On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future (39 page)
Read On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines - and Future Online
Authors: Karen Elliott House
Tags: #General, #History, #Political Science, #Social Science, #Anthropology, #Cultural, #World, #Middle East, #Middle Eastern
•
Females and Fault Lines
1.
“The resistance to change”:
Madawi al Hassoun, interview by author, Jeddah, April 6, 2009.
2.
“We don’t want to be”:
Nashwa Taher, Jeddah Chamber of Commerce board member, interview by author, Jeddah, April 4, 2009.
3.
“We feel sorry”:
Amal Suliman, King Saud University, interview by author, Riyadh, October 18, 2009.
4.
“Oh Allah, I ask”:
Sa’eed ibn ali ibn Wahf al Qahtaani,
Fortification of the Muslim Through Remembrance and Supplication from the Quran and the Sunnah
, trans. Ishmael Ibraheem (Riyadh: Ministry of Islamic Affairs, 1998), no. 74, p. 209.
5.
In sum, the religious:
Mai Yamani,
Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia
(London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2000), p. 97.
6.
“A woman is made”:
Salwa Abdel Hameed al Khateeb, interview by author, Riyadh, February 18, 2008.
7.
As women become:
Dr. Muhammad A. al Ohali, deputy minister of educational affairs, Ministry of Higher Education, interview by author, Riyadh, October 6, 2009.
8.
They want divorces:
Khalad al Jabri, “Half of Wedding Hall’s Marriages End in Divorce,”
Saudi Gazette
, February 20, 2010.
9.
Women make up less than 12 percent:
Dr. John Sfakianakis, “Employment Quandary: Youth Struggle to Find Work Raises Urgency for Reform,” Banque Saudi Fransi, February 16, 2011, p. 6.
10.
Despite efforts by King Abdullah:
Noura Alturki and Rebekah Braswell,
Businesswomen in Saudi Arabia: Characteristics, Challenges and Aspirations in a Regional Context
(Jeddah: Chamber of Commerce, July 2010), p. 10.
11.
A new survey:
Ibid., p. 11.
12.
A month later:
Geraldine Brooks,
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
(New York: Doubleday, 1995), p. 197.
13.
Before their demonstration:
Ibid., p. 198.
14.
“Allowing women to drive”:
Fatwas of Ibn Bin Baz, “Ruling on Female Driving of Cars,” browse by page, pt. 3, p. 351,
www.alifta.com
.
15.
“The king wants”:
A close relative of King Abdullah, interview by author, Jeddah, January 26, 2011.
16.
“Son of mine uncle”:
Martin Lings,
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
(Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2006), p. 35.
17.
She is estimated by:
Karen Armstrong,
Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet
(San Francisco: Harper, 1992), p. 80.
18.
“You are striving”:
Ibid., pp. 84–85.
19.
Kadijah became the first:
Leila Ahmed,
Women and Gender in Islam
(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992), p. 47.
20.
Once Kadijah died:
Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri,
When the Moon Split: A Biography of the Prophet Muhammad
, trans.
Tabassum Siraj, Michael Richardson, and Badr Azimabadi (Riyadh: Darussalam, 1998), p. 413.
21.
Aisha was only six:
Armstrong,
Muhammad
, p. 145, Brooks,
Nine Parts
, p. 79.
22.
One story recounts how Aisha:
Bukhari Hadith, vol. 5, bk. 58, no. 168.
23.
This marriage violated:
Brooks,
Nine Parts
, p. 83; Armstrong,
Muhammad
p. 196.
24.
The Prophet laughed:
Barnaby Rogerson,
The Heirs of Muhammad
(Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2007), p. 111.
25.
Instead, he beckoned to:
Lings,
Muhammad
, p. 282.
26.
Women in his day:
Ahmed,
Women and Gender
, p. 72.
27.
Nusaybah, a woman of Medina:
Lings,
Muhammad
, p. 191.
28.
Unfortunately for women:
Ahmed,
Women and Gender.
p. 90.
29.
“Establishment Islam’s version”:
Ibid., p. 239.
30.
“Our religious leaders say”:
Suhaila Zein Al Abdein Hammad, interview by author, Riyadh, February 14, 2008.
31.
That exclusion held:
M. D. Humaidan, “Women May Not Vote in April 23 Municipal Polls,”
Arab News
, March 24, 2011, p. 2; Reuters, March 28, 2011,
www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE72R65E20110328
, accessed May 12, 2011.
32.
“I am the first woman”:
Norah al Faiz, interview by author, Riyadh, April 14, 2009.
33.
In 2010 he conferred:
Arab News
, January 12, 2010, p. 1.
34.
Or as the princess:
Princess Adelah, interview by author, Riyadh, January 13, 2010.
35.
“If a woman can stand up”:
Maha Muneef, interview by author, Riyadh, January 10, 2010.
36.
“We have the opportunity”:
Princess Adelah, interview by author, Riyadh, January 28, 2009.
37.
“People had less means”:
Ibid.
38.
All this helps account:
Arab News
, May 10, 2009.
39.
“Sometimes I feel overwhelmed”:
Reema, interview by author, Jeddah, October 5, 2009.
40.
“Women rode”:
Alya al Huwaiti, interview by author, Riyadh, January 29, 2009.
41.
“I am like my sister”:
Sara al Huwaiti, interview by author, Riyadh, January 29, 2009.
42.
“We have had some progress”:
Alia Banaja, interview by author, Jeddah, April, 8, 2009.
43.
“I’m not advertising”:
Manal Fakeeh, interview by author, Jeddah, April 5, 2009.
44.
The tale of one woman from:
Rania Salamah, “Saga of the
Forcefully Divorced Couple,”
Arab News
, September 21, 2006,
archive.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article+86892&d=29&m=9&y=2006
, accessed July 1, 2010.
45.
Within months:
Walaa Hawari, “Judiciary Council Overturns Forced-Divorce Decision,”
Arab News
, January 31, 2010.
46.
Fatima’s tale, however horrifying:
Walaa Hawari, “Forced-Divorce Victims; Fatima, Mansour Finally Together,”
Arab News
, February 19, 2010,
arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article19435.ece
, accessed July 1, 2010.
47.
“Girls wait to be selected”:
Fawzia al Bakr, interview by the author, Riyadh, April 25, 2010.
•
The Young and the Restless
1.
Strolling alone:
Kris Kristofferson, “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” 1970,
www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3904
, accessed May 13, 2011.
2.
Yet religious fundamentalists:
Abdullah al Shammary, Ministry of Information, e-mail to author, March 2, 2001; Majed al Maimouni and Nawaf Afit, “Religious Group Disrupts Riyadh Book Fair,”
Saudi Gazette
, May 3, 2011,
www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2011030395019
, accessed May 13, 2011.
3.
“Youth want freedom”:
Saker al Mokayyad, Prince Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, interview by author, Riyadh, January 27, 2009.
4.
In a recent survey, some 31 percent:
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller,
Arab Youth Survey
, March 2011, p. 24,
www.Arabyouthsurvey.com
.
5.
A second youth video:
“Businessman Donating 200,000 Sq. Meters Land to Solve Housing Woes,”
Arab News
, November 14, 2011,
arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article533299.ece?service=print
.
6.
When the conversation didn’t go:
Adnan Shabrawi and Obaidallah al Ghamdi, “Ministry Slams ‘Inaccurate’ Media Reports over School Girl’s Sentence,”
Saudi Gazette
, January 28, 2010, p. 4.
7.
But some of the 225 youths:
“Youths Ransack Al Khobar Shops,”
Arab News
, September 26, 2009; “Rioters Caused Huge Losses, Al Khobar Businesses Claim,”
Arab News
, September 27, 2009,
http://archive.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=126786&d=260&m=9&y=2009&pix=kingdom.jpgandcategory=kingdom
, accessed September 27, 2009.
8.
A dozen of the teens:
Siraj Wahab and Molouk Y. Ba-Isa, “Dozen Teens Flogged for Role in Rampage,”
Arab News
, September 30, 2009, p. 2.
9.
Traffic accidents are:
Faisal Aboobacker Ponnani, “Saher Seminar Held for EP Expats,”
Saudi Gazette
, January 18, 2011,
www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2011011891564
, accessed May 13, 2001.
10.
The younger answers:
Anonymous teenager, interview by author, Jeddah, February 14, 2008.
11.
“Our concentration was on”:
Mustafa, interview by author, Riyadh, October 29, 2009.
12.
Indeed, according to public security:
Muhammad al Negir, Public Security, Ministry of Interior, interview by author, Riyadh, April 1, 2009.
13.
Some 90 percent of stolen cars:
Ibid.
14.
“I don’t accept”:
Anonymous young man, interview by author, Riyadh, October 9, 2009.
15.
The artist “perceives a culture”:
Eyad Meghazel, “Installation,”
Young Saudi Artists
exhibition, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, January 12–31, 2001.
16.
“It is like pressing”:
Prince Saad bin Muhammad, interview by author, Jeddah, January 29, 2011.
17.
“The government has become”:
Mai Yamani,
Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia
(Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute Press, 2000), p. 148.
18.
In mosques, they hear:
“Sheikh Al-Qaradawi: Kaust Will Lead to ‘Renaissance of the Ummah,’ ”
Saudi Gazette
, October 24, 2009,
64.65.60.109/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009102452459
, accessed May 13, 2011.
19.
How can a film festival:
Omaima al Fardan, “Jeddah Film Festival Canceled,”
Arab News
, July 19, 2009,
http://archive.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=124684&d=19&m=7&y2009&hl-Jeddah_Film_Festival_canceled
, accessed May 15, 2011.
20.
Why did the kingdom:
Salman al Malki, interview by author and written responses to author’s questions, Riyadh, January 23, 2011.
21.
“Facebook opens the doors”:
Anonymous young man, interview by author, Riyadh, January 9, 2009.
22.
“I saw things change”:
Anonymous source, interview by author, Jeddah, January 23, 2011.
23.
“The young are at a crossroads”:
Anonymous source, interview by author, Jeddah, April 8, 2009.
24.
“Religion here is just”:
Ahmad Shugairi, interview by author, Jeddah, January 21, 2009.
25.
“We cover everything”:
Prince Turki bin Khalid, interview by author, Riyadh, October 12, 2009.
26.
“The young generation is demanding”:
Abdulaziz al Khayyal, senior vice president for industrial relations Saudi ARAMCO, interview by author, Dhahran, March 21, 2009.
27.
In recent years, the company:
Samir Tubayyeb, executive director for employee relations and training, Saudi ARAMCO, interview by author, Dhahran, March 21, 2009.
28.
“As Gandhi said”:
Young women at Saudi ARAMCO, interview by author, Dhahran, March 21, 2009.
29.
Because he has no way:
Salim al Fafi, interview by author, Faifa, April 9, 2009.
•
Princes
1.
“Please excuse me”:
Prince Abdullah bin Musa’id, interview by author, Riyadh, October 11, 2009.
2.
“In the United States ‘we tried’ ”:
Prince Abdullah bin Musa’id, interview by author, Riyadh, April 15, 2009.
3.
“Soccer is our only”:
Ibid.
4.
Third-generation princes:
Robert Baer, “The Fall of the House of Saud,”
Atlantic
, May 2003, p. 6,
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2003/05/the-fall-of-the-house-of-saud/4215
, accessed May 14, 2011.
5.
When the monarch reached:
Robert Lacey,
The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Saud
(New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981), pp. 425–26.
6.
“Here Saudis prefer”:
Prince Abdullah bin Musa’id, interview by author, Riyadh, April 15, 2009.
7.
Prince Abdul Aziz earned:
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Sattam, interview by author, Riyadh, March 26, 2009.
8.
“Over the next thirty to fifty years”:
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Sattam, interview by author, Riyadh, January 29, 2011.
9.
The kingdom is undertaking a $2 billion:
Abdullah bin Muhammad al Yahya, president of the Court of Appeal, general secretary, Supreme Judicial Council, interview by author, Riyadh, October 27, 2009.
10.
But Prince Abdul Aziz argues:
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Sattam, interview by author, March 24, 2009.
11.
“I am only fifteen days”:
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Sattam, interview by author, October 6, 2009.
12.
When Prince Sultan was born:
Prince Sultan bin Salman, interview by author, Riyadh, January 14, 2010.
13.
“We cannot believe anyone”:
Robert Lacey,
Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia
(New York: Viking Penguin, 2009), p. 88.
14.
Given the speed:
Prince Sultan bin Salman, interview by author, Riyadh, January 14, 2010.
15.
“He didn’t ask”:
Ibid.
16.
“On the first day”:
Prince Sultan bin Salman, keynote speech, Global Space Technology Forum, Abu Dhabi, UAE, December 7–9, 2009, p. 4.
17.
“There is no doubt”:
Prince Sultan bin Salman, interview by author, Riyadh, January 14, 2010.
18.
“Do you want to know”:
Princess Hala bint Sultan bin Salman, interview by author, Riyadh, January 14, 2010.
19.
“We can’t continue”:
Prince Sultan bin Salman, interview by author, Riyadh, January 14, 2010.
20.
Turki served as director:
“Prince Turki al Faisal,” Saudi Embassy,
www.saudiembassy.net/about/turkibio.aspx
, accessed May 14, 2011.
21.
The prince now:
Prince Turki al Faisal, King Faisal Foundation,
www.kff.com/EN01/KFCRIS/KFCRISIndex.html
, accessed May 14, 2011.
22.
The prince reportedly is:
Barbara Ferguson, “Prince Turki al Faisal Resigns as Saudi Ambassador to U.S.,”
Arab News
, December 13, 2006,
archive.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=89943&d=13&m=12&y=2006
, accessed May 14, 2011.
23.
“We miss you too”:
Prince Turki al Faisal, interview by author, Riyadh, May 4, 2008.
24.
In that post:
Lawrence Wright,
The Looming Tower
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), p. 104.
25.
“In the fifties to the nineties”:
Prince Turki al Faisal, interview by author, Riyadh, January 27, 2008.