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Living in saudi arabia?
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I recently had this crazy idea that I was going to go live in Saudi Arabia for a year. Actually, it wasn't so much an idea, as a near reality. I signed the contract, moved everything out of my apartment and gave my two weeks notice at my job. In that time, I had multiple problems obtaining a visa and found out some highly disconcerting information regarding the company that was sponsoring me. In the end, I decided that given everything I know, I lack the information necessary to uproot my life and go live in the desert, as tempting as it may be. Luckily, I was able to talk to my boss and get my job back but my apartment is now completely devoid of furniture. The only thing I have is my small dog and my burka hanging up in the closet.
Although I'm bummed out that I won't be witnessing the Hajj this year, waking up at 5am for salat, or just generally experiencing the Muslim lifestyle, my goal is to make sense what happened with my Muslim employers and also to answer some of the questions I had about Islam, without actually getting to experience it, firsthand.
Saudi Arabia is home to the two most holy sites in the Islam religion (Mecca and Medina.) It is also the leading petroleum exporter in the world, which accounts for the rising prices of oil. However, the country has gotten a lot of negative criticism by the Muslim world and much of the western world because it is undoubtebly one of the most conservative countries in the Middle East.
The majority of the people in Saudi Arabia follow Wahhabi Islam. This sect enforces a strict code of behavior modeling what they believe to be the earliest form of Islamic Law (or Sharia) practiced by the ummah, or religious community, dating back to Muhhamad's time. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a monarchy of descendents of the King Abd Al Azziz Al Saud and has been rated by the Economist's Democratic Index in the top ten authoritarian regime in the world. The mutawwa or religious police represent the root of the controversy associated with Wahhabi Islam. Human rights organizations throughout the world have criticized Saudi Arabia's use of capital punishment and torture in the form of floggings and amputations as a means of punishment for things like: drunkenness, violation of dress code, homosexuality, infidelity and theft.
So why would I want to live somewhere like this? I'll admit, some of this stuff is scary. But then, I thought, there are good things and bad things about every culture. I was pretty certain that not everything there was going to be horrible and dangerous. Moreover, I wanted desperately to understand Islam. What better way to understand the religion than to live in the most conservative Muslim country in the world?
In the past few decades alone, the Muslim world has gone through massive transformations. Many Muslim countries, for example Turkey and Lebanon, are adopting more liberal approaches to Sharia. In places like United Arab Emirates, women are allowed to wear makeup and show their hair. In this time, Saudi Arabia has made small advances, mostly in developing and growing cities and being more accepting of non-muslims. However, it still remains incredibly conservative and caught in the past. I'm wondering why that is and also what it's like to live in a world where everything you do is dictated by Islam.
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