Job Discussion Forums

[MAstudent]

Western myths and KSA
A Butler � Australian political analyst
N Furqan MA � Lecturer on Social Studies and political analyst, KSA

Since September 11, 2001, much has been written about a supposed struggle within Islam between the forces of religious fundamentalism and �progressiveness�. It�s no secret that many in the West have backed the latter in this two-horse race for the hearts and souls of the Muslim world.
With its promise of secularization, a feminist-led reworking of traditional gender roles, and a willingness to reinterpret almost every aspect of Islam � from its punishments to its proscriptions � self-styled progressives have offered the West a palatable alternative to traditional interpretations of Islam.

The frequent references to Islamic �reformations� and �Muslim Martin Luthers� offers an insight into the West�s thinking about contemporary Muslim society. It demonstrates a condescending approach to other cultures that assumes the universality of its own historical model of separation of church and state to attain modernity; suggesting that the route the West has taken is the only way forward, and that all other cultures, including Islam, will eventually imitate it.
Recognizing an inconsistency between Islamic teachings and the contemporary secular values of the West, Muslim liberals offer a radical re-interpretation of Islam as the solution. However, while other religions have, to their detriment, embraced relativism and adapted accordingly, such a phenomenon is unknown to Islam. Muslims have retained a firm belief both in the infallibility and literal truth of their text. Islam does not share the temporality of other faiths: the exhortation of the prophet 1,400 years ago remains equally valid today; and while Islam allows some limited adaptation to culture and technology, what was deemed immoral 1,400 years ago remains immoral today.

Despite this, there remains the optimistic belief that, given the opportunity, Muslims will choose to free themselves from the shackles of theology and embrace some vacuous notion of �modernity�. However, the much-heralded Saudi elections demonstrate the fallacy of such thinking.
Last year, elections were held for municipal councils in Saudi Arabia. The elections, broadly welcomed as baby-steps taken on the road to democracy, attracted an amazing response: in Riyadh alone, some 1,800 Saudis registered as candidates. Many of these were millionaires, many were seeking to trade on tribal ties, and yet others were public figures well known to the Saudi public. The expectation of both Saudi liberals and many Western commentators was that the election would validate claims of popular support for liberalization.

However, when votes were counted, it emerged that Saudis had voted for people whose defining qualities were their religious conservatism and the endorsement of Saudi Arabia�s religious establishment. Even in Jeddah, the most liberal of Saudi cities and the intellectual heartland of Saudi secularism, the six candidates elected were the six candidates endorsed by Islamic scholars � the so-called �Golden List�.
Election results across the kingdom have shattered the myth of a Saudi nation repressed by its clergy; anxious to throw off the manacles of puritan Islam and adopt the nostrums of the secular West. It also offers Western cheerleaders for a democratic Middle East a clear lesson: given the vote, Muslims will overwhelmingly vote �yes� for Islam and �no� for secularism and Western-style liberalism.

As a regular visitor to the Middle East, it is hard not to feel the winds of change are blowing; however, they are clearly not blowing in the direction that the US and her allies have intended. In Saudi Arabia, the war on Iraq and the bellicose position taken by the US toward the religious practices of the kingdom has fed an already advanced Islamic revival. The West�s open support for self-styled �progressives� and �reformers� has only bolstered the credibility of their opposition. By way of example, whereas once there was no purely Islamic satellite channel in the kingdom, today there are two: one for adults, and one for children.

The phenomena evidenced in the Saudi elections will continue as more Arab governments are cajoled or threatened into making further democratic reforms. Paradoxically, reforms that were meant to usher in a democratic, secular and pro-Western Middle East will lead to more religious governments articulating a more independent foreign policy.

At the end of November this year, a new college on the outskirts of Riyadh held a cultural week which has attracted much comment and aroused much suspicion. Speakers where invited to lecture on a variety of cultural issues, mainly centering on current Saudi social problems. The majority of the invited lecturers where from the so called �liberal progressive� fan club and advocated the need for a secular Saudi Arabia.
Some writers and newspapers mentioned one of the major incidents that happened during this week. One writer commented: �Riyadh, on the night of Nov 27, 2006, while millions of Saudis were sleeping, a handful of students in the capital unknowingly started a cultural revolution. Life imitated art when a stage play, Wasati Bila Wasatiya (''A Moderate without Moderation'') at Al Yamamah, an international college in Riyadh, triggered a violent confrontation between the Mutawa or Islamic religious police, and hundreds of students, expatriate teachers, actors and members of the audience. As cinemas and theatres in Saudi Arabia are outlawed, this was the first time a theatrical production exploring contemporary social issues was ever shown. The onstage struggle resulted in props being destroyed, lights smashed and actors battered. A firearm was discharged. The play was about social change in the kingdom.� (http://www.bangkokpost.com/ focus on Saudi Arabia by Harry Nicolaides)

Even though this description contains a great deal of exaggeration, it provides the general description of what occurred. However, the writer fails, like many others, to critically analyze what actually led to the violence on Monday. Some have commented � even one of the colleges guest speakers, Al-Ghadhami - that the problem was actually caused by al-Yamamah College officials stifling debate on the issue of conservatism versus liberalism, as a group of �conservatives� had especially attended on Sunday to open the debate and provide more than one opinion on the issue. This then led to frustration and in turn to the subsequent violence.

In addition, some writers have tried to claim that the students at al-Yamamah College are representative of the Saudi student population or Saudi Society. This premise is false on many accounts; firstly, the students of al-Yamamah college, generally, are from affluent families who can afford to travel and therefore have affiliations to Western thought and the Western way of life, they are also drop outs from other free Saudi universities - some couldn�t take the pressures of other universities or failed their courses - and have the money to pay their way through their studies, and also al-Yamamah boasts a male student body of less then 500 students, which is a minute percentage of the student body in the Kingdom. Therefore, to indicate that events, thoughts and practices of these affluent al-Yamamah students are indicative of the Saudi student body or even Saudi society in general is ridiculous and without basis. Rather, this notion lies in the minds of western compound dwelling expats, who have little experience or contact with the general Saudi outside the institution they work.

Al-Yamamah College has - by inviting liberal secularist lecturers � aligned itself with a fringe movement which the majority of Saudis � religious or otherwise � have rejected at the polls. These occurrences in Saudi Arabia should not necessarily be cause for concern. Islamic scholars have been at the forefront of opposing religious extremism; and 1,400 years of Islamic history shows a correlation between the religiousness of the government and its ability to embrace technology and advance human learning. Indeed, the West is likely to be a benefactor of the increased social, economic and political stability that comes from representative governments in the oil-rich Muslim world.

The war on Iraq has frequently been cast as a test of our collective commitment to democracy and freedom. As the Saudi elections show, the real test is yet to come: can our belief in the right of all people to self-determination accommodate a Middle East that chooses the absolutism and certainty of Islam over the relativism and institutionalized atheism of secularism?

Adapted from http://www.amirbutler.com/archives/2005/05/03/37

[Stephen Jones]

All the guy has done is grafted comments on the Al-Yamanah debate to an eighteen-month old article, and set up a few more strawmen.

A profoundly uninteresting article.

[Cleopatra]

So students in private colleges are not representative of Saudi society as a whole.

So Jarir and Tamimi expats don't have a clue about what goes on outside compound walls.

So most Saudis are deeply religous and conservative.

So the "West's" supposed commitment to Middle East democracy is hypocritical and self-serving.

I have come away from reading this article knowing many things that I did not know before.

[veiledsentiments]

And then there is the detail of exactly 'WHO' got to vote in this election? Was it a representative group of Saudis? (NO) or a hand-picked miniscule batch of rich and connected male members of the royals and religious authorites? (uh... YES) There have been many joke elections around the world, but Saudi Arabia's are laughable. To use its results to prove anything is

VS

[Rennenkampf]

These elections remind me of Florida

[caliph]

There is a similar "election" about to take place in the UAE.

[veiledsentiments]

Yup... same playbook...

Florida is doing it more high tech... or High Court... as the case may be.

VS

[Stephen Jones]

I thought there was universal male suffrage for the municipal elections in Saudi. There was little or no real debate though.

I suspect that the problem with youth, whether at university or unemployed or trying to drive taxis part time, is that they have little real interest in the elections, which they see as irrelevant.

The viewing figures for Tash-ma-Tash give a different view of Saudi society from that reflected in the article. And I didn't see any muttawa types getting very far in Arab pop idol :)

[MAstudent]

Cleo: �So students in private colleges are not representative of Saudi society as a whole.�

The article mentioned al-Yamamah students and said that they were not representative of the Saudi student population as a whole. I don't remember it saying that Saudi students at all private institutions are not representative.

�So Jarir and Tamimi expats don't have a clue about what goes on outside compound walls.�

I think that the authors were being sarcastic and perhaps meant the specific author of the Bangkok post, but in my experience many westerners who live in KSA don't really know what�s going on, or what the general Saudi believes and in reality don't care! Most are more interested in getting hold of some siddiqi stuff or better (Most not all!)

�So most Saudis are deeply religious and conservative.�

Again the article did not say most Saudis are religious, rather it commented that the polls showed that the Saudi population wanted Islamists in important posts in the country.

'So the "West's" supposed commitment to Middle East democracy is hypocritical and
self-serving.'

Come on Cleo, even you can't deny this! Just look at what the West did when Hamas took office democratically. Also, after the Palestinian people have given the Hamas government a mandate until 2010, President Abbass (supported and encouraged by western countries) has ordered fresh elections to oust the Hamas government, is this commitment to true democracy?

Also the House of Saud is supported by and a great ally of the West, even though it is a corrupt oppressive regime which suppresses any form of critism of it, but they supply the West with cheap oil which keeps them happy! Hypocritical and self-serving describes certain Western countries well.

Representative:

According to the BBC:
11/02/05

�The law says: "Every citizen can vote if they are over the age of 21, not in the military and have lived in a constituency one year before polling day."

Women are excluded from the polls and only some 148,000 of 400,000 eligible men have registered to vote in Riyadh.

According to official figures quoted by AFP news agency, over 70% of registered voters turned out.

Without ID cards, voters cannot register and officials say it was not possible to issue ID cards for all women before the vote.

But they have promised that women will be part of the next elections in 2009.�

'http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4252079.stm'

As for handpicking of candidates and voters than this has not been substantiated at all and rather is just people�s speculation.

I did hope that, as English teachers, there would be some critical analysis of the article but alas I was wrong!

[Cleopatra]

[scot47]

The information would probably be a surprise to anyone whose regular diet of news is from the Daily Mail or Sky TV. To others it might e less surprising.

[MAstudent]

Cleo: �I think it's fairly obvious that exactly the same thing could be said for the students of any private college, anywhere in the ME. Such places, by definition, cater to the elites of society.�

Would you say the students of the Government universities are representative of the Saudi student population? Do they out number the private schools?
Another important point to note is, does the student population represent Saudi society at present? This would make interesting research!

�I think you saw a lot of very critical analysis, but you don't like the fact that other people didn't consider it as 'interesting' as you did.�

Perhaps you don�t understand what critical analysis is, I think you should read up on it!

Just to add, after looking at the statistics it could be argued that the polls weren�t representative but they are what transpired. This also happens in many western countries where polling turnout is on the decline.

�BTW, if you're going to appeal to English teachers' sense of professionalism, do make sure your sentences are grammatical.�

I sory taesher I tre butter last tim!

[Cleopatra]

[Queen of Sheba]

MAStudent, you seem really concerned about things that are happening in KSA, in particular between the expats, ESL teachers, liberals and conservative debates. I understand you work here and are a Muslim, thus somewhat aware and concerned about the future of the Middle East, but it seems you post with the same concerns regarding Al Yamamah and the aforementioned. You have shown your political agenda and slant repeatedly, and doing exactly what you 'preach' against by not respecting the natural flow of discourse in KSA. After all, none of us are Saudis, by birth anyway, even though many of us may have family, social and religious links here, and all of these debates are by and for Saudis to gauge their countrymens' views on issues. You and all others who post political commentary, yet have obviously only ever taught here, and are not Saudis, or even related to Saudis, are pompous and mostly brush the surface of the complex issues in the country.

I am not saying its not interesting or relevant to some of us, I just see you are extremely vigilant in maintaining the topics that we are ultimately removed from as non-Saudis. In addition, those of us who are aware enough of Saudi issues and Middle Eastern as well are aware of the Wests' or Easts, in this case, slants and biases on Middle Eastern and Muslim issues in particular. So was it any big surprise that they would print such propaganda? Toned down generalizations are what sells and it�s about the average readers' level of understanding anyway. Its naive to expect anything more. Those of us that are interested in these topics are not the mainstream media type anyway, wouldn�t you agree?

I think Cleo was trying to point out the same thing by saying "so" this and that. This article and the references, which I have read, is not newsworthy or particularly interesting material to people on this forum. We are all replying and inquisitive about your intentions however. What is interesting is your allegiance and obvious slant against any moves towards moderation or change in the country. I would hope you could explain your angle a little but more, and with more specific clarity regarding your work to be done in Saudi.

[MAstudent]

As QoS has so kindly asked me to give my opinion or my slant I've decided to mention it:

I think the Kingdom is a magic place to work and magic not always in the good sense. It has its big problems and extremities. I see Saudi changing, going towards what some would call 'progress', others would call 'moderation' and yet others would call 'decadence'. There is a struggle going on, perhaps more so between the views of the younger generation and those of the older generation. I believe that Saudi will change in the next 5-10years and become a different and more 'freer' country.

My place in the debate is to educate the Saudi students and prepare them to think for themselves, give them the tools by which the can decide their own futures. Many teachers are here not to do that, rather they are here to do the minimal amount of work and take the maximum advantages due to their names, colors, nationalities, etc.

If, in the end, the Saudi population decides for a secular Saudi Arabia, then that is up to them and they have the right to do so. I have lived in a secular country most of my life and have had no problem with it. Also, I know that in the end I will return to that country and regard it as my home. Saudi Arabia is a temporary station for me, like other teachers. I do think that debate, sharing ideas and even arguing over issues (even if they don't concern you directly and you can't influence them directly) is healthy and is what i was taught to do throughout my education.

Cleo: I was a MA student when I joined the forum, however since then I�ve finished my MA and am pursuing my PhD! so perhaps I will become Dr MAstudent some day!