In the Land of Invisible Women (45 page)

ENDNOTES

¹
While Saudis never call themselves Wahabis, I use the term in the Western sense to identify the extremely orthodox, rigid, and regressive face of Islam. Wahabi implies a follower of Wahabiism and is a widely used term which can encompass several meanings. Wahabiism refers to the 18th century polemical teachings of Abdul Wahab (which were published in 1730 in his sole work Kitab-Ul-Tawhid, which translates as the Book of Monotheism). Abdul Wahab was a self-appointed Islamic “reformer” advocating a regressive version of Islam. Abdul Wahab denounced any interpretation or innovation as un-Islamic which is counter to the mainstream Muslims of many sects, instead promoting archaic rigidity which has been carried to a ridiculous extreme.

While the term Wahabiism is one first ascribed to the region by Western diplomacy in the 19th Century (first appearing in 440 In the Land of Invisible Women 1803), it has today become inextricably linked in Western literature to radical manifestations of enforced and compulsive indoctrination deemed by some elements to be Islam.

Saudis never call themselves Wahabis and never introduced themselves as such to me during my six years of living in or traveling to the Kingdom. In fact, they actually find the term offensive because the implication of following Abdul Wahab is suggested and worship of any intermediary between man and God is anathema to Muslims.

Famously one senior prince, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh, contemptuously referred in a 1998 speech to outside commentators as “those who call us Wahabi,” implying a fundamental misunderstanding of Saudi Islam. Rather, Saudi Muslims are more likely to refer to themselves as Salfists or Salfiyuun which means followers of the Salafi, the original disciples of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), or Muwahhiddun, which means unitarian.

Throughout this book I chose to use Wahabi in the Western sense to identify the extremely orthodox and rigid regressive face of Islam which is a significant element of Kingdom life; and while not representative of
all
Saudis (perhaps even not representative of
most
Saudis), it is a reasonable lay-term to ascribe to much of the state sanctioned, legislated clerical policing of all religion in the Kingdom.

Readers are directed to more academic references for deeper insights listed in the bibliography, particularly to Pascal Ménoret's excellent
The Saudi Enigma
, for further clarification.

²
Feminism and Islam, Legal and Literary Perspectives
by Mai Yamani. In “Chapter 12: Some Observations on Women in Saudi Arabia,” page 279 (263-281).

³
Ibid.

⁴
The Saudi Enigma
by Pascal Ménoret. In “Chapter 7: The Appearance of Women,” page 183. Also
Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia
by Mai Yamani. Page 106.

⁵
A Modern History of the Islamic World
by Reinhard Schulze. In “Chapter 5: ‘Ascendancy of Islamic Ideologies 1973-89’ The Crisis of Mecca,” pages 226-229.

⁶
Ibid.

⁷
Sullivan, Kevin. “Saudi Youth Use Cellphone Savvy to Outwit the Sentries of Romance.”
Washington Post Foreign Service.
August 6, 2006. Accessed February 24, 2008, at washington-post.com.

⁸
Shalhoub, Lulwa. “Women-Only Hospitals: Who Will Rule the Roost, Idealists or Pragmatists?”
Arab News
. February 1, 2008.

⁹
Journal of Palliative Medicine 2006
Volume 9 Number 6 Hedayat, K, 1282-1291.

¹⁰
Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World
by Robert R Bianchi.

¹¹
Ibid.

¹²
Ibid.

¹³
Feminism and Islam, Legal and Literary Perspectives
by Mai Yamani. In “Chapter 12: Some Observations on Women in Saudi Arabia,” page 279 (263-281).

¹⁴
The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role in Terrorism
by Stephen Schwartz. In “Chapter 1: Snow in the Desert,” Page 10.

¹⁵
Pyramids and Nightclubs: A Travel Ethnography of Arab and Western Imaginations of Egypt, from King Tut and a colony of Atlantis to Rumors of Sex Orgies, Urban Legends about a Marauding Prince and Blond Belly Dancers
by L.L. Wynn.

¹⁶
Sardar, Ziauddin. “Islam: Enter a new, improved Saudi philanthropist.”
The New Statesman
. July 24, 2006.

¹⁷
The Saudi Enigma
by Pascal Ménoret. In “Chapter 3: Genesis and Structure of the Modern State.”

¹⁸
A Modern History of the Islamic World
by Reinhard Schulze.

¹⁹
al-Sanea, Rajaa. “My Saudi Valentine.”
New York Times.
February 13, 2008.

²⁰
Zawawi, Susan. “Red is Banned till Fri.”
The Saudi Gazette.
February 11, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2008, at http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46708&Itemid=1.

²¹
Qusti, Raid. “Coffee with Colleague Lands Woman in Trouble”
Arab News
. February 15, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2008, at http://www.arabnews.com.

²²
Labi, Nadya. “Kingdom in the Closet.”
The Atlantic Monthly
. May 2007.

²³
The Great Theft, Wrestling Islam from the Extremists
, by Khaled Abou El Fadl.

²⁴
“Abusing the Concept of Blood Money.”
Arab News
. November 30, 2007. Accessed February 24, 2008, at http://www.arabnews.com/services/email/email.asp?artid=104141&d=30&m=11&y=2007&hl=Abusing%20the%20Concept%20of%20Blood%20Money.

²⁵
The Saudi Enigma
by Pascal Ménoret. In “Chapter 3: Genesis and Structure of the Modern State.”

²⁶
The Saudi Enigma
by Pascal Ménoret. In “Chapter 7: The Appearance of Women,” pages 173-189.

²⁷
http://www.islam-watch.org/AdrianMorgan/Women-Under-Islam2.htm.

²⁸
Feminism and Islam
, by Mai Yamani. In “Chapter 12: Women in Saudi Arabia,” pages 263-281.

²⁹
Kandela, Peter. “Egypt's Trade in Hymen Repair.”
The Lancet.
1996:347(9015):1615. Also Patterson-Brown, Sara. “Commentary: Education about the Hymen is Needed.”
British Medical Journal.
1998:316:461.

³⁰
ABC News “Saudi Arabia, Land of Shadowy Contrasts, A Rare Inside Look at Saudi Arabia,” by Barbara Walters. March 29, 2002.

³¹
Vuilliamy, Ed. “Breaking the Silence.”
The Guardian
. October 5, 2005. Also Dr. Maha al-Muneef's Speech: “Gender Health from Violence to HIV: Women are Breaking the Silence” June 26, 2006, in Vienna, Austria.

³²
Vuilliamy, Ed. “Breaking the Silence.”
The Guardian
. October 5, 2005.

³³
Qusti, Raid. “Cases of Child Abuse on the Rise.”
Arab News.
July 19, 2006.

³⁴
Pyramids and Nightclubs: A Travel Ethnography of Arab and Western Imaginations of Egypt, from King Tut and a Colony of Atlantis to Rumors of Sex Orgies, Urban Legends about a Marauding Prince and Blond Belly Dancers
by L.L. Wynn.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bailey, David A. and Tawadros, Gilane, eds. 2003.
Veil: Veiling Representation and Contemporary Art.
London: Institution of International Visual Arts.

Bianchi, Robert R. 2004.
Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

El Fadl, Khaled Abou. 2005.
The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists.
San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.

Labi, Nadya. May 2007. “Kingdom in the Closet.”
The Atlantic Monthly.

Ménoret, Pascal. 2005.
The Saudi Enigma.
Beruit, Lebanon: World Book Publishing.

Schulze, Reinhard. 2000.
A Modern History of the Islamic World.
London: I.B Tauris and Co. Ltd.

Schwartz, Stephen. 2002.
The Two Faces of Islam.
New York: Doubleday.

Wynn, L.L. 2007.
Pyramids and Nightclubs.
Austin: University of Texas Press.

READING GROUP GUIDE

Saudi Arabia has been described as a schizophrenic state. What are the complexities of the society you can identify that are revealed in this book? Would you agree with this description?

Virginity has a medicolegal value in Islam, leading some women to seek hymen reconstruction out of desperation. Is such an intense value of chastity an alternate form of oppression?

While male supremacy is state legislated in the Kingdom, there are certain situations in which men are oppressed as well as women. What are the tools of this male oppression and how effective are they?

What might be some goals in terms of Saudi-U.S. relations? How can Saudi Arabia and the United States better understand each other?

The author repeatedly reminds readers of the compassion of the Islam religion. Can a mandated Islamic Theocracy truly be Islamic?

While some women reject or resent the veils they are forced to wear and customs they are forced to obey, others wholeheartedly embrace them. Why do you think they do this?

With so much social pressure to conform, it is no wonder so many do so. There are several people Qanta meets in Saudi Arabia who refuse to conform at enormous personal risk. What do you think gives them the courage to defy the rules and mores of their own government and society?

Have you ever personally encountered an injustice that horrified you, but you were afraid to speak out about it fearing of some kind of reprisal? If you had the courage to speak out about the injustice, what gave you that courage?

What do you think of the way Qanta prepared for this journey? Would you prepare differently? Do you think it would have dulled the shock if she had known more about the traditions, culture, and politics of Saudi Arabia before she left? Why or why not?

Early on in the book, Qanta wonders at the behavior of the boy struggling to make sure his mother's veil is kept on during her surgery, “Didn't he know God was Merciful, tolerant, and understanding and would never quibble over the wearing of a veil in such circumstances, or I doubted, any circumstances?” There are many examples throughout scriptures of all denominations of Gods acting in ways that cannot be described as merciful, tolerant, or understanding, and there are many people who don't feel this way about God. How do you think peoples' and cultures' ideas about Gods' personalities are shaped?

When Qanta boards the plane for Saudi Arabia, the pilot prays in Arabic, which strikes her as a noteworthy and soothing ritual. Does the United States have any rituals that might strike an outsider as odd, but may be soothing to Americans?

The author writes, “No central air, when it would be over 120°F in the summer? I wondered of the furnace of summer ahead.” The author faces many challenges, both physical and mental, in this trip. Do you think the kinds of challenges faced by someone moving to a landscape and a culture entirely different than their own are something that we have the strength for throughout our lives? Or that it is something that we can only throw ourselves into with the energy and strength of youth?

On a daily basis, are there things you would rather not do in order to fit into society and not cause a fuss? Do you think these simple acts are as oppressive as those experienced by Saudi women?

In Saudi Arabia, it is very difficult to get to know your husband or wife before you are married. Not nearly as many people in the United States or countless other countries would make such a large commitment having never spent more than a few hours at a time with the other person. However, some Saudi marriages are successful, and very happy. How do you think so many Saudis can make these types of marriages work?

Some Saudis are so exasperated by the confinements of their home, that they choose to leave Saudi Arabia, even though all of their family and friends continue to reside in the Kingdom. What kind of personality do you think it would take to make such a dramatic step? Are you surprised more people don't do this, given the dramatic restrictions of life in Saudi Arabia?

The law in Saudi Arabia is remarkably harsh. Beheadings, lashings, and other brutal treatments are not uncommon outcomes of criminal trials. In contrast to most other countries, why do you think Saudi Arabia continues to adhere to these customs and traditions?

Qanta encounters many people with very literal interpretations of the Quran. What do you think about literal interpretations of religious texts? Do you feel it is possible to be faithful, while not following or believing in every tenet of your faith?

The Mutawaeen (the religious police) are a constant, and often terrifying, presence in this book. What do you think could motivate someone to so violently guard his faith?

The author has a very unique experience on 9/11 in Saudi Arabia. Why do you think so many Muslims expressed approval about 9/11? Was it just the brainwashing of their society, or was their reaction due to some deeper reasons?

The author has an amazing religious experience at Mecca. Have you ever gone on a religious pilgrimage, or encountered a deep symbol of a particular faith? What effect did that have on you?