Henry St.Pierre (in
2) said:
| Morris,
| I wasn't a little boy when I was in Saudi Arabia. I was working at
| ARAMCO (not for) and living in Al Khobar. Many nights I stayed in
| the ARAMCO compound in Dharan ('nother story for another time).
| I was there before and during and after Ramadan, 1977. I had the
| experience of meeting the Matawa (sp) during this time. I had the
| habit (no pun) of wearing thobe and gutra (sp. was a long time ago)
| along with sneakers (very comfortable outfit). Being a bit swarthy
| (Mohawk, French, and some other tribal ancestry), possessing a nose
| of aristocratic merit, and a truly magnificant moustache, the
| Matawa caught me eating a half chicken on the beach. It didn't take
| them long to see I wasn't an Arab, but it was a little touchy for a
| bit (they had whips or glorified switches). I didn't take kindly to
| being thrashed about the shoulders, but I was in their country and
| shut up (did say MF a few times though). I saw many people, mostly
| women, whipped by the Matawa (sp) for sins against religious law. I
| was working and living with some Lebannonese arabs (shared the same
| bungalow in the compound). We became fairly good friends (even
| shared much sadeki). These friends were Christains, but not strong
| believers (like me). The week after Ramadan, they said we should go
| to Dammam and watch the punishments. Dammam was very much like the
| county seat, but you know that. So I went with them dressed in all
| my Al Khobar finery (sort of looked liked the average Saudi Aramco
| 'worker' (I never saw a Saudi actually do any work). The
| punishments were two beheadings that day (I was told the executions
| were for highway robbery). Everybody should witness an execution by
| beheading. The executioner doesn't use an axe; a kind of sword is
| used. The sword reminded me of an odd shaped meat cleaver. The
| subject is made to kneel and bare the neck (there was no block) and
| the executioner (swordsman) lined his cut and swung. There was a
| lot of blood, but it seemed to drip or run away from the raised
| platform. The executioner used one swing to behead the first man,
| but took two for the second. In each case the head was gathered in
| a white cloth and placed with the body that was also wrapped, by
| this time, in a white cloth. After the executions there were hands
| that were chopped off. we were able to get out of there after eight
| or nine (didn't see them all and not in great detail). A woman was
| supposedly killed later by stoning, but we didn't see it. We went
| to Bahrain later and got kind of drunk, but not drunk. The Arabs
| follow their holy book to the letter. Like you say, you were very
| safe there and they didn't try to convert you. I didn't feel that
| safe there, but I was putting myself in that position by going
| places that were unofficially off limits to non-believers. I would
| never have been so stupid as to try and visit Mecca. I've got balls
| still and am very happy about that. These people follow their holy
| book by the letter. I read and I'm sure you've read the koran
| (Quoran or whatever). What might have worked for them in the eighth
| century may not in the twenty- first century.
| Sorry for rambling,
| Hank
Hank...
I heard about but never witnessed any of the punishments. (Same in the
USA.) They seemed harsh; but I was told that they were reserved for
people who were considered what we'd call "hard cases". I asked the
Amir (crown-appointed mayor/judge) of Abqaiq about this part their
justice system and he said that he hated hurting people and worked
hard to find less drastic solutions.
[ Side note: I was a new Boy Scout and the Amir was interested in
that. He seemed to like that we learned to camp in the desert and was
keen on the motto (Be Prepared) and on the Scout Law (A Scout is
trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent) and said he thought
those were particularly good things to learn and practice. I got the
distinct impression that he'd have enjoyed camping with us. ]
When I returned to the States, it seemed strange to be told that there
were parts of almost every city where I might not be safe; and that I
should be careful not to leave my car keys in the ignition when I
parked. I still find it unnatural to carry a bunch of keys for all the
(too many!) locks in my life.
In Abqaiq the snack bar (aka the "Date Pit", where kids liked to meet
for Pepsi (Bebsi, no 'P' in Arabic), burgers and fries, and gab) and
dining hall closed during daylight hours in Ramadan. The kids
understood that it might be disrespectful and possibly offensive to
eat within sight of people who were fasting - so we (publicly, at
least) fasted along with them - and were also glad when Ramadan ended.
Interesting that you should still have a thobe and guitra - I also
still have mine (and my gufiya and agul) packed away somewhere. For
anyone who's curious, the thobe is the long-sleeved ankle-length loose
shirt, a guffiya is a skull cap (usually anout 25% larger than a
yamulka), and the guitra is the headscarf worn over the guffiya and
held in place with the (usually rope-like) agul. It's a much healthier
outfit when the temperature is above 120F - but not very safe when
working on or close to machinery. The guitra doubles as a face shield
and air filter during a shamal (sandstorm with strong winds out of the
west). An Abqaiq shamal could take all the paint off one side of an
automobile in an hour. Interesting, but not fun - and hated by
fastidious housekeepers like my mom.
I understand that there's a lot of soul-searching underway in the
Islamic world concerning modernization; but I haven't tracked it any
more closely than I followed the RC discussions on meatless Fridays,
divorce, birth control, and female priests. In both cases, I trust
that the people to whom the changes mattter most will get it all
sorted out for themselves.
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto