During our first two months in Jeddah, Faye and I relished our new and
luxurious lifestyle: a shiny jeep, two swimming pools, domestic help, and a
tax-free salary. The luxury of living in a modern city with a developed
infrastructure cocooned me from the frightful reality of life in Saudi
Arabia.
My goatee beard and good Arabic ensured that I could pass for an Arab.
But looking like a young Saudi was not enough: I had to act Saudi, be Saudi.
And here I failed.
My first clash with Saudi culture came when, being driven around in a
bulletproof jeep, I saw African women in black abayas tending to the rubbish
bins outside restaurants, residences and other busy places.
“Why are there so many black cleaners on the streets?” I asked the driver. The
driver laughed. “They’re not cleaners. They are scavengers; women who
collect cardboard from all across Jeddah and then sell it. They also collect
bottles, drink cans, bags.”
“You don’t find it objectionable that poor immigrant women work in such
undignified and unhygienic conditions on the streets?”
“Believe me, there are worse jobs women can do.”
Though it grieves me to admit it, the driver was right. In Saudi Arabia women
indeed did do worse jobs. Many of the African women lived in an area of
Jeddah known as Karantina, a slum full of poverty, prostitution and disease.
A visit to Karantina, a perversion of the term “quarantine”, was one of the
worst of my life. Thousands of people who had been living in Saudi Arabia
for decades, but without passports, had been deemed “illegal” by the
government and, quite literally, abandoned under a flyover.
A non-Saudi black student I had met at the British Council accompanied me.
“Last week a woman gave birth here,” he said, pointing to a ramshackle
cardboard shanty. Disturbed, I now realised that the materials I had seen
those women carrying were not always for sale but for shelter.
I had never expected to see such naked poverty in Saudi Arabia.
At that moment it dawned on me that Britain, my home, had given refuge to
thousands of black Africans from Somalia and Sudan: I had seen them in their
droves in Whitechapel. They prayed, had their own mosques, were free and
were given government housing.
Many Muslims enjoyed a better lifestyle in non-Muslim Britain than they did in
Muslim Saudi Arabia. At that moment I longed to be home again.
All my talk of ummah seemed so juvenile now. It was only in the comfort of
Britain that Islamists could come out with such radical utopian slogans as
one government, one ever expanding country, for one Muslim nation. The
racist reality of the Arab psyche would never accept black and white people
as equal.
Standing in Karantina that day, I reminisced and marvelled over what I
previously considered as wrong: mixed-race, mixed-religion marriages. The
students to whom I described life in modern multi-ethnic Britain could not
comprehend that such a world of freedom, away from “normal” Saudi racism,
could exist.
Racism was an integral part of Saudi society. My students often used the word
“nigger” to describe black people. Even dark-skinned Arabs were considered
inferior to their lighter-skinned cousins. I was living in the world’s most
avowedly Muslim country, yet I found it anything but. I was appalled by the
imposition of Wahhabism in the public realm, something I had implicitly
sought as an Islamist.
Part of this local culture consisted of public institutions being segregated
and women banned from driving on the grounds that it would give rise to
“licentiousness”. I was repeatedly astounded at the stares Faye got from
Saudi men and I from Saudi women.
Faye was not immodest in her dress. Out of respect for local custom, she wore
the long black abaya and covered her hair in a black scarf. In all the years
I had known my wife, never had I seen her appear so dull. Yet on two
occasions she was accosted by passing Saudi youths from their cars. On
another occasion a man pulled up beside our car and offered her his phone
number.
In supermarkets I only had to be away from Faye for five minutes and Saudi men
would hiss or whisper obscenities as they walked past. When Faye discussed
her experiences with local women at the British Council they said: “Welcome
to Saudi Arabia.”
After a month in Jeddah I heard from an Asian taxi driver about a Filipino
worker who had brought his new bride to live with him in Jeddah. After
visiting the Balad shopping district the couple caught a taxi home. Some way
through their journey the Saudi driver complained that the car was not
working properly and perhaps the man could help push it. The passenger
obliged. Within seconds the Saudi driver had sped off with the man’s wife in
his car and, months later, there was still no clue as to her whereabouts.
We had heard stories of the abduction of women from taxis by sex-deprived
Saudi youths. At a Saudi friend’s wedding at a luxurious hotel in Jeddah,
women dared not step out of their hotel rooms and walk to the banqueting
hall for fear of abduction by the bodyguards of a Saudi prince who also
happened to be staying there.
Why had the veil and segregation not prevented such behaviour? My Saudi
acquaintances, many of them university graduates, argued strongly that, on
the contrary, it was the veil and other social norms that were responsible
for such widespread sexual frustration among Saudi youth.
At work the British Council introduced free internet access for educational
purposes. Within days the students had downloaded the most obscene
pornography from sites banned in Saudi Arabia, but easily accessed via the
British Council’s satellite connection. Segregation of the sexes, made worse
by the veil, had spawned a culture of pent-up sexual frustration that
expressed itself in the unhealthiest ways.
Using Bluetooth technology on mobile phones, strangers sent pornographic clips
to one another. Many of the clips were recordings of homosexual acts between
Saudis and many featured young Saudis in orgies in Lebanon and Egypt. The
obsession with sex in Saudi Arabia had reached worrying levels: rape and
abuse of both sexes occurred frequently, some cases even reaching the
usually censored national press.
My students told me about the day in March 2002 when the Muttawa [the
religious police] had forbidden firefighters in Mecca from entering a
blazing school building because the girls inside were not wearing veils.
Consequently 15 young women burnt to death, but Wahhabism held its head
high, claiming that God’s law had been maintained.
As a young Islamist, I organised events at college and in the local community
that were strictly segregated and I believed in it. Living in Saudi Arabia,
I could see the logical outcome of such segregation.
In my Islamist days we relished stating that Aids and other sexually
transmitted diseases were the result of the moral degeneracy of the West.
Large numbers of Islamists in Britain hounded prostitutes in Brick Lane and
flippantly quoted divorce and abortion rates in Britain. The implication was
that Muslim morality was superior. Now, more than ever, I was convinced that
this too was Islamist propaganda, designed to undermine the West and inject
false confidence in Muslim minds.
I worried whether my observations were idiosyncratic, the musings of a
wandering mind. I discussed my troubles with other British Muslims working
at the British Council. Jamal, who was of a Wahhabi bent, fully agreed with
what I observed and went further. “Ed, my wife wore the veil back home in
Britain and even there she did not get as many stares as she gets when we go
out here.” Another British Muslim had gone as far as tinting his car windows
black in order to prevent young Saudis gaping at his wife.
The problems of Saudi Arabia were not limited to racism and sexual
frustration.
In contemporary Wahhabism there are two broad factions. One is publicly
supportive of the House of Saud, and will endorse any policy decision
reached by the Saudi government and provide scriptural justification for it.
The second believes that the House of Saud should be forcibly removed and
the Wahhabi clerics take charge. Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda are from the
second school.
In Mecca, Medina and Jeddah I met young men with angry faces from Europe,
students at various Wahhabi seminaries. They reminded me of my extremist
days.
They were candid in discussing their frustrations with Saudi Arabia. The
country was not sufficiently Islamic; it had strayed from the teachings of
Wahhabism. They were firmly on the side of the monarchy and the clerics who
supported it. Soon they were to return to the West, well versed in Arabic,
fully indoctrinated by Wahhabism, to become imams in British mosques.
By the summer of 2005 Faye and I had only eight weeks left in Saudi Arabia
before we would return home to London. Thursday, July 7, was the beginning
of the Saudi weekend. Faye and I were due to lunch with Sultan, a Saudi
banker who was financial adviser to four government ministers. I wanted to
gauge what he and his wife, Faye’s student, thought about life inside the
land of their birth.
On television that morning we watched the developing story of a power cut on
the London Underground. As the cameras focused on King’s Cross, Edgware
Road, Aldgate and Russell Square, I looked on with a mixture of interest and
homesickness. Soon the power-cut story turned into shell-shocked reportage
of a series of terrorist bombings.
My initial suspicion was that the perpetrators were Saudis. My experience of
them, their virulence towards my non-Muslim friends, their hate-filled
textbooks, made me think that Bin Laden’s Saudi soldiers had now targeted my
home town. It never crossed my mind that the rhetoric of jihad introduced to
Britain by Hizb ut-Tahrir could have anything to do with such horror.
My sister avoided the suicide attack on Aldgate station by four minutes. On
the previous day London had won the Olympic bid. At the British Council we
had celebrated along with the nation that was now in mourning.
The G8 summit in Scotland had also been derailed by events further south. The
summit, thanks largely to the combined efforts of Tony Blair and Bob Geldof,
had been set to tackle poverty in Africa. Now it was forced to address
Islamist terrorism; Arab grievances had hijacked the agenda again.
The fact that hundreds of children die in Africa every day would be of no
relevance to a committed Islamist. In the extremist mind the plight of the
tiny Palestinian nation is more important than the deaths of millions of
black Africans. Let them die, they’re not Muslims, would be the unspoken
line of argument. As an Islamist it was only the suffering of Muslims that
had moved me. Now human suffering mattered to me, regardless of religion.
Faye and I were glued to the television for hours. Watching fellow Londoners
come out of Tube stations injured and mortified, but facing the world with a
defiant sense of dignity, made me feel proud to be British.
We met Sultan and his wife at an Indian restaurant near the British Council.
Sultan was in his early thirties and his wife in her late twenties. They had
travelled widely and seemed much more liberal than most Saudis I had met.
Behind a makeshift partition, the restaurant surroundings were considered
private and his wife, to my amazement, removed her veil.
We discussed our travels.
Sultan spoke fondly of his time in London, particularly his placement at
Coutts as a trainee banker. We then moved on to the subject uppermost in my
mind, the terrorist attacks on London. My host did not really seem to care.
He expressed no real sympathy or shock, despite speaking so warmly of his
time in London.
“I suppose they will say Bin Laden was behind the attacks. They blamed us for
9/11,” he said.
Keen to take him up on his comment, I asked him: “Based on your education in
Saudi Arabian schools, do you think there is a connection between the form
of Islam children are taught here and the action of 15 Saudi men on
September 11?”
Without thinking, his immediate response was, ‘No. No, because Saudis were not
behind 9/11. The plane hijackers were not Saudi men. One thousand two
hundred and forty-six Jews were absent from work on that day and there is
the proof that they, the Jews, were behind the killings. Not Saudis.”
It was the first time I heard so precise a number of Jewish absentees. I sat
there pondering on the pan-Arab denial of the truth, a refusal to accept
that the Wahhabi jihadi terrorism festering in their midst had inflicted
calamities on the entire world.
In my class the following Sunday, the beginning of the Saudi working week,
were nearly 60 Saudis. Only one mentioned the London bombings.
“Was your family harmed?” he asked.
“My sister missed an explosion by four minutes but otherwise they’re all fine,
thank you.”
The student, before a full class, sighed and said: “There are no benefits in
terrorism. Why do people kill innocents?”
Two others quickly gave him his answer in Arabic: “There are benefits. They
will feel how we feel.”
I was livid. “Excuse me?” I said. “Who will know how it feels?”
“We don’t mean you, teacher,” said one. “We are talking about people in
England. You are here. They need to know how Iraqis and Palestinians feel.”
“The British people have been bombed by the IRA for years,” I retorted.
“Londoners were bombed by Hitler during the blitz. The largest
demonstrations against the war in Iraq were in London. People in Britain
don’t need to be taught what it feels like to be bombed.”
Several students nodded in agreement. The argumentative ones became quiet.
Were they convinced by what I had said? It was difficult to tell.
Two weeks after the terrorist attacks in London another Saudi student raised
his hand and asked: “Teacher, how can I go to London?”
“Much depends on your reason for going to Britain. Do you want to study or
just be a tourist?”
“Teacher, I want to go London next month. I want bomb, big bomb in London,
again. I want make jihad!”
“What?” I exclaimed. Another student raised both hands and shouted: “Me too!
Me too!”
Other students applauded those who had just articulated what many of them were
thinking. I was incandescent. In protest I walked out of the classroom to a
chorus of jeering and catcalls.
My time in Saudi Arabia bolstered my conviction that an austere form of Islam
(Wahhabism) married to a politicised Islam (Islamism) is wreaking havoc in
the world. This anger-ridden ideology, an ideology I once advocated, is not
only a threat to Islam and Muslims, but to the entire civilised world.
I vowed, in my own limited way, to fight those who had hijacked my faith,
defamed my prophet and killed thousands of my own people: the human race. I
was encouraged when Tony Blair announced on August 5, 2005, plans to
proscribe an array of Islamist organisations that operated in Britain,
foremost among them Hizb ut-Tahrir.
At the time I was impressed by Blair’s resolve. The Hizb should have been
outlawed a decade ago and so spared many of us so much misery. Sadly the
legislation was shelved last year amid fears that a ban would only add to
the group’s attraction, so it remains both legal and active today. But it is
not too late.
© Ed Husain 2007
Extracted from The Islamist, to be published by Penguin on May 3, £8.99.
Copies can be ordered for £8.54 including postage from The Sunday Times
BooksFirst on 0870 165 8585
I have read "The Islamist". It just makes me more concerned that the British government and other western governments do not ban the various islamist organisations in their respective countries. They all differ in various ways, but with one objective, an islamist state in the middle east, headed by a caliphate and eventually with the intent to make the rest of the world Islamic, forcebly, if neccesary. And of course individual jihadism is highly accepted.
The islamists organisations in Britain and the world have free reign to preach whatever hate they like toward westerners and moderate muslims alike. And have gone down the route of politics and terror. The Saudi police, which is wahabbi {forgive spelling} influenced as is its royal family, restrict peaceful muslims when visiting Mecca and Medena to pray. Muslims must stop blaming the west for all their ills. The west has made errors but its the islamists that have split the muslim faith. The governement must ban the islamist groups
Mr G Courtney, Earlswood, England
Seems there are still many muslims that beleive the west is the cause of all their ills. Certainly, some western countries havn`t exactly helped situations, however when it comes down to it, it is the various islamist factions throughout the world that are not only causing terror/jihad but also breaking up their own muslim communities and in some cases, whole muslim nations.
These islamist organisations, despite some internal disagreements, are clear on one thing and make no secret of it. Destruction of the west, its culture and beleifs and that includes any moderate, peaceful muslims that get in the way. Not to mention Jews. And with the overall aim to set up an Islamic state in the middle east, headed by a caliphate. With the eventual goal of changing the world to islam, by force if neccesary.
These Islamist hate factions must be banned from teaching jihadism and hatred in our schools of learning and from hijacking peaceful mosques, i:e: Britains
One very angry Britain.
Mr G Courtney, Earlswood, England
Living in Saudi Arabia and then visiting USA, the differnece i have seen is people hate us Muslims much more than we hate the Europeans in KSA. I think its just a conflict of views that make people fight each other. ED finds KSA to be a place where women are stared at but did he look at the rape percentage and abortion percantage in the european world. i would recommend him to compare those first. think of the anology, A poor person who doesnt have food to eat will stare at people who have lots to eat, but very rarely he snatches it from the rich person and eats it, thats how it goes in KSA, but in the European world You have legalised the wrong things but still the wrong happens in the unwanted manner.
This world could be a heaven only if people started respecting each and everyones views and trying to make them understand or accept the way they are. And one more thing Terrorists Do NOt Have Any Religion.
Masti, RH, USA?MI
We have the same violence taught in our Rap music as the extremists teach in the Muslim world. It is supposed to let others know how they feel but all it is is hatred and killing which leads to more and more violence.
I really amazes me how cruel people can be.
Mark Spencer, Hot Springs, AR USA
Intersesting atricle. I have never hears a Muslim be so honest about Saudi and his fellow Muslims. Many of the comments such as the Jews being responsible for 9/11 or the overt racism that is prevelent in Saudi Arabia. Seems to come right from the pages of "Paramedic to the Prince" A book written by an American Paramedic's ten years in Saudi. I do feel this Mans short time in the Kingdom has given him a slanted view of the society as a whole. Yes what he writes is true. Much the same as if Ia Saudi spent a year in South Central Los Angeles and then wrote about how life was in America. It would all be gans, drugs and drive-by shootings.
I urge you all to read "Paramedic to the Prince" to get a 360 degree view of Saudi Life. It happened to be a good read also. The best book I have read on Saudi Arabia.
TOMINOMAN, Marysville, California/ usa
I worked with "ED" at the British Council in Jeddah. I think he is putting a sinister slant on the things he experoenced there. I believe he was homeisck the whole (short) time he was there and this greatly influenced his views. I think he writes about what he wanted to see or believe or even what he convinced himself before hand. Although Saudi is very different from our home countries most of us rather enjoyed our stay. "Ed" was the only one who continually moaned. I rather suspect he didn't like teaching rather than being in Saudi. I found the students very pleasent, they on the other hand had many objections to "Ed's" teaching mthods and attitudes. I think his book is exteremly niave and I hope only the naive will take it seriously. Most others should take it as a joke!
GHID, Earth,
One must remember that Saudi is not representative for Islam and Muslims on a world scale, it represents an extreme position that most Muslims outside Saudi disagree with. Using them as representatives for the entire religion and the entire region is like using Fred Phelps as a representative example of Christianity and the west.
It is way to easy to judge groups of people who are far away. Once you get to know them, you'll find that no matter where you go, people are people and care more about their daily life than about world politics or religion.
I have lived for over a year in the Middle East, and I do not recognize the popular media image of the region at all. The people are friendly, helpful and open, and the hospitality is second to none.
If we want to understand why the extreme forms of Islam exists, we have to take a look at how western colonialism has behaved, because it's in this external threat that we have the root of the problem.
Anders Troberg, Borlänge, Sweden
Why is there so much violence in the Middle East? Why is it that Arab has to kill Arab? What drives these people to kill?
Hutchings, Chichester, Sussex
I have been to Saudi Arabia recently and I too saw racism there, then I also realised that this racism crept into this society due to 19th Century Wahabbism, the very thing supported and established by the British government back then. In short Ed is quick on the blame game to try and make some quick bucks whilst the topic of "islamism" is hot, but really there's no cohesion, depth or original material in this book.
As for trying to involve Hizb-ut-Tahrir into the same boat as violence and Wahabbism, get real. It only discredits your book and of any basic research that may or may not have done. I wonder if Ed has been supported by some government agency to publish this?
SA, London,
The Saudi state has existed three centuries ago, long before the British presence in the Gulf. The unity of Arabian Peninsula and the acceptance of the people are the reasons why the Saudi State still exist today, not for the so called foreign support. Read history before repeating false statements.
As for Mr. Hussain, I wonder if he had a rather positive impression about the country and it's people, would we be reading his comments here?
Sounds like a smart way to extend the services of a former spy in the media.
Riyadh, Mubarraz, KSA
I heard Ed on PM yesterday - May 1st.
Thankyou Ed for speaking with such integrity.
May your courage inspire us to continue with our own small contributions to peace and justice.
Rosy Townsend, Derby,
While i can't disagree with Ed's experience of life in Saudi, however i have to take his analysis with a pinch of salt. He highlights only the negatives in the Saudi society and doesn't mention hardly any positives. Likewise, we could easily make a list of negatives in British society, ie pheadophiles, hooligans, binge drinking, etc, get my drift.
As far as HT are concerned evryone knows they are a non violent organisation. Nice try Ed. It would be nice if you can write your next book on the BNP, who call Islam "an evil and wicked faith", or are you content with feeling of approval by Melanie Philips ( More Zionist less British ).
sags, yorkshire, UK
Religion, religion, religion...the bane of humanity, the search for identity, succour, and belonging, the sanctuary for those who live to worship at the alter of envy and fear. Be not afraid, my fellow homosapiens, cast off the arrogance and naivety of 'faith' and learn to love your neighbour in this world of doubt and uncertainty for its own sake. Simply because it's a sound, sensibe, responsible principle to live and work by. Leave your God out of it. If he's there He,above all, will understand.
PJ Connell, London, UK
Munir Ahmed I feel so sorry for you, please wake up.
Richard, Soap Lake, Washington, USA
Aisha....It is a article about Saudi Arabia. My comment was not a attack against Israel. Merely pointing as a black person, the reason, i'm interested in the aritcle is where it talks about the problems blacks experience there. I can identify with that. I lived in Dubai, and my god, it is like South Africa was pre-aparthied. A racial hierachy state. The whites and locals have been accorded royal status. While everyone else, waits in line. The indians there, well they are not even seen to be human. It's that bad. There is huge anti black bias in the arab world, but the west is no different. Of that we know too well. You can't walk down a street in Europe, without hateful stares. So please save us the hypocrisy. Israel has huge problems trying to integrate it's blacks. Majority of whom are not accepted to be jews in the first place. It's not paradise there too. On the other side, a new racism is emerging, where it is acceptable to target arabs. Terrorism and fear is used as excuse.
Alex, London, UK
The whole article and premise is stupid- so Saudi Arabia isnt a perfect place - tell us something we dont know. Very few Muslims would hold it up as an example - and indeed the whole point is Muslims arent perfect but the religion is.
So some Saudis are racist- shocking - but what does that have to do with Islam ? The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) in his last sermon said "‘No Arab is superior over an non-Arab, no non-Arab is superior over an Arab. No white is superior over a black, no black is superior over a white. Only superiority is that of piety, human conduct and moral behaviour.’
Or are people so ignorant they believe the wrong action of Muslims are "Islam" -
Hussain seems to have gone to Saudi with exceptionally naive ideas then when he found out it wasnt true wrote a book about it !
The criticisms of Hizb ut Tahrir are also way off the mark- they had nothing to do with the 7/7 bombings, condemned them , are a non-violent organistaion and hate the Saudi government !
Munir Ahmed, London, UK,
Saudi Arabia is predominantly Muslim but is in no way representative of Islam. Those who do not recognise that fact will be grossly misinformed of the reality of Islam and Muslims.
I have lived and studied in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while my father worked there. I attended a school which put more emphasis on teaching Islamic studies than the average school. But never was I taught any 'austere' or 'politicised' form of perverted Islam. If anything, the opposite was the case. The events with the students Ed describes seems more to illustrate an outrageous level of imbecilic immaturity than the outcome of an extreme upbringing. For them to speak in such a way is definitely disturbing, but they aren't educated to think like this. I have never come across such people in my years there. I find it astonishing that Ed seems to feel that these things are taught generally in the country. Such views go against the very basics of Islam's teachings of love and respect for all of humanity.
Lubaaba, London,
I found this article to be very much in line with what I used to read on muttawa.blogspot.com. The key here is the combination of religion and political power. It always, in cases Christian or Muslim, leads to extreme religious violence and fundamentally hollow societies. I am a religious man myself and see religion as critical - and as the source of all individual liberty today. But there is a proper marriage between religion and the state and the Saudi example is a frightening reminder of this. Check out religiousliberlism.org to learn a heck of a lot about this.
Joseph, Melbourne, Australia
Alex... This is an article about Saudi Arabia but somehow you have twisted the logic to make it seem like it's Israel's fault? I guess it's Israels fault that Saudi Arabia beats up its women, educates children to hate, has an over abundance of sexually frustrated and violent males, and places bombs all over the world. Somehow, I think the anger is misplaced and should be directed towards the incompetent and corrupt Arab rulers and imams that suppress individuals and keep them in devestating poverty. By dening this, you are not helping the muslims.
Aisha, Washington DC, The best country in the world
Holy this, holy that. Give me a brake. And I dont care which is your religion. Just care for your next of kind.
Helena Mathys, Hameenlinna, Finland
I lived in KSA for two years as a teacher (female, Western, single) and can attest to what Ed says. I educated myself in Islam as much as possible and I challenge Hameed's claim that "Jihad means to strive and struggle," as if it's all about internal debate or personal improvement. Read the Quran. The means and goals of jihad are clear. Maybe somday Ed Hussain will come to the point where Wafa Sultan and Ayaan Hirsi Ali have found themselves.
Joan, Oceanside, CA
It is a tactic of those who support Israel, to use blacks as a front to push their agenda on the world stage. The case against Sudan is actively beddled as being black against arab, to sow discord. Anything to taint those they are fighting against. It is true, that in many parts of the Arab World, there is racism and hate towards Black people. You only have to go to Dubai to see and feel. Cafes and clubs, will blatanly turn you away, with hiding their racism at all. But Israel is no better too, there is racism against blacks there too.
Alex, London, UK
Reading articles like this give me hope that eventually, after much unnecessary suffering and bloodshed, truth and compassion are going to win over even the most blinded ideologue. Please keep spreading the word about the wrongs you have seen, Mr Husain.
lt, London,
Ed is not saying that only the Saudi rulers are at fault, but the whole society in Saudi Arabia. From the angry, jihadist young men to the racism and rape in the streets.
The UK and the US are not responsible for Saudi culture, or the human rights abuses common in Islamic countries.
A. Velasquez, Miami, Florida, US
G-d Al-mighty bless the Children of Israel and the holy Torah. We Want Moshiach Now!
Levi Yitzhaq Garbose, Beverly Hills, CA/USA
"This anger-ridden ideology, an ideology I once advocated, is not only a threat to Islam and Muslims, but to the entire civilised world. "
Oh, I thought it was just "neocon warmongers" who'd noticed this? I certainly feel that Political Correctness is blinding the public & giving cover to Islamist propaganda.
Excellent article Mr. Hussain & good luck to you!
Wesley, San Diego, CA, USA
Mr. Tauseef Zahid,
Your analogy is mistaken. Islam is not a car but a manual on building a car (a life, community, civilization). With the aid of the manual, those with aptitude and ability to learn from mistakes will develop a safe functioning vehicle that others will benefit from and want the manual for; some will be so skillful that they can build a car with only minimal exposure to the book. However, looking at the vehicles produced around the world by the manual of Islam, one can only conclude that Islam is a very faulty textbook indeed, with numerous production flaws, oversights, design flaws, and extremely bloody traffic accidents.
For those who haven't already invested so much time and money in the manual that changing to a new manual is off-putting (if not illegal or, given the other students' reactions, fatal), it is better to avoid its many mistakes and errors and rely on better works and ideas elsewhere to build a truly useful functioning vehicle.
C. M., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Non-Arab Muslims have never been regarded as equals by Arab Muslims. The Qur'an was revealed in Arabic, to Muhammad, an Arab. The Arabs are the "best of peoples" in their view, and that is that. This makes Arab Muslims the worst form of racists, as they couch their racism as religious dogma.
Islam is also a vehicle for Arab supremacism and the conquest of the world for Arab Islam. The worst aspect of the converts to Islam is, that they have adopted these attitudes in the hope that they will be regarded as equals by Arab Muslims. That is never going to happen. This pathetic hope is examined in detail by V S Naipaul in the 1990 Wriston Lecture 'Our Universal Civilization, “no Colonization had been so thorough as the colonization that had come with the Arab faith. Colonized or defeated peoples can begin to distrust themselves. In the Muslim countries I am talking about, this distrust had all the force of religion. The faith abolished the past. And when the past was abolished with it.
DaveP, Beverley, UK
Graeme, Jihad means to strive and struggle and Islam means to attain peace through the submission to God. Now the two go hand in hand as there is no submission without struggle, since everyday is a struggle between good and evil.
Islam and Muslims are not about "turning the other cheek" as it is imperative and a duty upon every human being to defend his/her home from unjustified attacks. Hence there is no dichotomy of understanding as "God hates starters of Wars". If you would read history you would find that the only time Muhammad used force was when defending themselves from attack or when treaties were being vioated, even then every effort was made to resolve the issue without resorting to war.
If Islam and Muslims were about "Spreading by the sword" then why is it that Muslims ruled spain for 900 odd years which is known as a golden time not just for Muslims but also Jews and Christian as well as other religions! I think your confusing crusaders who were Christians NOT Muslims.
Hameed, Peterborough, England
The reality is that there are bad applications of all doctrines and creeds. I live in the U.S. And though it is presently seen as a democractic society, please review the history of how that democracy came to be. And even now it is not perfect. There is widespread poverty and abuse (especially of women) in this land of plenty. In regards to Christianity, please remember that it was the excuse for widespread oppression and violence through out the world. While some praise the economic climate in China, it is still a totalitarian region that persecutes religious minorites. India, while praised as a the "world's largest democracy" still has extreme poverty and though the caste system is oblished on paper it is very much in existence in society.
My point being, that to attempt to judge an ideal by the behaviour of some of its followers is to condemn the entire planet. We grow and evolve. Not all at the same time. Sometimes we even devolve. But this a human process.
Miles, Leesburg, Virginia
To answer your question Ed and Jaysee.
I accept that it will be wrong to blame everything on the west. The people in the Middle East need to get on their feet and account these brutal dictatorships who claim to be making decisions on their behalf. However this work has been made very difficult for them by the support given to these regimes by US and UK in particular in the form of military and moral aid. For example Egypt is the highest aid recipient after Israel by US in the world and Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan; Qatar etc are close allies of the west.
On the issue of Islam being backward and why Allah is not helping is a naive one. Islam is like a car and people who believe in it are its driver, you can not blame the car for accidents. The problems existing in the Muslim world are largely due to the corrupt policies of these dictatorships rather than the people. Hope this helps.
Tauseef Zahid, London, UK
To link the sexual perversion of the saudi youth to the conservatism is nonsense. I believe that to be a very shallow analysis of the situation there.
From my experience and knowledge of Saudi life, the problem lies in the difficulties the youth face in getting married. High dowry rates and high expectations from parents makes it extremely difficult for the youth to get married. Hence, they resort to what they resort to since they have to satisfy their sexual needs somehow or another. And if it is not done in a chaste manner than it will be fulfilled in an unchaste way.
Shooha Ali, London,
Racism and even slavery are rampant in the Middle East. Look at Sudan. It's time someone challenged all the relentless Islamist propoganda that claims otherwise.
Matt, Sydney, Australia
A fascinating piece, but touching on some other posts here, is it not the case that in Islam the latter teachings of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed take precedence over the earlier teachings ('Medina-Mecca' I think is the dichotomy here??) and the latter teachings of Mohammed were Jihadist? Mohammed imposed his religion by the sword: 'Infidels' were faced with 3 choices - Conversion, Dhimmitude (less or no rights, higher taxes) or Death. My question to Muslims who reject Jihad is how can you consider yourself to be Muslim if you reject the central tenet of your faith as preached and practices by its founder?
Graeme Thompson, Barcelona, Spain
Ibn Warraq, a well versed scholar on Islam, had this to say, "there maybe be moderate Muslims but there is no such thing as moderate Islam". The late Anwar Sheikh recognised Islam as an ideology for Arab imperialism, and racism particularly against blacks, is endemic in Islam. Ed Hussain should know that Wahhabi Islam is the Reformed version of Islam, i.e., it is going back to its fundamental and core beliefs.
The question is, Ed Hussain must know all this, and so why does he try to convince the reader that Islam is benign and it is Wahhabism that is a perversion. Surely the Imams in Saudi Arabia and others, and even a man as learned on Islam as Ayatollah Khomeini, would have known that they were misinterpreting the teachings of Islam.
There is a lot of misinformation on Islam being put out by committed Muslims, as they realise that the truth of Islam is coming out, and that the whole strategy of the Islamic takeover of the West by demographic means, is being exposed.
DaveP, Beverley, UK
what are you talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Islam is the best thing ever happened to humanity those people Hussain is talking about are not truely moslems
im moslem and im very proud to be so.
I live in Palestine and we have lots of problems here more than you think but thinking and believing in God helps us to live peacefuly inspite all what we are passing through
tamara, Gaza, Palestine
Srop blaming the West for all the problems of the Middle East. After 80 years countries should be able to move on,but Islam or what passes as Islam is holding the Middle East back.
Pauline O' Donovan, Co.Offaly, Ireland
Honestly written, informative account. I appreciate the courage it took to let the world know what is going on.
It is a contribution to survival of free, thriving societies.
May your good will attract good things into your life.
Tiesa Seeker, Berkeley, California
Ed,
Interesting article! I agree many people in Britain tend to overlook the true reality of what the Saudi Society is like. These are unelected nomadic dictators who have been forced upon the region and the people by, then, Britain and now sustained by US.
We must be careful not to paint everyone in Saudi Arabia with the same brush. We, as British people, would be outraged upon anyone who tried to state that all British people and hence by extension the British Society were mad, crazy hooligan drunks who had a schoolboy bully culture and hated anyone other than their own kind simply by viewing the actions of football hooligans, the BNP and war mongering speeches of Tony Blair!
I agree extremism and blind hate has no place in any civil society especially an Islamic Society since it contradicts directly the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad who was a man of kindness, compassion and forgiveness. Even in times of extreme difficulty he never advocated hatred for his enemies.
Hameed, Peterborough,
The only problem with this article is the mistaken belief that the terrorism, the drive for world domination, the abuse of women, etc is because of those who "hijacked my faith." They haven't hijacked it, they are living it more fully and honestly than the author, who simply chooses to emphasize the good while ignoring the evil aspects of Islam. But in fact those evil aspects are central to Islam. The movement itself originated in Muhammeds ambition to rule the world. Unlike in Christianity, there is no formal heirarchy in Islam, no recognized leadership. So he's correct to fight back this way, using information to help people see the true nature of Islam, which once known, any good soul would reject. But its false to suggest anything other than that these problems arise from the fundamental nature of Islam itself.
Charles, Redmond, WA
Ed was clearly naive to think that by living in KSA he would be in some kind of Utopian Islamic State. He has simply gone from one extreme of being anti-West in everything he believed to the other extreme of being anti-Saudi in everything he now believes.
KSA has evils just like any other country, in some cases more and in some cases less. Just because Makkah and Madinah are in KSA for some reason people think that it is free from all evils. Wake up and smell the coffee people.
For me the positives still outweigh the negatives.
Mahmood, KSA,
Again, as a black Muslim I feel I could have written this story myself. I wholeheartedly believed Britain was a racist den of evil. Then I went to Saudi too to teach biochemistry. For the rest of my story read the article above it's almost identical.
The sheer evil I witnessed almost made me renounce Islam but thankfully I discovered the Ahmaddiya and I practice Islam that truly loves all of Allah's children, whatever their colour or creed.
Jamal, Brum, UK
So, Tauseef....if the UK and USA support is indeed responsible for the "holy land of Islam" being the corrupt, unholy way it is, what's that say about Islam itself? I'm sorry, but all this tiresome "blame-the-infidel-UK-and-USA-for-Middle-East-mess" are ironic, tacit acknowledgements that Islam is weaker than than the ways of the West. It begs the embarassing question of why Allah hasn't been able to do anything to save his faithful, but frustrated Saudi Muslims that strive to follow His ways via the strictest gov't-imposed veiling, praying, fasting, etc in the world.....all while allowing Muslims to thrive in the same "blasphemous lands" of UK and USA.
Jaysee, Sultan, USA
Welcome to the real world . If only our politicians understood.
Yorkshire Miner , Amsterdam, Holland
To Tauseef Zahid:
It is always easier to blame others for the out come of your deeds. America & U.K. have no control on the political & social circumstances of the Middle East not to mention that Saudis have the power to change the rulers that you hate.
Ed, Valencia, Venezuela
Dear Mr Husain,
I am very impressed by your rationality. Someone who has "been there" and has come to such a realization is a worthy person. You should make the acquaintance of my friend and colleague Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi of Rome, who has visited us in Israel several times. We Jews and Israelis are happy to live in peace with those who wish to live in peace with us. We have no desire nor intention to commit suicide. You are welcome to visit us in Israel.
Yehoshua Friedman, Kochav Hashahar, Israel
The British may have helped set up the Sauds but they are not responsible in anyway for the behavior of their religion, their racism,their morality,or any form of their character. For do you see them reflecting British values in Saudi? Of course you do not see this.
Ron Teglabue, Gass valley,Calfornia , USA
Thank you for this article. As a black muslim, living in the UK. I have been saying a long time to people, in this country that they have no idea of the true reality of these countries for black people. I have lived in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Although to be fair, Bahrain was a nice place The other two, you have no rights, at all, if you are black. We are seen as nothing more as dirt to Arabs. But yet, they are recruiting the same people that they hate to become the suicide bombers they need.
Sam , London, UK
Dear Ed Husain,
I am happy that your eyes are opened.
Take a deep breath and open wider into the reign of islam.
How many believers are muslims?
Paul Jansen, Motta Camastra, Italy
I too was shocked when as a Westerner working in SA, I was invited to a Saudi home where I was offered whiskey and pornography was running on the video. This was the first time I had been exposed to either. Interestingly, the brand of whiskey had to be chosen immediately on arrival, because that weekend was a "religious" holiday and so it was difficult to obtain whiskey because of demand. I also heard of disappearances and witnessed the mult-tiered apartheid system there.
The MAJOR flaw in the above article is the lack of recognition that the source of the political agenda, austerity and anger are the islamic texts themselves, starting FIRST with the Koran.
John Summers, Metz, France
I think Ed has correctly pointed out lot of problems that exist in Saudi Arabia e.g. treatment of the migrants, discrimination against the Africans and increasing sexual frustration that exist in the youth.
However he failed to point out that how British government is responsible for the present Saudi State. It was them who installed House of Saud in Saudi Arabia and it is also them who till this day support this brutal dictatorship.
The recent British-Saudi arm deal and Blair effectively putting an end to the corruption and bribes investigation is an example of the convenient relationship that exist between Britain and Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore the people in Saudi Arabia and Middle East have been denied of the right to self determination for the last 80 years. The main reason for the continuation of dictatorships despite of the growing resentment that exist in Saudi Arabia and Middle East against these rulers, is the support by British and Americans to these rulers.
Tauseef Zahid, London, UK
A fine article. I wish all British Muslims had as much clarity, dignity and human feeling.
Andy Gill, London, UK
Perhaps the only response I can make to this:
"My students told me about the day in March 2002 when the Muttawa [the religious police] had forbidden firefighters in Mecca from entering a blazing school building because the girls inside were not wearing veils. Consequently 15 young women burnt to death, but Wahhabism held its head high, claiming that God’s law had been maintained."
...is a timeless one:
"You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"
Jesus Christ
Matthew 23:24
M. Johnson, Chicago, IL