SPIRIT OF OUR TIMES

DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS

King of Saudi Arabia

to meet

President-elect Barack Obama

Abdullah ibn Abdel Aziz al-Saud arrived in New York City for an Interfaith Conference at the United Nations, as fresh steps in the thousand-mile journey to find peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. King Abdullah then traveled to Washington D.C. for a meeting of the world's twenty largest economies, dubbed The G-20 Summit, to discuss global financial regulations and hosted by President George W. Bush.

Following a sojourn at the Saudi Arabian Embassy, the king is expected to visit with President-elect Barack Obama who has, so far, declined invitations from heads of state prior prior to his inaugeration on January 20th.

And if so, then where Bush failed in his mission to bring peace to the Middle-East, we wish the president-elect all the magic in the world. While at the U.N. the Saudi king, who asked Israel to join the interfaith conference, had refused to sit at the same dining table with the its president, Shimon Perez.

How might the incoming president, who believes the office must be able to handle at least two or more issues at once, close open wounds between Arabs and Jews while simultaneously coming into the orbit of those centuries-old traditions still practiced in much of the Mid-East that reflect the primeval, pre-Islam society?

It's important that the president-elect meets with King Abdullah. But to avoid a meet-and-greet turning into a grip-and-grin, here are a few pointers along with a little history:

Alcohol and drugs are not only prohibited inside Saudi Arabia, the punishment for production and distribution can include death.

The Saudis are sensitive to Western criticism of the Arab world.

The Saudis highly value hospitality.

If you smoke, be prepared to offer a cigarette and a light to everyone in the room.

Never place the sole of your shoe facin toward another person—this is a great insult.

The Saudis have definite ideas about what constitutes proper masculine and feminine behavior. A close friend will be greeted with an embrace and multiple kisses on the cheek; and it’s not considered unnatural for two men to hold hands. But homosexuality they consider a sin and a great crime.

Religious affiliation is essential for every person. Saudi society does not make allowances for either atheist or agnostic.

Saudi culture is divided between the cultured city-dwellers and more primitive villagers.

The Saudis are very security conscious as a national interest, yet their commitment to sound planning, principles and preventive measures is lacking. Their military tradition is not accustomed to hard labor, and does not like taking orders or wearing a uniform.

Never use your left hand. Traditionally, the left hand is used to wipe after using the toilet and is considered unclean.

On the other hand (no pun intended) it's very polite to accept anything that is offered you to eat or drink; but impolite to ask anyone to share with you.

FROM MECCA TO MEDINA

For decades a friend of the Bush family, King Abdullah and the Saudi royal family have become increasingly critical of the political and military posturing of President George W. Bush in the Middle East; so the king's government remain cautious in its dealings with the United States.

Americans know about Saudi Arabia from what they find watching Hollywood movies.

The Kingdom (2007) strategically packaged with rapid-fire editing and breathlessly upbeat vibes for a generation of attention deficit disorder, allows only snippets of information and plenty of flashy graphics. After a terrorist attack on an American housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, FBI agents on a tight lease and with little help from Saudi security are constrained for five days to investigate the murder scene. It keeps the story simple, stupid. As "entertainment" it succeeds.

But somewhere lodged between the epic sweep of Lawrence of Arabia (1962)and the rapid-fired delivery of The Kingdom is the political conundrum of Syriana (2005) wherein the CIA needs a scapegoat when it's plot to kill the Emir-apparent of a Mid-East monarchy (Saudi?) fails; meanwhile, an American economist parlays the death of his son into a contract to advise that same Emir.

The point here is, all roads lead to the oil fields...

And begs for a reality check on the part of President-elect Barack Obama, or at the very least a reasoned-debate with King Abdullah, over how U.S.-Saudi relations contradict yet reconcile in becoming significant but insufficient.

Since the Persian War, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has consistently opposed the leftist democratic movement within its borders, as well as the political extremist known as al-Qaeda, all this while promoting Sunni Islam and playing a pivotal role in the Arab world.

Saudi foreign policy objectives are to promote and maintain cooperative relationships with other oil-producing countries (OPEC) and with major oil-consuming countries like the United States, with diplomatic relations between the Saudis and the U.S. having been historically strong; but strained of late over oil prices, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the war in Iraq—these only a few among other recent events.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy ruled by the al-Saud family that governs in accordance with Islamic Law known as Sharia. The country has no written constitution, no parliament—but has “five pillars” that form the basis of Muslim life: Faith, Prayer, Charity, Fasting and Pilgrimage. And though the king exercises sole authority, he rules in consultation with a council of ministers.

King Abdullah ascended the throne following the death of his father Fahd in August, 2005.

Assuming all political responsibilities, King Abdullah has been portrayed as an honest, traditional man seeking to reestablish the legitimacy of the Saud family in the wake of growing public discontent. In reaction to high unemployment levels, falling living standards, and a rapidly changing social landscape, many Saudis are demanding significant social and political reforms.

The center of great wealth, thanks to the discovery of oil by the mid-20th Century, has allowed the royal hierarchy to enjoy an extremely high standard of living. But economic realities in the past two decades have forced the ruling class to re-evaluate their years of overspending and exercise greater financial responsibility.

Defense and security, however, are still high priority expenditures.But in response to pressures from both progressive and conservative factions within Saudi society, Abdullah had introduced some controversial policies such as allowing minority Shi’ite Muslims to participate in the political process and holding the country’s first election in early 2005.

To strengthen the kingdom’s economic base, Abdullah also stepped up implementation of the government’s “Saudization” program, aimed at decreasing the high percentage of expatriates in the workforce by 2010, employing Saudi citizens in 70% of all jobs.

Saudi also has a very keen, global interest in the spread of Islam throughout the secular world. Islam is not just their religion but a total way of life.

Equally proscribed is behavior of the individual and the larger society, codifying all laws, familial relationships, business etiquette, dress, food, personal hygiene and much, much more.

Beginning in the last years of the 18th century, Ibn Saud and his heirs would spend the next 140 years mounting various military campaigns to seize control of the Arabian Peninsula and outlying regions...before attacked and defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire.

So they lived as the vanguished under the oppression of their conqueror.

Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence, a soldier in the British army and renowned as “Lawrence of Arabia” gave an especially vivid account of his role in the Arab Revolt (from 1916 to 1918) revivified in the 1962 motion picture directed by David Lean.

 Proponents of the ancient practice which looks to Sharia Law for guidance, which bans charging interest on a loan and trading in debt, have prompted Islamic finance as a cure for the global financial meltdown.

Beginning in 1949, Getty paid Ibn Saud $9.5 million in cash and $1 million a year for a 60-year concession to a tract of barren land near the border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. No oil had ever been discovered there, and none appeared until four years and $30 million had been spent. From 1953 onward, Getty's gamble produced 16 million barrels a year, which contributed greatly to the fortune which made him one of the richest people in the world.

Special women-only gyms, women-only boutiques and travel agencies, even a women-only shopping mall have been established in Riyadh to serve women who did not previously have access to such places unless they were chaperoned by a male relative.

The separation between the sexes in Saudi Arabia is so extreme that it is difficult to overstate. Getting caught with an unrelated woman can mean arrest in Saudi Arabia, a possible flogging and dishonor, the worst penalty of all in a society where preserving the family's honor depends on faithful adherence to a strict code of separation between the sexes.

"Milk kinship" predates Islam and is still common in the Persian Gulf states: A woman does not have to veil herself in front of a man she nursed as an infant, and neither do her biological children. The woman's biological children and the children she has nursed are consider "milk siblings" and are prohibited from marrying.

During the war, Lawrence fought with Arab irregular troops in extended guerrilla operations against the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire, convincing Arab leaders to co-ordinate their revolt in aiding British interests. In 1917 Lawrence arranged a joint action with the irregulars and other forces against the strategically located port city of Aqaba, when the city fell to Arab forces. The final weeks of the war, Lawrence was involved in the capture of Damascus and instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Emir Faisal, a son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca. Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920 when French Forces entered Damascus and dashed Lawrence’s hope for an independent Arabia.

In the early 20th Century, the Wahhabi-oriented Saudis mounted the movement for Arab nationalism, conquering then unifying various provinces on the Arabian Peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. In this process they founded in 1932 the House of Saud and the modern day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, their power soldified by taking control of the two holy cities, Mecca and Medina, that would later endow the newly formed state with influence over other cultures throughout the Muslim world.

Discovery of the Persian Gulf oil fields, which after 1975 allowed the Wahhabi to promote their interpretation of Islam by using tens of billions from oil export revenue—vast wealth which since has provided a base for funding foreign missionary activities.

But the problem is not Islam, argues the editorial page of The Washington Post, but clerics and weak-willed potentates who stunt the skills and abilities of Saudi women to compete in the Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) proudly affirms the fundamental principles that every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport without discrimination of any kind in the Olympic spirit. Discrimination based on gender is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement, so argues the IOC and cautions with multiple tabs on its website championing women in sports.

Is it the role of President-elect Barack Obama on behalf of female athletes to organize the appropriate or proper response to the Saudi king?

America has a four-million strong Arab population (Keep in mind that all Arabs are not Muslims, and most Muslims are not Arab.) and since 9/11 the U.S. government has mostly wasted a great deal of taxpayer dollars spent on public diplomacy in the more moderate Muslim world promoting democracy.

Of course, it's obviously easier for President-elect Obama to argue for the best ways to deploy American military power as well as humanitarian aid in combating terrorism in the Mid-East. The problem is that it’s too easy to punish an extremist about what’s on his minds rather than what's in his bones.

Wahhabi

It's a term that conjures up images of Saudi Arabia; a locally authentic form of indigenous Islam, injecting nationalism into spiritual discourse by raising the specter of “religion police” and other practices of the conservative Sunni Muslim, wherein the rights of women are severely restricted by Western standards.

Considered neither a branch nor a sect,"Wahhabism" as it's referred to by the West and attributed to Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, an 18th century scholar, advocated a return to the practices of the first three generations of Islamic history, thereby answerable to no school of law, observing instead the rites of early Islam.

The primary doctrine of Wahhabi is the uniqueness and unity of God, preaching against a “perceived moral decline and political weakness” in the Arabian Peninsula. Wahhabi theology treats the Qur’an as fundamental texts filtered through the first three generations of Muslims, further explaining itself by way of various commentaries. The most important of these oppose any school of thought or authority that questions Wahhabi, which denounces blind adherence to any scholarly interpretation of the Qur’an and acceptance of practices passed on within a given family or tribe.

From its oil wealth Wahhabi developed insurmountable appeal and sway by globally funding mosques, schools and philanthropic foundations.

However, in Saudi Arabia he faith does not simply urge Muslims to follow the religious duties of Islam, such as prayer, but compels them to do so with established authority of the Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice or “religious police” without formal sanction yet tacit approval of the state to enforce rules of behavior.

Can a line be drawn to distinguish what’s called deeply conservative Saudi Wahhabi from followers of political Islam such as al-Qaeda?

Wahhabi's influence in the Islamic world following the tripling of oil prices in the mid-1970s. Having the world’s largest reserves of oil but a relatively small population, Saudi Arabia’s largess ably funded with tens of billions of dollars the promotion of Wahhabi throughout the Islamic world, often referred to as “petro-Islam" and being, undoubtedly, the Olympian benefactor of hard-line Islamist organizations. But contrary to popular belief, Wahhabi opposes “jihadi” resistance against Muslim governments and assassination of Muslim leaders; this due to devout belief that any decision to wage jihad lay with the ruler and not an individual believer like Osama bin Laden.

THE NEXT GENERATION

Though they do not disagree with the orthodoxy of their elders,neither does the new generation of Saudis derive “the answer” to difficult questions of social and political behavior about society within the severe restriction of Islamic jurisprudence. A scholar’s purpose is to accept no ready answer, if consensus suggest otherwise, but to inquire and research beyond a single source.

Open to discussion with less constrained interpretation of the Qur’an offers the next generation, attached to tradition, the best tool to revise and reform commentary about Sunni Islam. Changing the face of Wahhabi by becoming empowered through education and modernization, the children of Saudi Arabia are the economic future and will become the face of the kingdom as viewed outside the Middle East and by the Western world.

As mentioned before:

The Saudis are sensitive to Western criticism of the Arab world.

On August 6, 2008 The Washington Post reported that the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union represents 1,200 workers at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in the state of Tennessee, where Somalis account for 250 to 400 of the plant’s employees.

The union had negotiated a contract that substitutes a Muslim holiday in exchange for Labor Day, as one of eight paid holidays.“You are a union proud of achieving a Muslim holiday and prayer room?” one person wrote the union, according to Post reporter Steven Greenhouse. “A union in the U.S.A., a country based on Christianity,” the protest continued.

“You call yourselves Americans? Have you forgotten 9/11?”

Greenhouse also quoted another who said, “You had no right to drop Labor Day. Muslim employees must integrate Labor Day into THEIR lives if they are going to live in America.”

America, of course, is by constitution not a “Christian” nation (though clearly guided by this dominant ideology) but anti-immigrant bloggers, conservative demagogues and others berated Tyson Foods for the perceived insult. A Tyson spokeswoman, Greenhouse reported, pointed out that the plant has three Christian chaplains, and prayer rooms for Muslims and Christians alike.

But this acrimony is symptomatic of a much wider and deeper intolerance and hostility toward Islam.Canonized or demonized, religion has historically served as the pawn for opportunist to troll the spiritual spectrum in gathering an angry mob of jingoists; or firing up a xenophobic population already ticked off about an issue and growling like The Incredible Hulk from the opposite side of the cultural divide.

Criteria for truth and reconciliation will likely come in time and with future generations of both American and Saudis, and not by presidential fiat or divine rights of kings.

By Frederick Louis Richardson
November 8, 2008
Copyright © 2008 DreaMerchant ®

All Rights Reserved

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