In the aftermath of the French ban on the public wearing of niqab, The Washington Post takes a look at Washington area women who veil. The women interviewed, primarily American converts to Islam, are doing it voluntarily, they say. Other Muslim women find it inappropriate, though and one applauds the French ban. Those who veil do report a certain level of harassment, however, by TSA when they attempt to fly, by police who seem to overreact on the sight of a veil, but also random strangers on the street or subway.
I do not recommend bothering with the comments to the article. They are, overwhelmingly, ignorant.
The few U.S. Muslim women who choose full veil
face mix of harassment, sympathy
Katherine Frey/ WASHINGTON POSTSafiyyah Abdullah glided through the produce aisle of the Gaithersburg Giant Wednesday, oblivious to the glances that followed her. She no longer thinks about the startling image she presents to other shoppers: a figure clad hair-to-heel in flowing black, at once anonymous and conspicuous amid the apples and onions.
Her face was almost completely covered, only her blue eyes visible through the narrow gap above her black veil. A little boy in the milk aisle took his father’s hand and stared.
“I really don’t notice people’s reactions anymore unless they say something,” said Abdullah, 55.
Which they do, frequently. Abdullah, a Chicago-born, Lutheran-raised social science researcher, has lived in the Washington area for more than 30 years. And in that time, almost no one has seen her face.
She wears a niqab, the same kind of Muslim veil that France earlier this week declared illegal to wear in public. At least one woman there was cited and fined under the new ban, and several others were arrested while protesting it in Paris.
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Arab News runs a piece noting that not all Saudi women want to drive. Most of the issues raised—difficulty in finding parking spaces, bad driving, bad roads, etc.—strike me as trivial at best. ‘Feeling like a princess’ does not represent much of an argument for depriving other women the right to get themselves from place to place, either. If Saudi women are to get themselves out from under the burden of male guardianship, then they’re going to have to step up and accept the unpleasant aspects of equality along with the good.
One argument makes some sense: Saudi men harass women in public and would be likely to harass women drivers. The solution to that, though, is not to forbid women’s driving, it is to educate (or punish, if necessary) the harassers until they change their behavior. Perhaps bumper stickers saying, ‘I’m your mother — I’m your sister’ would help get the message across.
It’s interesting, though, that the women interviewed all seem to acknowledge that the day women are permitted to drive is coming.
Not all Saudi women seeking to drive cars
RIMA AL-MUKHTAR | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Saudi women are fighting for their right to drive claiming that having a driver is wasting their time and money. But not all Saudi women want to drive; to them driving is hassle and not appropriate for Saudi Arabia.
Not having to look for a parking space is the ultimate relief for Saudi women.
“When we want to go to a shopping center or to the hospital, the driver drops us at the main entrance and drives away. We don’t have to care about remembering where we parked our car or parking far away from the door,” said Zaina Al-Salem, a 29-year-old banker. “When I travel to a country where I can drive, I’m usually burdened about the part when I get to park my car and walk all the way to the store.”
Usually, only the rich and famous have their own chauffeur, but in Saudi Arabia almost everyone has one, according to Shahad Ibrahim, a college student.
“I wouldn’t want to give up on that because I feel like a princess where my driver takes me everywhere I want without complaint,” she said.
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Saudi businessman and commentator Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed writes in Arab News that the upcoming Municipal Elections could provide a vehicle for channeled reform in the Kingdom. Al-Rasheed, who also operates the Arabic and English information website Saudi Election dot Com, thinks there is great utility to the election process, if only people will use it.
As a ‘new thing’ for most of the country—Jeddah did have its own municipal councils until the 1960s—Saudis are still puzzling over just what the Municipal Councils are supposed to do, the limits and extents of their powers, and how to best select council members. Saudi Gazette/Okaz report that the members vary widely in their education, with some seemingly elected solely for their position within their groups, tribal or other.
Upcoming municipal elections – emergence of reform
Turki Faisal Al-RasheedThe Saudi municipal councils should have wider powers and sufficient funds to fulfill their tasks as mandated by the law.
They should have financial and administrative independence in addition to the authority to determine the priorities of projects and funding.
As part of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque King Abdullah’s reform efforts, Saudis are about to elect members to 258 municipal councils in the Kingdom wide for a second time. The first municipal polls were held four decades ago. Elections were held again for the first time in 2005 covering 179 municipal councils. Members to the other half were nominated by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
There were apparently differences of opinion about people’s representation and participation in the municipal councils during the election of 2005. In relation to this, I have hand-delivered to King Abdullah a study for setting up a higher commission for elections. The study was published at Taba Al Ula book. A website — www.saudielection.com — has been launched to promote election activities. Volunteers came forward to monitor the municipal election. I chose to volunteer as poll watcher at some extremely sensitive municipalities such as the Al-Naseem neighborhood in Riyadh and in Hafr Al-Bateen which have citizens of varying tribal affiliations.
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Arab News runs a vox pop article (well, actually woman on the street) article on Saudi reactions to the French ban on the public wearing of niqab, a law that went into effect yesterday. I’m actually surprised that the interviewers were able to find so many Saudi women who figured that it wasn’t that big a deal, though of course there were those expressing their righteous indignation, vowing never to travel to France. It appears, however, that the world did not end.
Mixed reaction to French niqab ban
MARIAM NIHAL | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: There was mixed reaction among women in the Kingdom to a ban on niqab that went into effect in France on Monday.
Paris police arrested two veiled women and several other people protesting in front of Notre Dame cathedral against the new law. On Saturday, 59 people were arrested, including 19 veiled women, during a banned protest in Paris against the new law.
Under the law, anyone refusing to lift a veil for an identity check can be persuaded to remove the garment at a police station. A woman who is defiant and insists on appearing veiled in public can be fined 150 euros ($216) and will be ordered to attend re-education classes.
Samia Abdullah, a 24-year-old journalist in Jeddah, was indignant: “Doesn’t France have freedom of religion in its law structure? There should be freedom to practice every religion and I do not see a reason behind this infuriating racial profiling.”
Thirty-year-old Sarah Kazim, a housewife, believes everyone should respect the law of the land. “If women are made to dress a different way and wear their hijab in Saudi Arabia and we respect it, then we should respect the laws of the French constitution. Why treat them differently when we have laws that are most distinct to any other country?”
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Arab News reports on the latest steps by Saudi Arabia to institute a domestic nuclear energy program, an agreement with the Chinese government. The article notes that the Saudis signed a similar agreement with the French earlier this year, but neglects to mention the 2008 agreement with the US for some reason.
Electrical energy demand is growing by 8% per year, according to the piece. That demand cannot currently be met by any existing solar technology. The Saudis could burn gas or oil to produce electricity, but that would be at the cost of marketing those fuels abroad, where they would claim much higher prices. The signing of agreements with an array of countries suggests—to me, at least—the the Saudis are looking for broad experience in planning for their own nuclear plants as there are no other countries with nuclear power that have the same challenges as the Kingdom. Sites for potential reactors strike me as particularly complex. There are certainly vast areas where a plant could be constructed away from population centers (and the Saudi media’s coverage of the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami certainly make that particular facet a matter of public concern: See: Japan ups nuke crisis severity to match Chernobyl).
But cooling nuclear plants, notoriously thirsty for vast amounts of water, is another matter. The country has already expressed its concern about the possible effects of an Iranian plant on the Gulf littoral. The Red Sea coast, which is seismically active, doesn’t look like a great location either. As best I can figure, that leave the Empty Quarter, with significant deep aquifers as a most likely site. Needless to say, that location brings its own difficulties.
Kingdom and China to sign nuclear cooperation pact
ARAB NEWSRIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Monday announced its plan to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with China. The Cabinet said it has authorized Hashim Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Nuclear and Renewable Energy, to hold talks with Chinese officials to reach a deal for peaceful use of atomic energy.
The new move comes after the Kingdom signed its first ever nuclear treaty with France in February. Yamani, who signed that agreement, said it would pave the way for the Kingdom’s long-term plans to build power stations utilizing alternative energy sources to produce electricity and water.
The agreement allows the two countries to cooperate in the fields of production, use and transfer of knowledge regarding the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
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Saudi Arabia is starting to feel the effects of the fencing of stolen goods, much the way pirated and counterfeited goods damage the economy. Of course, it’s individuals who are feeling the brunt of this rather than corporations. Arab News expands a story from the Arabic daily Al-Riyadh on the issue. There are laws and regulations in place to deal with the issue, but they seem to be ineffectually enforced.
There are now calls for improved channels through which victims can report thefts as well as for wider surveillance of the markets to cut down on the sale of stolen goods and the operations of ‘chop shops‘ dismantling autos and selling on their parts, often out of the country.
Crime graph rising because of little control
over business of stolen items
ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Sociologists and legal experts have voiced their concern over the alarming rise in the number of thefts and pick-pocketing in various cities in the Kingdom.
They say the most disturbing fact is these stolen goods easily reach the secondhand black market dominated by foreigners thanks to lax law enforcement.
Al-Riyadh daily reported on Saturday that the market for stolen items is flourishing. Stolen goods end up in secondhand outlets. Of particular concern are chop shops that dismantle stolen cars and sell their parts.
Buyers are often aware the items are stolen but purchase them regardless due to the markdown in price compared to legitimately acquired items.
Al-Riyadh witnessed a jewelry shopkeeper in Jeddah who bought items from a man for 75 percent less than the items’ real price. The shopkeeper did not ask for a photocopy of the seller’s ID, which is required by law on the sale of gold.
Sociologist Hassan Jaber told the newspaper that it is very easy to sell stolen goods in Saudi Arabia. “This results in rising rates of crimes such as theft, robbery and pick-pocketing in our society. This also gives an incentive for such criminals to form gangs for carrying out such crimes. They can easily dispose of their stolen goods at shops for used goods in collusion with foreigners working at these shops,” he said.
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Outsiders who have lived in the Arab world, or even watched it for any length of time, in fact, have noticed a regional propensity toward conspiracy theories of history. Not every Arab, of course, but many seem to prefer convoluted explanations for why things are as they are. Rather than looking for simple answers, based on available information, there’s a tendency to search for the ‘hidden hand’ that is pulling strings off stage, always to the detriment of Arab society, Arab nationalism, Arab aspirations.
It’s a bit refreshing, then, to see a Saudi cleric pointing to the same phenomenon. Dr Aaidh al-Qarni writes in Asharq Alawsat that it’s high time for Arab society to recognize that it is ill, that it needs to start taking responsibility for its own flaws if it is ever to stop repeating the same mistakes while just finding others to blame for them. That the governments of Libya, Syria, and Yemen all find it now convenient to blame outside conspiracies for their current problems does not make it so, al-Qarni argues. He’s right.
The Arabs and the conspiracy complex
Dr. Aaidh al-QarniColonel Gaddafi said that the world was conspiring against Libya, out of envy for what the Libyan people enjoy. Then he recited the Holy Quranic Verse “From the evil of the envious when he envies.” [Surat al-Falaq, Verse 5] The Syrian official media said that Syria was being exposed to a foreign conspiracy against its heroic struggle for resistance, resilience, survival and opposition. At this point, let me note that the Golan Heights have been under occupation for nearly half a century. The official Yemeni media stated that Yemen had been “targeted” because the country represents the cultural depth of the Arabs, and has a pan-national strategic dimension, along with further raving, irrational rhetoric. The official media in Jordan spoke of a foreign conspiracy hatched by covert forces to destabilize the country.
I would say: When will the Arabs abandon this conspiracy complex and stop denying mistakes and searching for scapegoats? When will you stop performing this farce, accusing foreign powers of conspiring against you, and blaming others for your faults? Who are you, to have the world conspire against you? Who are you to have the world’s superpowers preoccupied with you? Why would the world target you, and what would it envy you for? Your wealth? Whilst your peoples feel the bitter taste of hunger, shame, ignorance, disease and underdevelopment? Or would the world target you for your giant industries, large-scale production, research centers, energy sources, bountiful knowledge, arsenals, destroyers, battleships, and aircraft carriers, when you can’t even construct a car? Frankly, you are bottom of the global list in terms of industry, agriculture, education, development and production.
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It’s one thing to say ‘abuse of women is un-Islamic’, but what that means depends on how one defines ‘abuse’. According to this Arab News article, the Saudi Grand Mufti is helpfully pointing to specific behaviors that are to be condemned. While I don’t find his reported remarks to be utterly inclusive, if they are followed his strictures should improve the lot of Saudi women. Treating women as fully-functional, adult human beings, with the will and the ability to make their own choices in life, though, is the biggest deficit in Saudi society, I believe.
Abusing women is un-Islamic: Saudi mufti
MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has strongly warned against maltreating women in any form and said this is totally against Islam.
In his Friday sermon at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, the mufti said only bad people treat women badly.
“The psychological or physical abuse of wives, daughters and sisters is against the Islamic Shariah and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” he said.
Al-Asheikh warned husbands and fathers who take the salaries of their wives and daughters that they are committing anti-Islamic acts.
“The fathers who make it a condition to have their daughters’ salaries before they give their consent for marriage are equally wrong. Husbands who force their working wives to share in home expenses are committing erroneous acts. Islam made it the responsibility of the man to spend on the house,” he told the worshippers.
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Arab News runs a piece on new archeological explorations in Saudi Arabia. The archeologists are discovering ancient stone engravings as well as foundations of early buildings. The article states that these may be more than 80,000 years old, but I’d like to see more information on this. Dating ‘Stone Age’ materials is not a trivial exercise and the use of Stone Age technologies extended well into the modern period. I’m not saying they are wrong, just that it’s difficult to assign dates without significant effort and technology. We do know that Saudi Arabia has a deep, ancient history and there remains much to be discovered. I think, too, that what is discovered in Saudi Arabia will add important information about the development of mankind and civilization.
One thing in the article that puzzled me, though, is the identification of an ‘Slave Age’ dating to 5,000 BCE. I’ve simply never come across this term, nor can I find it through an Internet search. This period is in the midst of the Ubaid culture, mostly centered in what is now Iraq, but certain could include the area being discussed here, north of Riyadh. If anyone can point me to more information, I’d appreciate it.
Kingdom has a date with ancient history
ARAB NEWSRIYADH: Archaeologists of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities have excavated a site and discovered a number of archaeological pieces dating back to the Stone Age in Alghat, Riyadh province.
“The antiquities prove that there were intense human activities in the area in ages before history,” the SCTA said in a statement on Saturday.
Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Ghabban, vice president for antiquities and museums, said the Stone Age antiquities were found in Quwaira.
“Our archaeologists have also located rock engravings and drawings in the area,” he said. He said the engravings belonging to Thamudites were found northeast of Alghat and on the west bank of Wadi Markh. They also found models of animals such as horses, camels, ibex and ostrich in the area.
Rock drawings have been located in a hill between Um Shadad and Wadi Markh, east of old Majmaa-Alghat Road.
“The antiquities found in the area date back to the Stone Age and are more than 80,000 years old,” Al-Ghabban pointed out.
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From the Elder of Ziyon blog, admittedly not one I visit often, comes this on-point article about how crazy it is that the Iranian government seeks to portray the Saudi government as ‘Zionist’. The post links to several other inanities on the part of the Iranians. One note, though: the Financial Times link isn’t behind a pay-wall, but does require registration…
From Iran’s FARS:
Large numbers of Iranian students staged a rally in front of the UN office in Tehran to protest at the massacre of peaceful protestors in Bahrain and other Islamic countries in the region.
Protestors voiced their support for Muslims in Bahrain and other Islamic countries and underlined that they will continue their support for the oppressed people in those states.
The students chanted various slogans such as ‘Allaho Akbar’, ‘Down with the USA’, ‘Down with the Zionist regime’, ‘Down with Zionist Saudis’, ‘Down with American-style Islam’ and ‘Saudi commits crimes and the UN backs it’ to voice their support for people in Bahrain and other Islamic countries.
The students urged the Iranian government to dispatch voluntary forces to Bahrain and in other Islamic states.
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[Thanks to commenter Solomon for the pointer.]
While Saudi government employees are enjoying the bonus salary payment given by King Abdullah last month, and many private sector employees are being dragged along in the wake of that gift, Al-Madinah newspaper (here translated by Arab News) points out that imams and muezzins are not among the recipients. The article notes that the people, though paid by government (through the office of the Finance House of Muslims) are not exactly government employees. They are paid only to supplement what they might otherwise earn and are not prohibited, as are full government employees, from holding second jobs.
That’s not exactly fair, the article says, as many do not have second jobs but still need money for expenses, from rent to food. The article calls for these mosque employee/volunteers to become official government employees, with standard salaries and benefits. That might be fairer for them, but it certainly puts another lock on the state/state relationship. On the other hand, if they are to fully become state employees, they would then fall under the same rules and sanctions as other state employees for mis- or malfeasance in performing their jobs. As demands for responsible performance of government officials are growing, that might serve to rein in both extremists and incompetents.
Why are imams left out in the cold?
ABDULLAH AL-JAMILI | AL-MADINAHRules and regulations for imams and muezzins were issued about 40 years ago and since then they have hardly changed.
The monthly pay for a muezzin is barely SR1,200, while an imam receives a maximum of SR4,000 per month. How is it possible that the monthly unemployment benefits of SR2,000, to be paid early next year, is more than what the muezzin gets? Officials of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawa and Guidance claimed what is paid to imams and muezzins is not a monthly salary in the strictest sense of the word, but a reward from the Beit Maal Al-Muslimeen (Finance House of Muslims). They said that nobody should be paid for worshipping God.
If we apply this logic widely, many government jobs can be described as voluntary.
They include judges, notary public, employees of the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (Haia) and Qur’an teachers. The government pays employees in these positions. Why does it not consider imams and muezzins part of this group too? They justify the meager pay by claiming imams and muezzins can get other jobs in addition to their work at the mosque.
They said employees in these positions are the only ones allowed to get another job and earn additional income.
However, many imams and muezzins have no other job to do except lead prayer, deliver sermons and look after the affairs of the mosques. A large number of them have no income other than the little payment they get from the ministry.
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The Associated Press is reporting on the talks to be held by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Saudi King Abdullah. The talks are multi-faceted, covering issues from political reform to dealing with Iran. I take exception to the statement in the piece that the talks are complicated by ‘the added dimension of American dependence on Saudi oil.’ The US is no more dependent on Saudi oil than it is on any other source of oil. For that matter, the entire oil-consuming world is ‘dependent on Saudi oil’ as the oil market is a global one of largely interchangeable suppliers and consumers. Right now, Saudi Arabia is the third greatest source of US-imported oil, but it is only marginally greater than Nigeria or Venezuela. The world is dependent on Saudi oil because that country has such vast reserves and production. Were Saudi Arabia to go off-line, the entire world would shudder, not just the US.
In any event, Secretary Gates will be carrying several messages from Pres. Obama. One will certainly be about speeding the pace of reform in the Kingdom. Another will be to ask for clarification of Saudi Arabia’s role in Bahrain. Oil production and consequent oil prices—not starting to bite in the US economy—will assuredly be among the topics. And of course, Iran. Iran is itself a multi-faceted concern, from its role in Bahrain and the Gulf States, its continued efforts toward presumed nuclear armament, and yes, oil production. While the US doesn’t import any oil from Iran, other countries do and together they comprise an important part of the global oil market. Iran is, as it has always been, hawkish on oil prices. It needs the highest possible prices for its own economic survival. The Kingdom, though, does not and is content with prices considerably lower than current prices. Saudi Arabia, as a global investor, is also concerned that high oil prices not cut the legs out from under global economic recovery. Even though higher prices would go into the Saudi treasury, faltering global economies would be taking that money right out again.
Gates to discuss Arab upheaval with Saudi king
ROBERT BURNS — Associated PressRIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in the Saudi capital Wednesday for talks with King Abdullah on coping with the political upheaval sweeping the Arab world, blunting Iranian efforts to exploit the unrest, and upgrading the kingdom’s defenses against Iranian missiles.
In a sign of the depth of the Obama administration’s concern about the political earthquake that has shaken the region, including the island of Bahrain off Saudi Arabia’s Persian Gulf coast, this was Gates’ third trip to the area in the past month. He has echoed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cautioning of authoritarian Arab governments on the risks of moving too slowly in response to peaceful protests for political freedom.
U.S. relations with the Saudi ruling family have been strained for months, dating to the uprising in Egypt and President Barack Obama’s call for long-time U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak to give up his presidency. Saudi leaders saw this as the U.S. abandoning a reliable friend with close military and diplomatic ties stretching over decades — not unlike the U.S.-Saudi alliance, which has the added dimension of American dependence on Saudi oil.
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