly monitor the products being sold at Al-Halaqa, and set up a quality control laboratory to ensure that the products sold there are fit for human consumption.
Apart from this, consumers want something be done about the negligent cleaning companies contracted to ensure the cleanliness of the market. The company employees, it is alleged, work as porters instead of doing their job as cleaners to earn some quick money.
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Saudi Gazette reports on the problems that ensue when Saudis (the article seems to be restricted to Saudi men) marry while abroad. The piece reports on three studies being undertaken by an NGO.
To me, the issue seem overly complicated by two factors: 1) Saudi government/society seem determined to decide who will marry whom, and 2) Saudi society is unique (all societies are), but in a way that makes it almost incomprehensible to non-Saudis.
I do believe that governments have a legitimate, though extremely limited, role to play in the issue of marriage. Setting standards on minimum ages seems appropriate. I might even go along with counseling about the dangers of consanguineous marriages, perhaps even forbidding them in some cases. But saying that one cannot marry a foreigner, or effectively forbidding it by throwing up complications and paperwork barriers does not strike me as the proper role of government.
Government decree does not directly effect social reactions, of course, and there is strong animus toward foreign-born wives (and husbands) in Saudi society. Nothing but time and experience will resolve that problem, I fear.
Due to its centuries of being largely closed off to the outside world has led Saudi society toward close-mindedness, prejudice, and an overdose of xenophobia. There’s more than a little racism involved, too. This is a social problem that can be exacerbated or fixed through government action; right now, government regulation increases the problems.
With its strict interpretation of Islam, Saudi society does not welcome anything very different. As most of the world is very different, there are inevitable clashes between foreigners and Saudis when it comes to living daily life within a family. At present, the ’solution’ seems to be that the foreigner adopts the Saudi way of doing things (not completely unreasonable, as the saying ‘When in Rome…’ would suggest). But the Saudi way is sometimes contrary to near-universal understandings of basic human rights. How does that get sorted out? I don’t think government regulation has any useful answer here….
Studies under way on Saudis marrying abroad
Muhammad OdhaibDAMMAM – The Society for Caring for Saudis Abroad (Awassir) is in the process of completing three studies on Saudis marrying abroad. The studies will be submitted to the Ministry of Interior upon completion.
Abdullah Al-Hamoud, the society’s chairman, said the studies focus on problems emanating from marrying foreign women abroad, curtailing the phenomenon of such marriages and handling the difficulties Saudi families face in adapting themselves to the new environment on their return to the Kingdom.
Al-Hamoud said an earlier study conducted by the society showed that there were 200 girls of marriageable age belonging to Saudi families abroad and suggested that those wanting to marry foreign women take them as their wives instead.
He said studies revealed that 40 percent of applications for marrying foreign women were submitted by elderly Saudi men looking for foreign wives below the age of 20.
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I’ve returned from DC, safe, in one piece, and very tired. The 17.5 hour drive was taxing, though largely uneventful.
Blogging will resume today, after a 12-hour sleep has dispelled most of the road buzz.
The Carnegie Endowment for Peace has an interesting, if brief, summary of a report on Islamists in politics. At present, the full report is not available on line, but print copies may still be available through a request to this link.
Islamists in Politics: The Dynamics of Participation
Marina Ottaway, Amr HamzawyIslamist movements participating in politics in the Middle East have reached an important crossroad. Despite some electoral success, they have failed to influence policy and are criticized by their base for abandoning their religious commitments. Islamist movements must convince their supporters that political participation is the best way to affect government in the long term, despite seemingly poor short term gains.
Marina Ottaway and Amr Hamzawy examine the experiences of “participating Islamist movements” in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen. Islamists are torn between their need to compromise on some social and political issues to be effective political players and the risk of alienating their core supporters.
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Note: I’m traveling today, driving from Washington, DC to Florida. You may safely anticipate little posting as a result.
Here’s an astute piece from Saudi Gazette on how too many Saudi fathers see their daughters’ marriages as simply a way to make money.
Credit: Saudi Gazette
“Adl”: Why many Saudi women remain unmarried
Abdullah Al-Dani“Adl”, which is defined in Shariah as a father preventing his daughter from marrying a suitable man, exists in the Kingdom despite the fact that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “If a man whose religion and manners you approve of comes to you (proposing your daughter), then give her in marriage to him, otherwise there will be turmoil on the earth and great corruption,” as narrated by Tirmudi and Ibn Ma’aja.
By preventing their daughters from marrying, fathers breach the trust that Allah has placed in them regarding the welfare of their daughters. When a young man comes to ask for their daughter’s hand, they may delay him or reject him for no good reason, citing baseless or trivial excuses. The father’s concern may be how much the young man’s salary is or what his career aspirations are, rather than his practice of religion, his manners and his honesty. Some fathers even delay their daughter’s marriage in order to benefit from her salary. Indeed some fathers see their daughters as nothing more than pieces of merchandise to be sold to the highest bidder at an auction.
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Arab News has this piece about how food items stamped halal, i.e., ‘permissible’, may not be quite as advertised. The article smacks of protectionism, to some extent, but does note that dodgy practices are to be found in Muslim countries as well. Like the ‘kosher’ label on foods certified to be ritually pure for consumption by Jews, there are political and economic motives to cut corners. How pork products end up with a halal label, though, beggars the imagination! The greatest assurance of compliance with the religious rules, of course, is to do it yourself, but that’s not terribly practical these days.
Point to ponder: How genuine is halal stamp?
Sarah Abdullah | Arab NewsJEDDAH: Exhibitors at the recent Halal Expo 2008 reportedly canceled more than SR41.2 million ($11 million) worth of deals over the course of the three-day event and successfully ushered in a number of international players into the region’s Halal market, which is already worth an estimated SR7.8 trillion.
Products being negotiated for potential import into the Kingdom and the GCC region include snacks, vegetable oils, dairy products, health foods, fruit juices and meat products stamped with the halal signature.
However, many international companies — in accordance with plans for global expansion and to stay financially afloat in the current financial crisis — are using the halal industry to get an edge on their competitors without using or even being correctly educated on methods of Islamic slaughter.
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Saudi Gazette reports on the fatwa issued by senior Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan which authorizes women to travel without male escorts. His only qualification is that the woman ‘feel secure’, a condition judged by the woman, not a male relative.
Needless to say, this fatwa has sparked a furor in the country, with traditionalists strongly objecting. Some seek a middle path, looking to the Shoura Council to pass a law that would specifically permit women 35-years-old or more to travel on their own. Interesting piece, and an interesting start to the new year.
Issue of women traveling without mahram sparks debate
Diana Al-JassemJEDDAH – Leading Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Bin Nasser Al-Obaikan’s views on allowing women to travel freely without having a mahram (a male relative with whom marriage is forbidden) has sparked a debate in the Saudi society.
Al-Obaikan, a member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars and Advisor to the Ministry of Justice, in a statement to Al-Hayat Arabic daily on Dec. 22 said he has found in his recent research on women’s travel without mahram that it is “permissible” in Islam for a woman to travel alone without being accompanied by a mahram only when she feels secure.
Al-Obaikan first published his views in his website saying a thorough research on the subject has made him satisfied that a woman can travel without a mahram or without the consent of her male guardian if she feels that she is secure.
Several Shoura (Consultative) Council members and businesswomen have felt encouraged to act on the fatwa issued by Sheikh Al-Obaikan. Shoura members have favored an open discussion on the issue in the Council.
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It’s about time for the Saudi National Society for Human Rights to recommend a ban on child marriages. The minimum age the group recommends, 15, is not much different from the minimum age in Europe or most American states under ’special circumstances’. It’s a vast improvement over the eight- and nine-year-olds being married off by their cash-strapped fathers in the Kingdom at present.
NSHR to seek marriage ban on underaged girls
Muhammad Al-AneziDAMMAM – The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is preparing to recommend to the higher authorities a ban on marriages of underaged girls; the society will seek to fix 15 years as the minimum marriageable age for girls. Dr. Saleh Al-Khathlan, Deputy Chairman of the NSHR, said the move was based on several court rulings on cases of underage girls married to men tens of years older than them, which have aroused debate in society.
In the past two months, there were 10 cases of underage marriages in Hail, Jizan, Asir, Taif and Unaiza. The Child Rights Agreement signed by the Kingdom in 1995 defines a child as below 18 years of age. According to the Shariah, marriage can be held but it can be consummated only when a girl reaches puberty. – Okaz/SG
The fact that female students in Saudi Arabia must view lectures over closed-circuit TV rather than to be in the same room as a male instructor provides fodder to the Saudi bashers and other critics of the Saudi way of life. Some Saudis see it as a violation of human rights as well, reports Saudi Gazette/Okaz, noting that face-to-face interaction among non-related men and women was common at the very foundation of Islam. It should not be interrupted by the cultural misogyny that has arisen in the Kingdom.
‘Closed-circuit TV interaction with men violates women’s rights’
Matooq Al-ShareefJEDDAH – The insistence on closed-circuit television meetings between men and women is a violation of women’s rights, said Jawhara Al-Anqari, deputy chairperson of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) here Wednesday. She was speaking at a symposium on human rights titled “Human Rights: Reality or Innovation” held at King Abdul Aziz University. Al-Jawhara said that throughout Islamic history women had been more inspired by face-to-face social interaction with men. “If it was allowed then, it should be allowed now because there is no difference between men and women during and after the Prophet’s times,” she said.
The symposium was attended by Hussein Al-Shareef, NSHR chairman. “The existence of a human rights body is not a polictial luxury, rather a driving force for the country to observe the reality of its human rights,” he said in his speech. – SG/Okaz
One of the motivating forces behind Abdul Wahhab’s reformation of Islam in the 18th C. was that Muslims were slipping into pagan, or at least heretical practices by asserting sanctity to mundane things or ordinary humans. Shirk, as this tendency is known, has remained one of the greater sins that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice seeks to prevent. Here, as Saudi Gazette reports, they are moving to have a number of sites in Mecca closed off to the public, if not demolished, all to prevent sin.
Commission wants 14 Makkah sites closed
Abdul Kareem Al-Murabba’MAKKAH – The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah wants 14 historic sites in Makkah eradicated or shut down so that visitors, mostly “unaware” pilgrims from across the globe, would not indulge in un-Islamic rituals there.
The Civil Defense has also called for implementation of safety regulation at those sites or immediate closure of them.
Sheikh Ahmed Al-Qassim, chief of the Commission’s branch in Makkah, said the Makkah Mayoralty has been requested to shut down those heritage sites that have been luring visitors to attach religious significance to them.
The Commission has supported its argument for the removal request on the eradicated “Tree of Al-Bay’ah” where Al-Ansar (the people of Madina) gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him). The second Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had ordered the cutting of the tree to put an end to un-Islamic practices anticipated by some visitors.
Sheikh Al-Qassim said a fence should be built around the sites to prevent some worshippers from visiting them and practicing heresies.
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I’d like to wish all my readers a Happy New Year. It won’t be hard for this coming year to be better than last year, but I hope that it’s significantly better, both for individuals and the region.
The blithe manner in which some Saudi employers treat their workers’ wages is a scandal and shame on the country. The Arabic language daily Okaz (here translated by Arab News), reports that the Ministry of Labor, with the encouragement and Saudi human rights NGOs, is getting tough in its enforcement of laws—and religious duty—that command prompt payment.
Delayed wages
Abdullah Abou Al-Samh | OkazDelaying the payment of foreign workers is totally against Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Give the worker his wage before his sweat dries.” This came as an order for people to pay their workers their financial rights as soon as they are due.
Timely payment of laborers is a legal duty across the world. However, it is regrettable that some private companies and establishments in our country often delay paying salaries for months, forcing laborers to either stop work or complain to the labor offices. Our newspapers are replete with such stories.
Thankfully, human rights organizations intervene to help workers obtain their rights at least in some cases.
Companies and establishments that delay paying workers come up with lame excuses, claiming that they often do not receive payments from parties that they have contracted with on schedule. This may be true, but is that the fault of employees? Under these circumstances, some foreign laborers resort to begging or take up odd jobs to earn a living. Some of them may even resort to criminal activities to support themselves.
At last the Ministry of Labor has taken action by issuing a decision to punish establishments that delay paying their workers for two conse-cutive months by preventing them from recruiting from abroad for a year. If the delay exceeds three months, then the foreign workers will also have the right to transfer their sponsorship without the consent of their original employers, who will also be forced to settle all payments plus the cost of transferring work papers.
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