The Sheikhs of Araby
At a luxury autoshow in Saudi Arabia, people enquire about supercars like this one, which costs over $2.4 million. Photo: AFP
In an interview given at the height of his power, General Pervez Musharraf tried to make sense of his own good fortune and why he was destined to rule this nation: “I am the only Pakistani for whom not only the door of Khana-e-Kaaba was specially opened but I had the unique honour of saying azaan from the rooftop of Khana-e-Kaaba. Not once, but twice.”
For people like me who have grown up watching countless images of the Khana-e-Kaaba, the scene was hard to imagine. It sounded disrespectful, even mildly blasphemous. Because of all the images that we have seen of the Kaaba in all its sacred glory, never has one seen a human being on the rooftop of the Kaaba. If it happens, it probably happens off camera and one has to be the head of a nuclear armed state to earn the privilege. Given Pakistan’s brotherly ties with Saudi Arabia, or to be more accurate, given successive Pakistani rulers’ brotherly ties with the very extended clan of Khadim-e-Haramain al Sharifain, Musharraf might have been granted this extra ordinary if not heretic-sounding privilege.
Musharraf was trying to evoke divine sanction by revealing his exalted status. He was appealing to our absolute devotion to the idea that Saudi Arabia is a holy place, its rulers are holy people, and if they accept you as their own, you are a holy person and all your worldly actions are beyond reproach. How can an ordinary human being, who has never seen the inside of Haram Sharif, question the actions of a man who has been handpicked by Allah and then endorsed by his reps in Saudi Arabia? The chant that goes up in a thousand mosques and naat khwani sessions across our land – meray maula, bula le Madinay mujhe – is not just an expression of a vague spiritual yearning, it’s a political statement; almost our unofficial national anthem.
The Saudi Arabia of our imagination is an ancient place, not much different from the way the second Caliph Omar might have found it on one of his nightly rounds. It’s a place where shopkeepers leave their shops open when they go to the mosque to pray. It’s a place of zero crime where a lone woman dressed in all her finery can go from one end of the kingdom to the other end, juggling gold coins, and nobody would dare give her a second glance. Here, justice is swift and transparent. The thieves get their hands chopped off in public, large crowds of believers gather to watch spectacular beheadings. Here, even wild camels are well behaved. The Saudis have followed Allah’s law in letter and spirit and hence, they have been blessed with unimaginable wealth. Is it not a miracle that desert bedouins are the world’s richest people? Is it not true that although hardly anything grows in those deserts but even if a dog goes hungry at night the ruler feels the responsibility?
There is enough evidence to suggest that it is all nonsense.
Saudi Arabia is a cruel place if you are not related to the ruling clan. If you are a foreigner, you might be living in the apartheid era in South Africa. If you are a Pakistani or a Bangladeshi, you can live there for three generations and still not get your basic rights as a citizen. If you are a girl student you can burn to death as the religious police stops firemen from entering your school. Saudi Arabia might pretend to conform to a 1,400-year-old tribal code, but they are also the world’s largest consumers of fast cars, luxury linen and flashy jewellery. They are the prized clients of the world’s richest casinos and upmarket brothels. Saudi Arabia keeps the American arms manufacturing industry in business, yet has no capacity to defend itself or any of the dozens of other Muslim countries that are not as blessed with American weaponry as Saudia. Here is a country which provided the most number of men for the 9/11 attacks yet nobody has ever suggested that the bombs that fell on Afghanistan and Iraq should have been directed towards Saudia. It has produced little except senile rulers with more wives than a Mormon could ever dream of. They have exported nothing but doomsday visionaries, who have been preaching and practicing the art of televised throat-slitting, mostly to and on their Muslim brothers.
Somewhere between the world of our devout imagination and cruel reality, lives the real Saudi Arabia: the retirement home for world-class despots and a last chance salon for desperate politicians. This is a place where the first-ever co-ed university is seen as a sign of radical change and the opening of a cinema is downright revolutionary. The same western world which makes gender equality and gay rights a litmus test for judging the rest of the world, mumbles cultural sensitivity when it comes to Saudi Arabia. They obviously care more about the welfare of their weapons industry and their casino economy rather than the right of Saudi Arabian women to get behind a wheel, or an ordinary citizen’s access to justice.
Islam is often cited as the main reason for our fascination with Saudia and Saudis. We do not seem to have the same brotherly love for Palestinians or our brothers in Darfur. Maybe they are not as good Muslims as the Saudis? Or may be they are just not as rich?
There was a picture circulating on the internet earlier this year: a number of Saudi young men sprawled in front of a lingerie shop, trying to look up the dresses on mannequins in a window display. Undergarments again made headlines last month when an Al-Qaeda member tried to blow up Prince Muhammed Bin Naif, Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism czar. The bomber hid the bomb in his underwear. The initial reports suggested that he had hidden the bomb in his rectum. But the Saudi authorities clarified that the bomb was indeed hidden in his underwear. The attacker assumed, correctly, that because of cultural reasons, his underwear would not be searched. And he was right. After a standard search procedure, he was allowed to meet Prince Naif and exploded the bomb after having a long chat with him.
In a society where they pretend that underwear doesn’t exist, underwear sometimes tends to blow up.
Related post: Giving Away the Family Silver by Najma Sadeque
The opinions expressed in this article and the views shared by readers in the comment forum below do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance or policies of Newsline.
Share this post:
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Great article, finally someone of Pakistani origin has guts to say about a taboo subject in Pakistani major media.
Definitely a refreshing and updated perspective on the real Saudi Arabia and the difference between reality and face value. Good read for an average Pakistani with average religious view about Saudi Arabia.
However attacking an individual’s, Ex-President Musharraf, cherished memory seemed irrelevant and politically motivated. ANY Muslim of whatever religious scale, would feel exalted to go inside the Khana Kaaba and/or say Azaan.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by timothythompson: Saudis exposed RT @tazeen The Sheikhs of Araby — http://bit.ly/10S8MC...
the doors of Khana Kaaba are opened for all the heads of muslim states, and also for prime ministers, and other civil or millitary officials depending upon their position and the role they play and secondly the relations they share with the ruling saudis.
as far is Azaan on the roof of Khana Kaaba is concerned, i am of the opinion that it isnt disrespectful or blasphemous because Hazrat Belal and other Companions would do the same during the time of the the Prophet Muhammad.
however if Musharraf has had the privilleges, braging about them doesnt speak very high of him; specially when he applies Islam to his self very broad-mindedly (alkohol and etc).
but indeed the Kingdom of Saudia seems to follow a very biased rule; they would highly favor and rich and important, drive american GMCs with pride, buy their weapons, sell them oil on credit, provide them with investments, and still be oliged to them. on the other hand thee poor pakis and bangaliis etc are taken and refered to as low grade people who dont have the rights or in a more mocking way that they dont deserve to have the rights. the story and the detail of reality is grim, yet we Muslims feel the respect and hope all is fixed and becomes just as our feelings and emotions are, about the holy land.
He is confused man, I don’t believe a word.
Excellent article. As Mike mentioned earlier, writing about Saudi Arabia in anything less than glowing terms is rare in the Pakistani media. In all fairness, the hypocrisy of the Saudi elite and the discrimination meted out to South Asians is not unique to Saudi Arabia. It happens in nearly every singly oil-rich Arab state, particularly places that are heavily reliant on inexpensive immigrant labour.
Having grown up in Saudi Arabia as a Pakistani expatiriate I can say all that is written is entirely true.
Opulence begets avarice in a very hungry world! As the oil supplies dwindle it also begets bitter hatred for cutting supplies and marauding American militarists looking for a way to increase flows: witness Iraq and its opulent leader. The Saudis hold a unique and precarious and temporary position in an ever-changing world. Asians are a hungry lot and the Asians are watching through gun sights as the rest of the world parades by. Beware the Red Dragon, for he shows contempt for the status quo, does not recognize even the American patent laws and seeks out anomalies of richness to devour! 1.6 Billion hungry Chinese are hard to resist and then there’s the Indian population, soon aware of Saudi riches and hungry for them! Americans grow short on cheap oil each day, too! and they have the greatest military clout in the world! – Poor Saudis have little in their defense save for what Americans allow them. As the world turns fortunes change. Beware the follies of the Arab Princes.
As Naddem F Paracha puts it that Pakistanis would have hailed the drone attacks had they come from the Saudis who are our brothers and we their camels
Im from India. I have been in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for more than 11 years now.
Comparing lives of foreigners in Saudi Arabia to the South African Apartheid is preposterous and appalling. Surely Mr. Hanif has no clue of what he is talking about. He must be basing his argument on pakistani expatriates bitching about saudi arabia. This is what people from India and Pakistan do best. They live comfortable and luxurious lives in a country and then grumble and slander about it. Almost everything is based on here-say and very little on actual events or facts.
I am not denying that certain acts of racism, bias, prejudice and oppression do not occur in Saudi Arabia. But this is common to every place in the world. Its just relative. period.
The saudi ruling family and the elite are a bunch of scoundrels and thieves. This is a fact. But let us not generalize and paint the whole of saudi arabia with the same brush. Most Saudis are religious and cultured people. Good and bad people exist everywhere. The Pakistani elite are not far behind their Saudi counterparts.
What Mr. Hanif fails to mention is that the Saudi ruling family was put in place by the British. King Abdul Aziz was on the payroll of the British, similar to Mr. Hanif, who is now working for the BBC. Therefore, they will do as their masters command.
Mr. Hanif’s focus on frivolous things, just goes to prove his immaturity of thought and understanding of Islam and saudi culture. Maybe he seeks to get some mileage by writing articles which are pleasing to his bosses at the BBC.
Rightly said Anas, my experience as a visitor to different midlle-eastern countries was similar. Majority of Indian/Pakistani/Bangali expats remain discontent over strict procedures for ‘citizenship’ yet die trying to get one.
The stringent laws for citizenship in these countries are plausible as they dont want another ‘East India Company’ or ‘Israel’. Most of all, the rulers of these countries are committed to working for the betterment of their masses unlike sub-continent countries where the masses only serve the purpose of nurturing the enterprise of their ‘elite’ politicians and military without having anything good in turn.
This article is very biased and written by someone who perhaps has never been there.Yes Saudia and all mid-eastern countires may turn out to be a cruel place for you if you are a drug-dealer, criminal, or theif masquerading as labourer.
After all, the 1400 century code that according to the writer Saudis adhere to has practically reaped great benefits for the commoners there who at least live in a peaceful place. Way better than our feudalistic democracy that only breeds corrupt and self-centered rulers.
Follow Us
Search by Keyword
Search by Author
Powered by Authors WidgetLatest Poll
Will Pakistan win the third Test match against England and secure the "clean sweep" in the series?
Total Voters: 61
Blog Row
Media Partners
Blogs from Pakistan and Around the World
Top Search Terms
Recent Comments
Most Read...