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Desert Culture and Artificial Superiority

20 November 2007CE | 10 Dhul-Qadah 1428AH

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[Coexistence with expatriates, Ali Saad Al-Mousa/Al-Watan, 5 August 2002]

At the end of the last academic year I attended a ceremony organized by one of the university departments, where I work, in honor of an American Muslim professor, who was leaving the Kingdom after spending about 10 years.

On this occasion, I wished him a happy life in the rest of his career. I hoped he is leaving our country with warm feelings about us after working with us for such a long period.

During my long conversation with the professor, I tried to make him understand all about us, our culture and social setup with the hope that he would serve as an ambassador for Saudi Arabia when he returns to his country.

The American professor told me frankly and clearly that he was leaving without understanding much about the Saudi society because of the cultural isolation which the Saudis impose on foreigners who come to the country.

The Kingdom is like a two-story building, one story for Saudis and the other for foreigners. Both groups enter their floor through different doors. They do not use this historic opportunity to exchange cultures but refuse even to meet the person next door.

This country has turned into a cantonment for expatriates and the Saudis still do not know anything about them. Just imagine enjoying a mixture of cultures from different parts of the world.

We, the American professor and myself, spent a lot of time talking. The next day I had a feeling that we are living under an illusion that we are capable of coexisting with foreigners who come to our country and that we can influence them with our culture and could be influenced by the good aspects of theirs.

The Kingdom had welcomed more than 70 million expatriate workers over the past years, ever since the oil boom. About two million pilgrims come to our country every year for Hajj and double that number for Umrah. Figures also point out that one out of three Saudis go abroad annually. We top the list of the Middle Eastern people who visit foreign countries for tourism, education and business.

Nonetheless, we have to admit that we are one of the most closed societies in the world. The desert culture has made Saudis worry about security. This is the reason why we look at other people and cultures with suspicion.

The desert culture also encourages people to lead a solitary life and inculcates a feeling of artificial superiority.

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