Life in Saudi Arabia (letter from a Westerner who lived there)

Some of your readers comment on dealing with Saudi Arabia. They are either ignorant of conditions there, or choose to ignore them. I lived there and prospered on a one-year contract, supporting the Saudi Arabian armed forces on a project still classified. There are some things any non-resident should know before going there.

1. The only religion allowed there is Islam. Some Christians in isolated locations may have weekly discussion groups, but they keep a very low profile.

2. There are no tourists. You must be in Saudi Arabia on business with a Saudi Arabian sponsor or a religious pilgrim. Religious pilgrims are tightly controlled. All visitors must surrender their passports on entry for keeping by the sponsor. It will be returned when leaving the country.

3. Business visitors: Men in single status are common. Professional men with families are welcome, and living accomodations are nice, with special provisions for female family members, who must conduct themselves according to most Islamic traditions. Veils are not required. The shopping bargains available without taxes or duties make "shop until you drop" a favorite activity, but all women are acutely aware that women's restrooms are quite rare, and they must plan carefully. Modest (neck to ankle length) dress is required, and a black long robe (abaya) is strongly recommended. Women in single status work as nurses, teachers, and stewardesses. They live in tightly controlled dormitories, and even a hint of improper behavior will be subject to brutal treatment. Housemaids have their passports held, and sometimes are not allowed the ID necessary to travel outside the house. The male sponsor rules. There are abuses at all levels, but they are rare. All foreigners are in Saudi Arabia as servants to the native population, and are treated that way.

4. Alcohol is forbidden, but can be found inside some compounds. Drugs bring the death penalty. Prostitution has a penalty of death by stoning. The sexes do not mix in Saudi Arabian society, and all restaurants have walled-off family areas. Single men are allowed there only by expressed invitation. There is no night life, movies, plays, dancing, opera, etc. One thing the male visitor must know before arrival: DO NOT SPEAK TO A SAUDI WOMAN without the clearly expressed consent of her or her male escort under any circumstances. It implies that she is a prostitute and deserves death by stoning. This will not make friends for the visitor.

5. Visitors break the rules all of the time, but they do it carefully, and must be ready to accept the penalties. Men get a lecture and deportation, but really have to work at it to get jail time. Women are routinely beaten, jailed, have their heads shaved, and get "Prostitute" stamped in their passports. The religious police (mutawa) can beat on anyone with a half-meter stick for misbehaving at any time. They are infamous for beating "immodest" women with little provocation. They cannot do anything else unless permitted by a Saudi Arabian policeman. If the policeman is present, he will allow them to do whatever they want. They are noted for closing down stores and restaurants at prayer time, forcing non-Muslims to wait outside during the five daily prayer calls. Be aware that the mutawa can come in any building at any time if they feel that a sin is being committed. Foreign compound guards have elaborate alarm systems for this eventuality. Also, no one is allowed to leave if there is any trace of alcohol on their breath. Men cannot jog unless clad from neck to knee, unless they are in a closed compound. Women cannot swim, run, ride bicycles, drive any vehicle, or ride animals outside of compound walls. Women in shorts are not tolerated. Some compounds are quite large. Foreign men and women do meet (cautiously) and the Hash House Harriers have runs and beer kegs in the desert. The Saudi Arabians are not amused.

6. Any discussion of war with the Saudi Arabians must recognize that the military reserves there are Bedouins. Bedouins have considerable power here. Where most traffic on the freeway system travels well over 100 MPH, the Bedouins drive their Toyota pickups, all with identical paint jobs, at about 50 MPH. Nobody in his right mind will mess with them. They prosper in a desert, the Empty Quarter, where the temperatures are normally over 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime, and can drop below freezing at night. attempts to post the regular army in the Empty Quarter have all failed. They cannot take the heat, barren land, or lack of water. Bedouins have wells, usually brackish. The Bedouins volunteer as reservists because every reservist is given a submachine gun when he goes on active duty. No Bedouin goes anywhere without one.

7. The law here is strictly Islamic. Saudi Arabians get precedence. Other Arabians follow. Europeans are next, with Muslims getting precedence. Third world countries follow, again with Muslims getting precedence. Yemenis were automatically guilty when I was there, but this might change. Israelis do not exist, even in Palestine. There is no Israel.

8. The royal family is a special case. They are about 4000 strong, all wives or direct descendants of Abdul Azziz Ibn Rahman Al Saud, known in the United States as Ibn Saud. They have distinctive license plates, reserved seats on all aircraft, and rule the country through the one they decide is the current king. Faisal is the current king, but too infirm to rule. Abdullah actually rules now. A king who will not step down on demand is killed. This has happened. All relief work in the country is done by, or supervised by, the royal family. Widows with no sons to take them in, or no surviving family to support them and their daughters, must go weekly to a royal family home for subsistence. There is no other legal means. The royal family does support them.

9. I met some men there who were in Iran and Kuwait when trouble broke out. They had already arranged hiding places and stocked them for indefinite stays. Survival is not a game to these men. The income in Arabia and the side benefits of low prices, free housing, and no taxes are a powerful draw, but survival when law breaks down is not pretty or fun.

10. I dealt with several Saudi Arabians and many imported workers while there. The Saudi Arabians are devout, polite, and ask only that you honor their religion and customs. They have surrendered their lives to God's will, which is identical to the will of the male head of the family and the will of the King of Saudi Arabia. To a Muslim, there is no difference. The only person I upset was an elderly man that expected me to speak Arabic. The barber quickly stepped in to help out and the situation ended.

This is from one of Jerry's correspondents, and feels like a truly accurate description of Saudi life from someone who has been there. Know thy enemy.

If you don't know Jerry Pournelle, he's an extremely interesting gentleman. Cold Warrior, political operative, fiction writer, computer columnist hits the high points. A modern Renaissance man, at some level.

The link will go bad ("currentmail"), and become part of the mail archives for this week.

Thanks for the post. Here is another good site about Islam includes some testimonials from people who been to Saudi Arabia

http://www.faithfreedom.org/

Know your enemy is right.

And we thought some of our oldtime allies like Somoza and Marcos were bad. (At least they were sane ... most of the time.)

America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (60 minute video)

He pretty much has it right. About the store closings for prayer, I remember a shop owner telling me it was prayer time, and I'd have to leave. He was very sorry explained to me he would love to have my business, but he'd get in trouble if he let me stay. Kind of like trying to buy alcohol in some states on a Sunday.

I get the feeling that the average Saudi would love to come more into the 21st century, but cultural restrictions are too strong. This even applies to the way they eat. The left hand is considered unclean because of their method of sanitation, so can't be used to eat, etc. But one of them showed me how you can kind of bend the rules when trying to drink from a glass using a right-hand that's a bit slippery from having eaten from it (you quickly support the glass with the back of your left hand).

It's standard everywhere, you create restrictive victimless crime and blue laws, and everyone breaks them when they can.

I have always wondered why "temporal reciprocity" cannot be adopted by other countries: Saudis will be treated according to their own laws when visiting our country.
What better way to make a statement without having to utter a word or pass another law?

I always say the rejoinder of "we can't stoop to their level" is a certain admission of defeat. Some people are just naturally disposed to Dhimmitude.

Ah, Islam - the religion of Peace AND Tolerance (TM)

It's just amazing what you get when religious fundamentalists run a country. First thing they do is try to exclude all other religions. Just look at Rob Barr and the Wiccans, but that's okay because he's your religion, right?

More or less matches my recollections- condition differ depending on whether you're in the Dhahran area on the east coast, or in the central part of the country (riyadh)

Dhahran/Al-Khobar was not as strict as riyadh- and the Armaco compounds were essentially little parts of the US that had been dropped into the country. Our parents all had their own stills, kids were smoking dope and engaging in carnal activities that would be illegal in this country, etc.

Saudis were always nice, essentialy zero crime, etc.

One nit- even the Bedu don't thrive in the empty quarter. NOTHING thrives in the empty quarter.

Except, oddly enough, flies.

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