Ramadan

Ramadan is fast approaching, which is a period of about a month when Muslims fast during daylight hours, and will not even drink water. It also means that all restaurants in the country will be closed during the day, and alcohol will not be sold anywhere. Even the hotels close down their bars during Ramadan.

Since moving to Qatar a little over four years ago I have made an effort to learn or experience some aspects of Qatari culture -- going to prayers at a mosque, learning Arabic, reading the Qur’an and Hadiths, smoking shisha (okay, I'm kidding about the last one). I figure since Ramadan is approaching I will try out another tradition this year.

Fasting.


Since it is something that Muslims do every year for an entire month I figure why not give it a try and see how challenging it is. I will admit a few other factors have also influenced my decision:

• I'm trying to lose weight, hopefully this will help

• I will only be doing it for about two weeks rather than a month. I'm going back to Canada at the end of August so I will end the fast when I leave

• I do not live far from the office so I do not have to worry about driving home after work feeling tired and dizzy from not eating all day.

Ramadan is a little more than a week away so I do not have a lot of time to prepare. I will talk to my Muslim colleagues in the office to see what is the best way to approach this and how traditionally they start and stop the fast every day. I think the biggest challenge for me will be not having any water, or coffee for that matter. I think I'd better start weaning myself off the caffeine now so I do not end up with a big headache the first day of the fast.

And of course I'll blog about the preparations and my experience with fasting so that you can learn about it as well. Maybe I will also try to find out more about other aspects of Ramadan and how it works in Qatar.

iM iMpressed

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Qatari wedding update (Arab wedding)

So I had a chat with my friend about marriage contracts and what typically went in them. Without going into details about what is in his marriage contract he did say that typically Qatari marriage contracts will have clauses about the following:

• How much money/jewelry/other things she receives (we might refer to this as a dowry but I believe it is actually called Mahr in Arabic)
• Whether she is allowed to work
• Whether she is allowed to drive (?! This might be the Saudi influence here since in Saudi Arabia women aren't allowed to drive)
• Whether they will have their own home
• Possibly who is responsible for paying for the wedding, this is typically the groom and his family anyway but I was told that nowadays some families split the costs, or the bride's family will pay for the bride's celebration. Weddings are expensive.


My friend did clarify there will be some things you won't see in the contract:

• How many children they will have. (I guess you get as many as Allah gives you)
• Whether he can have more than one wife. The Qur'an allows a man to have four wives so you cannot exclude that right.

I find the pragmatism of the marriage contract to be very interesting. While in the West we will say wedding vows full of more nebulous promises here in Qatar a marriage is a contractual obligation, complete with specific requirements that need to be adhered to. I'm assuming that the bride can petition for divorce for breach of contract should her husband not meet any of the conditions.

Passport

In other news I got my passport renewed today. This was a bit more challenging than you might think.

Canada does not have an embassy in Qatar. I've heard they will be opening one soon but to date nada. So I have to use the nearest embassy, which is in Kuwait. Needless to say it is a bit problematic to fly over there just to drop off some passport documentation. But if you mail everything how do you pay the embassy?

The embassy helpfully told me about a service that most couriers do called “Visa Pak”. The courier will take your stuff to the embassy, pay the embassy fees, then bring your stuff back to you when the embassy has issued your new passport and you reimburse the courier for the costs. Can't argue with that.

Well, I could have once I figured out how much the bloody thing would cost. I went to the courier today to get my shiny new passport and the courier charged me QR 500 on top of the passport fees. That’s US$140! To courier an old passport and a three-page application! For an extra hundred bucks I could have flown to Kuwait myself and at least gotten a trip out of it (well, maybe not, I've had to make two trips to drop off and pick up the passport). Still, I think a $140 is a bit steep.

Anyway, I have a new passport issued from Kuwait City, which should guarantee me "random selection" at most Western airports.

It's dang hot!

I guess I haven't mentioned yet that summer is here and man is it hot! According to the papers this summer looks like it's going to break records. Last week Qatar was above 50°, and one area hit about 55° (that's about 130°F for those of you who aren't used to Celsius).

Someone I know showed me a cell phone picture that they took of the dashboard of their car. Apparently he had left his car outside in the sun during one of those 50+ degree days and the dashboard had a thermometer in it. The dashboard showed that the car was 60°C inside! Pretty wild.

I did not go outside much but even then my lips got chapped from the heat. I never had chapped lips so bad before and it was really annoying.

Unfortunately my next vacation is not until the end of August so looks like I'm stuck with the heat for another month. At least there is a pool nearby, with shade.

Qatar Wedding Update (Arab wedding)

An update on my friend's pending nuptials -- apparently the contract has been finalized and presented by the two families to the Court. The Court has accepted the contract so, technically, he is now married!

Similar to when he announced when he was getting married he didn't make a big deal about this part of the process. My understanding is that, culturally speaking, he is not married until the ceremony/celebrations are completed, which may still be a while -- I do not think they have finalized a date yet. Guess there is still time to back out if either party wants to cancel. For now he goes to his fiancée’s (wife’s?) house to chat with her and have dinner with her family. He is also preparing a place where they will live once they have the marriage ceremony. It is good to hear things are going well.

I've been wanting to ask him what exactly is in the contract but I’ve refrained from doing so to respect his privacy. Arabs are generally a private people and can get uncomfortable with questions about their personal life, including asking them about family members. If I'm not mistaken Arabs generally consider it impolite for a man to ask another man about women in his family. Generally you would just ask a man how his family is doing, rather than asking about specific members such as his mother, sister, daughter, wife etc. I'm sure asking about what is in their marriage contract qualifies as very personal information.

As for the contract I do know that the contract has in it that she can work if she wishes to because she currently has a job and he mentioned that she will continue to work there, but I do not know much else. Maybe I will just ask him to give me what details he's willing to share with me (and you as well, he knows I'm blogging about this).

World Cup

While I've never been a big soccer fan I will always watch the World Cup. I enjoy the expectations and drama -- entire countries become jubilant or depressed over one game. An underdog beating a marquee team could cause tens of millions of people to party until morning. Fans dress up like it's a costume party. World Cup for most of the world is like Canada following the hockey during the Winter Olympics.

So naturally most of the guys in the office were talking about it. You'll have to trust me that this is not me jumping on the bandwagon but from the get-go I was backing South American teams. It seemed that everyone in the office was always going on about the European teams and with the exception of Argentina and Brazil they were dismissing the rest of the South American teams. I disagreed and in fact stated that my "dark horse" team was Chile. (I always pick one underdog team to root for, in the last World Cup it was Ghana.)

Well the round-robin is over and of the 15 round-robin games that South American teams played they only lost one. All five South American teams are through to the knockout stages, and 4 of the 5 won their groups. Contrast that with Europe where France and Italy were knocked out early, and both England and Spain needed a win in their last game to advance. I'm sure people in England were outraged that the much-maligned USA wound up winning the group that England was in.

It is even possible that 4 South American teams will advance to the quarterfinals (Chile and Brazil play in the round of 16 so one South American team has to be knocked out, go Chile!)

Africa did not fare as well which is a shame because there were high expectations that with the tournament being held in South Africa the African teams should do well. Of the six teams from Africa only one made it through to the knockout rounds (Ghana). The hosts South Africa did not make it through, the first time in World Cup history that the host did not advance from the round-robin stages.

Anyway having seen the round-robin matches I'm backing Chile as the underdog team and Spain as the "most likely to win" team.

Beaches

So before summer really got into full swing, with its 45+ degree temperatures, I wanted to go to the beach. I had not been to a beach in Qatar since maybe October 2009 and I figured I should since for the rest of the summer I'll be indoors or sitting in the shade by a pool. There was a beach reasonably close to where my Turkish friend lived that I had never been to, called Wakra beach. He had never been there either so we figured what the heck let's go there in the morning when it is not too hot and check it out.

Here it is:




It's actually more of a tidal flat so the water was really shallow. You can maybe even see that car out on a little "island" in the distance, though the water surrounding it was probably little more than a foot and a half deep. The sand around us was still wet from the outgoing tide so we put our gear on a cinderblock and started heading into the water. Qatar is generally so flat you can go out a long way, I think we walked about 150 m before we got into water that was even waist deep. Walking over 100 m in knee-deep water gets pretty tiring.

What was strange is that in most parts the water was quite warm but then suddenly you would enter another area and the water would cool considerably, probably by 6 or 7°. It was a really sudden transition so both my friend and I were quite surprised when we hit the cool zone. But then go another 20 m and the water was warm again. The cold water was more refreshing so we stayed in that.

Why was there this area of cold water? I have my suspicions ...






Nope, I have no idea what that is in the background. I don't think I want to know. Ignorance truly is bliss sometimes.

Overall I found the beach experience fairly unrewarding and after a swim and having a quick bite on the towel we took off back to his place.

I will note that Wakra is building a marketplace that is nearby very similar to Souq Waqif (the old souq) in Doha, but right by the shore. It will probably be ready in about a year and I think it'll be very nice when it's done.

Back to the beach. I think I was a little underwhelmed by the whole experience because not a month back I was here ...


[ATTENTION GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCHERS -- THIS IS NOT A PICTURE OF A QATAR BEACH!] (it seems like anyone using GIS for "qatar beaches" gets this photo. No idea why.)

No comparison. Bermuda does spoil you for beaches. I have traveled a lot and so far the beaches in Bermuda have been the best in the world that I have experienced. Hands down.

I'm fine

I know, I haven't posted for a long time. I'm okay – nothing’s wrong.

I have been swamped at work so I have not had a lot of time for blogging. More importantly the Internet has conked out in my building and with luck they will finally have it fixed in the next couple of days. I'm posting this from the computer at work, which is something I don't like doing but I figure it's been so long since I posted I figure I better give everyone an update lest you all think I'm in the hospital or something.

I'm back!

Okay, I'm back in Doha! (Actually, I was back on the 10th but have been swamped with unpacking/work/etc thereafter)

Wow, Bermuda was awesome! It was sunny pretty much the whole time I was there and I was down at the beach 4 times. Got to see Hamilton, St. George's, Tobacco Bay, the Aquarium/Zoo (with its Galapagos tortoises and evil little monkeys), my old house, and meet up with tons of friends that I'd not seen since I left for Qatar. Drank plenty of Black Seal Rum too. In fact the wedding reception I attended really seemed to take off when the Black Seal came out (and incriminating photos show its true. No, not of the bride or groom).

I've traveled a lot around the world but I have yet to find any beaches that can compare to Bermuda's. I guess after living there for five years you just kind of took it for granted so was a real wake-up call to go back and experience it again.

Not everything in Bermuda was laughter and joy. I went back to my barbershop to find out that Harold, an elderly Bermudian gentlemen who had been my barber while I lived in Bermuda, had passed away two years ago. He enjoyed talking about Bermuda and politics, and used to keep a bottle of St. Lucia Rum on the counter for use as a hair tonic -- something Bermudian men used to use in the past to prevent hair loss. I was saddened to hear he was gone.

After that it was three days in not-quite-as-warm London, where I think at one point temperatures dropped to 9°C at midday (in May!). But I got to wander around Kensington, Oxford Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, saw Les Miserables at a theater near Piccadilly Circus, went to a barbecue in Putney, and had a few pints at a couple of pubs to round out the British experience. Managed to pick up the latest book by Richard Dawkins while I was there too.

So, long story short, let's send out some kudos:

Yotel (yotel.com): a capsule hotel that opened up recently at Gatwick airport. I had an eight hour layover after a 7-hour overnight flight and was able to catch five hours sleep in a comfortable bed for the price of about 6 pounds an hour.

Horizons Cottages in Bermuda: a pretty hotel made up of a number of small buildings across a 150-year-old estate. A taste of old Bermuda at its best. Also provided access to the facilities at the nearby Coral Beach Club.

Janel and Enrico, whose wedding I flew to Bermuda for. Congratulations guys! Fantastic wedding, I had a great time.

My friends Knut & Petra, and George & RItu, who each had me over for dinner to catch up on old times.

Shauna, for inviting me over to my old house in Bermuda so that I could see the place once again.

David, for letting me crash in London at his place for a few days and going to the play.

David's friends Damien and (uh-oh, I can't remember her name I keep thinking it's Allison but I know that's not it) for inviting me over to their barbecue. Damien has two airline seats in his living room (tray tables and all), which was really cool to sit in.

and Qatar Airways and British Airways. The flights were smooth, service was fine.

Vacation update

In London right now, saw St Paul's Cathedral and Les Miserables yesterday, going to a BBQ today. Fly back to Qatar tomorrow. I believe some people are trying to reach me today so hopefully they stop by the blog to see that I'm not at home.

Vacation

Sorry, forgot to mention I'm on vacation now -- that's why I haven't been posting. Currently in Bermuda for a wedding, then off to London for a few days.

I know, I know, such a tough life.

A Trip to the Mosque

So as I noted in a previous post I was going to visit a nearby mosque. So this Friday I went to visit English-language services at the Islamic Cultural Centre's mosque. Before I went I spoke to my Muslim colleagues about any type of preparation and dress code:

1) wear pants, do not wear shorts if they go above the knee
2) you don't have to wear anything fancy like a suit and tie, you can wear a T-shirt and jeans if you like
3) do not wear a shirt with pictures on it, especially representations of people (?? Not entirely sure why that is an issue but okay)

That was about it. So I went in a nice golf shirt and slacks. I took an English-language copy of the Qur'an with me to read while I was there and in case they referred to any specific verses. The service wasn't going to start until sometime after 1130 but I've been told to get there at 11 so that I could get a space inside the mosque. Apparently the place fills up and the overflow goes into other rooms where there is video feed of the Imam.

The mosque was a large carpeted room that could seat about 300 to 400 people. There was a small alcove which indicated the direction you had to pray, although it was pretty apparent from the carpet as well since it had rows perpendicular to the alcove for people to line themselves up at. (I believe this is a common feature of all mosques, and is why when you see video of people praying at mosques they all seem to be lined up perfectly with enough space in between the rows to bow). The only furniture consisted of a small platform in front of the alcove from where the Imam gives his sermon, and around three plastic chairs in the back corners, probably for elderly worshipers or people with back problems. Around the walls were numerous small bookshelves with copies of the Qur'an in various languages. Each bookshelf had a small sign indicating the language of the Qur'ans on it and I could see: English, French, Turkish, Somali, Albanian, Philippines, Thai, Hindi, and at least four or five other shelves that were too far away for me to read the sign.

When I got there the room was maybe one third full, men only, most of them either reading from a Qur'an or doing their prayers. I sat up against the back wall so that I could have a bit of back support and be out of the way. I spent the next half hour looking through my Qur'an and watching the men come in. It was a truly diverse crowd. I noticed Malaysians, Filipinos, Chinese, people from Central Asia (possibly Afghani), Nepalese, Pakistanis and other people from South Asia, some Turks, Africans (both West and East Africa), a few Arabs (odd because I would expect them to go to Arabic-language services), and about a half-dozen Caucasians. Sure enough the dress code varied widely, ranging from national dress to jeans and T-shirt. One guy even had a baseball cap on backward. As soon as anyone entered they found a spot and started doing their prayers. By about 11:30 the room was 90% full and there wasn't much space to move around. All the spots against the back wall were now taken and I had what seemed to be a Thai or Malay man to my right and a Nepalese man to my left.

A man approached the microphone and started doing the call to prayer, which reverberated throughout the centre and surrounding area via speakers throughout the building. More people came in and the room was full. Then the Imam took the podium and started his sermon. While giving the sermon many latecomers continued doing their prayers.

The sermon did not refer to any specific passage in the Qur'an, but touched upon the golden age of Islam (around the 10th to 14th centuries) and how the Qur'an encourages people to wonder and think about the world. [I did a blog post probably a year ago discussing the golden age of Islam and what likely lead to its decline]. He also mentioned about how scientific discoveries have reconciled with what is said in the Qur'an -- I later read in the Islam section of the newspaper the same topic so maybe he does the newspaper articles as well. His sermon was done in about 30 minutes, after which he said something in Arabic and everyone turned their palms upward and started reciting something that I didn't understand. Then everyone stood up and I stood up with them, figuring that was it. . .

Then the Imam said something and everyone started bowing - the beginning of a set of standard prayer movements (bow, kneel, press your forehead to the floor etc. ) I was a little unprepared for them to do that and needless to say I was the only one still standing. Looks like I was the only non-Muslim in the room! The guys to the left and right of me clearly noticed I hadn't bowed yet. (I had been found out! Will all the non-Muslims please stand up!) Rather than standing there like an idiot I just imitated what everyone else was doing. After a couple minutes of bowing/kneeling etc. we were done and people started leaving. All in all the whole thing took maybe 50 minutes, shorter than most Christians Sunday services. No hymns or singing, just a short sermon and a couple of prayers.

The Malay guy next to me asked if I was new. I told them I'm not a Muslim but that the Islamic Cultural Centre invited me to attend the services as part of learning about Islam. He seemed kind of happy with that.

Then I left the room with the others, got my shoes, and headed out.

That was an interesting experience, I was kind of surprised that it was shorter than a standard Christian service. I did like the multiculturalism, it really did have people from all over the world and seemed quite inclusive. Thankfully no one seemed to be upset with a non-Muslim being there.

I have a vacation coming up soon, I think after that I will sign up for the Centre's mosque tour.

National Museum of Iraq

This week I attended a talk at the Museum of Islamic Art on the looting of the National Museum of Iraq during the Iraq invasion. Many of you may remember from the early days of the invasion how during the chaos hoards of people were looting the National Museum of its Assyrian and other Mesopotamian treasures (along with all the media outrage about how could this happen, why didn't the coalition think about this and immediately secure the Museum, all those archaeological wonders would be lost etc.). I recall it.

So it was interesting to hear from a scholar who was the Deputy Director General (or some very senior title) of the Museum from 1988 to 1990. He had a fascinating story to tell.

Back in 1990, at the approach of the what we now refer to as the first Gulf War, the Director General for the Museum closed the Museum and secretly gathered a number of employees, instructing them to pack all of the most valuable pieces in the Museum in crates for placement in the vaults of the Central Bank of Iraq. It took them about a week but thousands of the best pieces in the collection were safely transported to the Central Bank for safekeeping.

The vault had two locks, an "A" key and a "B" key, and once locked the keyholders left the city -- one of them went north, the other one south, with instructions to not return unless certain individuals asked them to come back so that the vault could be opened. Everyone else was sworn to secrecy.

After the first Gulf War it was decided to keep the treasures in the vault. The Museum still had tens of thousands of other pieces which they put on display but the most important ones remained safely locked away. The two keyholders had not been instructed to return.

Fast forward to 2003 and the looting of the Museum. While tens of thousands of pieces were looted from the Museum (the scholar estimated about 50,000) no one realized that the best pieces were somewhere else. Everyone just assumed the looters had them (and the looters probably assumed someone else eluded them before they got to them). Even the media didn't know.

Years later the story did come out. Somehow, and it's not entirely sure who the leak was, a reporter found out that the pieces were in the Central Bank vault and mentioned it on a radio show. Shortly thereafter there were attacks on the Central Bank, likely by criminal gangs trying to get the valuables. The boldest attack was four men using RPGs to try to break into the bank. Thankfully something went wrong and they were killed by the explosion.

It was decided that the pieces had to be removed from the bank. The keyholders were instructed to return, the vault was opened, and with the help of the American military the pieces were taken somewhere else for safekeeping.

We were then shown a slideshow of the items being removed from crates in the Central Bank vault. (And when I mean crates I'm talking about those huge 6' x 4' x 3' crates.)

Pretty much every picture showed items of pure gold. Bracelets, necklaces, masks, crowns, all made of gold with precious stones. Some of the pieces weighed more than a kilogram. Okay not everything was gold, there were a few vases and other statuary, but it appeared they were the minority. I couldn't even estimate what the collection was worth.

Over the ensuing years about 15,000 of the 50,000 pieces looted from the Museum have been recovered, and the greatest pieces of Mesopotamian art are still safe. Sadly, no one knows when or if they will ever be on display again.

The scholar knows where the collection is now being kept. Not surprisingly, he refused to tell us.

Some pearls, a mosque, a souq, and a massage

Saturday turned out to be a varied and interesting day.

First, I decided to go to the Museum of Islamic Art to see their special exhibit on pearls, which is only here until June. Turned out to be more impressive than I thought it would be.

-- The first part of the exhibit focused on the various types and qualities of pearls, usually with examples of the shells the pearls came from.

-- I didn't realize that almost all species of mollusk could produce pearls, just that some rarely do (for example there are fewer than a dozen known pearls from nautilus and conch shells. The museum displayed examples of them).

-- From there it was discussion of the pearl industry throughout history, followed by a large display of Qatar's pearl history, including photos and videos of pearl diving off the coast (the industry largely vanished in Qatar in the 1930s thanks to Mikimoto, and the last divings occurred in the late 70s).

-- An area dedicated to Mikimoto, who developed cultured pearls, allowing for the "farming" of pearls from which most pearls are derived today. There were displays of some of Mikimoto's finest jewelry.

-- Some historical jewelry and other items with pearls, including crowns, robes, necklaces, and a rug commissioned by one of the Indian maharajas which had thousands of pearls in it. The rug was created with the intention of draping it over the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed, though it never made it there.

-- Finally, areas dedicated to modern jewelry incorporating pearls, including one-of-a-kind Cartier and Coco Chanel pieces.

After the Museum I walked about 20 minutes to FANAR (the Qatar Islamic Cultural Center), but they were closed until evening. A lot of places in Qatar still have hours where they are open in the mornings and evenings, closing for the afternoon. The Old Souq has similar hours.

Speaking of which I then walked over to the Old Souq area (Souq Waqif). Most of it was of course closed but I knew that one place would be open, a Chinese massage my friend Fayez and I frequent. Because of all the standing around and walking I did today it seemed like a good time to have a foot massage. My masseur was a Chinese guy and he did a great job. He spoke very little English and I was a bit surprised when I asked him his name and he replied, "Ali". I think he noticed I looked at him a bit quizzically (Ali is not exactly a common Chinese name) because he then said, "Chinese Muslim". Ah, that explains it.

Anyway for those interested an hour-long foot massage is ~$25. Best deal in town. You would pay 5x that at a hotel, maybe more.

So it was back to FANAR now that they would be open. I had realized that in the four years I've been here I've never actually attended Friday prayers at a mosque. I recall that there is an English-language one somewhere so I figured I'd ask FANAR about it and see if it was open to non-Muslims.

I was greeted by a Mr. Umar and we had a long chat about Islam. I think I threw them off a little because he was prepared to discuss basic things about Islam but I was already well-versed enough in the basics through my own studies and discussions with my Muslim friends. Anyway we had a nice chat, I found out that the Centre holds "services" (for lack of a better word) in English every Friday at 11 that is open to non-Muslims. He also told me they organize mosque tours where you can tour various mosques in the city. That's cool, I'll definitely sign up for one of those later, I never know about mosques and whether non-Muslims are allowed to enter them. Some do and some don't but they don't post signs.

I thanked Mr. Umar, he gave me some literature, and my plan for this Friday morning will be to go to the mosque to see what Friday prayer services are all about.
Then it was back to the Souq to relax and have a snack. By the time I got there though I was feeling hot so I stopped at a café and had a juice. It didn't help and I started feeling a little feverish so I went home.

When I got home I was feeling terrible so I immediately grabbed bottled water, medications, and went straight to bed. I was feverish, nauseous, and had very restless sleep. This continued into Sunday morning at which point I started feeling better.

My guess -- heat exhaustion. I've been walking around all afternoon, in the sun, in temperatures around the mid-30s.

You'd think after being here four years I would learn. This is probably the third time this has happened to me. At what point is my brain going to figure out that April does not mean spring-like temperatures.

Just dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

At least I got better and hopefully from now on I won't be so reckless.

More on veils

Man, it's been a crazy week. Anyway . . .

The issue of veils really stirs up a debate in the West. I recall this from one Internet thread discussing it:

"The reality of the veil is cultural apartheid. The reality of the veil is it is a symbol of oppression of women in many cultures."

I do not think it can be viewed solely on those terms, even now. The veil has practical reasons for its use (dust storms come to mind). We in the West may view it as symbolic oppression but it cannot be seen that way in absolute terms as it was also a practical dress code, which was further galvanized under religious ideology.
Note that plenty of Islamic nations are not in deserts, and veils are not commonly used there (now that I think about it there may even be a correlation between how common veils are in a society and how dry & dusty it is, but I digress), yet women in countries without veils still face significant challenges in terms of discrimination and rights.

Rather than us in the West pontificating about what veils do and don't mean let's see what some Arab feminists think. I found one recap of a recent feminist conference [I have paraphrased key points from one speech]

Arab Feminisms: A Critical Perspective | International Conference | October 4 – 7, 2009
Mervat F. Hatem, Ph.D., a Professor of Political Science at Howard University in Washington D.C., chose 3 main points to highlight:

-- There is a critical need to re-evaluate the voices of women in our Arab history, which is entirely biased towards men even when it comes to advances in women’s rights.

-- It is our mission to criticize the views of Arab “modernity” that were born out of colonial histories and to also criticize governmentalities that used motherhood in the service of nation-building, boxing women into that familial role.

-- We must also critically take on the feminist debates and political divisions of secular vs. religious feminists and women, of the middle class in particular.
Women’s rights activists continue to face great oppression in our countries, such as the targeted attacks of women in public demonstrations in Egypt, the tarnishing of reputations of activists in Tunisia, and the direct violence against women during the civil war in Algeria.

The topic of Muslim Feminism is a crucial one for us to address during this conference, Hatem asserted. The dominance of the secularist discourse of Arab feminism has led many to believe that secularism is the only solution to women’s problems. We should challenge such views and allow room for different feminisms, particularly Islamic Feminism, to emerge. Muslim feminists would still be able to deny the projects of Islamic nation-building while, at the same time, promoting Islamic Feminism. It is always dangerous when any feminist discourse claims to be the only correct discourse. Hatem affirmed that she refused discourses around the veil for example, which, in the name of feminism, deny Muslim women the right to their own choices.




It would appear that Prof. Hatem feels there are far bigger issues than wearing veils.

What about in Qatar (again I have paraphrased a recent article, and btw she does not wear a veil):

Secretary general of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs Noor al-Malki talking at the 5th Arab-European dialogue on women’s rights, organised by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) called yesterday for:

-- (temporaily) enacting a special legislation that regulates the rights of Qatari women married to foreigners and their children, to guarantee those children the same rights to education and health as that of the citizens.

-- quash all articles that discriminate against Qatari woman (married to foreigners) and recognising her children’s rights to automatic citizenship

-- an amendment to some of the articles of the country’s criminal code is needed to secure better protection to the victims of violence in the family.

-- abolishing the ban on appointing women in certain positions, that they were entitled to equal privileges like men.

-- protect housemaids by issuing a special legislation to protect them from all types of violations.




Plenty of big issues that need dealing with, including some that were dealt with in the West up to 100 years ago. Ms al-Malki is clearly outspoken and critical about ertain aspects of how women are treated in Qatar. No mention about veils though. And Qatar is a predominately Wahhabist nation, as is Saudi Arabia.

I am not sure that Arab feminists see the veil in the same way that we do in the West, and thus do not really understand why the West fixates on it. I suspect that most Arab feminists would prefer the West spend its time and resources pressuring Arab governments to address the real problems women face in these countries instead of the debates on whether to ban what the West subjectively interprets as symbols of oppression or lack of freedom.

A Woman with a Veil, a Man with a Book

During the Swiss minarets controversy I noted that there was no way such a law like that could exist in Canada. I may have spoken too soon.

There was a recent controversy over a woman named Naema Ahmed, who was barred from participating in government classes in Quebec because she wore a niqab (veil) and would not take it off in class. There may have been more to this, some said she was doing other things such as not facing the class when speaking and so on but that's not what's important. What's important is the reaction from the Québec government, a bill to ban women in niqab from receiving public services.

Looking at passing a law!? Uh-oh, that does not sound like a step in the right direction. Perhaps the recent controversy about burqas in France is starting to rub off in Québec. I don't have an issue with requiring the removal of a veil for certain key things (drivers licenses and other picture-based ID, security checks etc.) but to consider passing a law banning veils for reasons like it might muffle their speech in a class (oh no!! The horror!) is utterly ridiculous. Maybe we should consider banning scarves in the winter, after all they might muffle our speech a bit.

This is the part that gets me -- we in the West keep going on about how we embrace freedom and personal liberty and this is what makes us the great societies we are now, and encourage other countries to do the same, yet at the same time contemplate passing laws that are designed to place restrictions on a specific group of people, the same people we keep telling should embrace personal freedom. It's hypocritical. So what if someone wants to wear a veil? We allow people to wear piercings all over their body, have strange haircuts, tattoos, or what have you. As far as I'm concerned if a guy can have a ring through his eyebrow a woman can wear a veil.

We as a Western society need to take the high road and stop preaching freedom on one hand while restricting freedoms on the other. Freedom means that some people will just adopt the style of dress that is different from the norm and that's the price we pay for freedom. So yes that means some women will wear veils in Canada -- who cares, get over it people.

Now Québec is a French society and unlike the rest of Canada I believe the law is based on civil law not British common law. I don't know how well that would interact with the federal system and to what extent a law banning veils could be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. With any luck if the Québec government does try passing a law it gets appealed and quashed.

*************************

The other day I was browsing around a bookstore and when I got to the science section was surprised to see an entire shelf dedicated to a book they just got in. The book was Arabic so I didn't know the title but I definitely recognize the picture on the cover -- Prof. Richard Dawkins. Turns out the book was an Arabic translation of Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think.

My surprise is primarily due to the fact that Prof. Dawkins writes books primarily on two topics: evolutionary biology and atheism. Not surprisingly in the Middle East you can sometimes find his books on the former (the ancestor's tale is one of my favorites) and you will never find any of his books on the latter. He does not mince his words in his treatment of organized religions and one of his recent books, the God Delusion, even stirred up a lot of protest from religious groups in the West. I don't think that book is sold anywhere in the Middle East, I tried to look for it once in Dubai without success and I have never seen it in Qatar. I figure if it's not available in Dubai it's unlikely to be available anywhere. [If anyone reading this knows where it would be available for sale in the Middle East feel free to correct me]

Thankfully whatever misgivings this region has about his (anti)religious books does not extend into his scientific work, which is available in bookstores, but this is the first time I've seen a book about him translated into Arabic.

I wonder if any of his books are available in Arabic?

News

So the other day I was chatting with a Qatari colleague about what he got up to over the weekend and after telling me a few things he nonchalantly added on the end...

... "oh, and I got engaged on Thursday."

Oh, was that all! Just a standard weekend then?! :-)

He just didn't know how to tell me. Apparently in Arabic there is a specific phrase one says to people to announce that you got engaged but it has no equivalent in English so he wasn't sure how exactly to break the news to English-speaking people.

Anyway the proper response is "Mabrruk", the Arabic word for congratulations.

This is also a great opportunity for me (and for those of you out there who read this blog) to get a firsthand account of the Qatari wedding process. My colleague said it was okay as long as I don't use names or give away much in the way of personal details.

Now engagements and weddings are not the same throughout the Islamic world, cultural differences play a large role. Gulf Arabs tend to be very conservative and I'm willing to bet their weddings would be very different from a wedding in Indonesia or Lebanon. That said it is extremely difficult to declare certain things about the process to be purely cultural and other things to be purely Islamic -- this region has been Muslim for 1400 years and Islam underpins so much of daily life that the two are fully intertwined to the point where many cultural activities may have had Islamic roots that people don't even really think about anymore, like in the West why 13 is considered an unlucky number or why we say "bless you"after someone sneezes. The best I can do is that in any blog posts about the engagement and wedding if I can find something in the Qur'an or Hadiths directly related to it I'll let you know, otherwise we will have to go on the assumption that it is more strongly influenced by local culture.

Here's what I learned about the engagement process:
-- his parents and her parents agreed that it might be a suitable match, at which point he went with his parents to her house to meet her and her family
-- after the first meeting apparently my friend and the lady both thought it went well so a second meeting with the families was arranged
-- after the second meeting they agreed to be engaged

I think I previously mentioned in my blog that Qataris have arranged marriages, love marriages are not common (actually I've never heard of one but I'm sure they occur at least occasionally).

Anyway, on to some other details:

-- They are not first cousins. I noted once that it is common for first cousins to marry in many parts of the Islamic world, including Qatar, and while I do know one Qatari who married his first cousin it that is not the case this time. [The Qur'an specifically lists who a person is not allowed to marry, first cousins are okay. This is important since if a woman is going to be escorted by a husband or male relative it can't be someone she is eligible to marry]

-- Once engaged many families will allow the lady to go out on dates with her fiancé, chaperoned by one of her male relatives. Many, not all. In the case of my friend that will not be happening. He is allowed to come over to her family's home for dinner though, and they are allowed to talk to each other on the phone so that they can get to know one another.

Naturally to Westerners this seems a bit extreme but I believe it is to protect the reputation of the lady. An engagement does not always mean the couple will get married, if during the course of their chats they determine that they are really not compatible then the wedding will be called off. The lady can then go find a more suitable fiancé with her reputation intact. Now that I think about it perhaps it was wrong of me to say this seems a bit extreme, it actually seems rather Victorian, like a Jane Austen novel, so it wasn't all that long ago that the British would be doing something similar.
[And yes, she should be able to call it off. The Qur'an states that a woman should not be forced to marry. Sadly that rule does not appear to always be applied consistently throughout the Islamic world]

-- The wedding will likely be this upcoming winter when the weather is cooler, in which case the men's celebration can be held outside. The timing of it is still to be decided and will likely depend more on the availability of halls than anything else.

-- They will not be doing anything to determine "auspicious dates" for the wedding. [The Qur'an notes sorcery and other forms of divination is a sin so few Arabs would use astrology and the like to determine favorable times, nor would they believe that certain days would be more auspicious than others]

-- The groom and his family will be paying for the wedding and related celebrations.

-- And I've already been told I'll be invited!

I'll keep updating as more news comes in over the year. I've decided to create new tag, "Qatari wedding" so that it will be easier for people to find all the posts about local weddings.

Grand Hyatt

A while ago I mentioned that I had taken care of my friend's cats. To thank me for coming to the rescue (they had someone lined up and that person had to cancel -- four hours before my friends were flying out for three weeks vacation) they paid for a night at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here in Doha for me. My friends occasionally use the Hyatt as a getaway to relax and unwind and they were staying the weekend there to celebrate their daughter's first birthday so invited me along. This also worked out well for me because at the staff Christmas party I won a raffle for a free massage at the Hyatt's spa that had to be used by the end of March.

Rather than go into a detailed description of everything that happened, which would make this post seem like a paid advertisement for the hotel, I'll just say two things:

1) we had a great time and I had a comfortable night's sleep

2) the staff were really cool about their daughter's birthday. My friends had ordered a cake for the room for that evening but while having lunch at one of the hotel's restaurants they had surprised us with a large cake for her. We thought that must have been the cake my friend's ordered and since the hotel knew where we were eating lunch they sent it there but when we got back to the room another cake was there, plus sparklers for us to use, and they had strewn a dozen balloons on the floor of the room for her (which she really liked, she had great fun sitting amongst the balloons and waving her arms to watch them fly around).

Thanks goes out to my friends, I had a great time.

Busy time for Doha

This is a pretty exciting week for Doha, there is a lot going on.

At the Aspire Sports Zone is the World Indoor Track and Field Championships. Many of the world's best track and field athletes are competing.

There is also a convention of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) being held here. In the next week or so we will find out whether the bluefin tuna will be declared a Category I endangered species, my understanding is that this would result in a moratorium on fishing for this species for something like five years. Japan will fight a ban all the way -- it consumes about two thirds of the bluefin tuna caught and it is a lucrative industry (a newspaper article noted that a single large bluefin tuna can fetch over $100,000 in Japanese markets).

Let's see, what else is going on...

The Qatar Natural History Group is off on a field trip to an archaeological dig in the north of the country. If it is the same site that I'm thinking of, it is a village that dates from around the 9th century A.D.

The Museum of Islamic Art normally holds scholarly lectures once a month regarding various items in Islamic Art but this month, thanks to visiting scholars, there are going to be three lectures! I attended the first one last Wednesday on the history of glassmaking in the Islamic World. The other two lectures are on the next two Wednesdays, I'll see if I can get out to them.

And just a bit of news to help counter Western perceptions that women in every Muslim country are somehow locked away in their homes, Qatar's newspapers have reported that the country is likely to have female judges soon. Women appear to be rising rapidly in the legal and judicial ranks in the country. That's good news, I noted a year or so ago in my blog an article from a local Law Society arguing against women becoming judges (the usual nonsense arguments one would find in the West in the early 20th century, they're too emotional . . . blah, blah, blah). Looks like the powers that be in Qatar thankfully did not heed their recommendation.

And hotel bars are starting to clamp down on dress code. Unbeknownst to me (until I tried to get in that is) they will not let men wearing shorts into a bar, long pants only. That my shorts went below the knee did not matter (the Qur'an states that men should at a minimum be covered from the navel to just below the knee), in hindsight I guess it was kind of funny to use a Qur'an passage to argue why I should be let into a bar! I'm not sure when the bars started getting picky about this, I do not go to bars often so for all I know it's been that way for the last year. That's a heads up to all the guys in Doha reading the blog, or planning to visit -- wear pants if you want to go to a bar.

Numerology? Or just because it's cool?

In Qatar and other parts of the GCC there is a secondary market for phone numbers or license plates that have certain number combinations. In Arabic newspapers there are apparently many classified ads for people buying and selling numbers. If you don't believe me Google "phone number auction", some phone numbers can get $100,000 or more. In Qatar getting a price of $5,000 for a desirable number is not unusual.

I'm not sure how one determines the market value of phone numbers and license plates but from my limited understanding what you would like is:

a) numbers with patterns (ex. 5545545 would be worth something)

b) numbers that repeat the same digit (so 5553749 would be worth less than 5553349)

c) numbers that are easy to remember (ex 4001234)

d) or low number license plates can be desirable. Not all license plates have six digits, earlier ones had three, four, or five digits. So license plate number of 1455 would be worth more than 267214.

e) and, if you're lucky, you might have a number that matches someone's license plate. They may call you up and ask if you're willing to sell it. For example a Qatari friend of mine has matching phone number and license plate, so his phone number might be 6472238 and his license plate 472238 [No this is not his real phone number and license plate, just an example, I'm not that crazy that I would give out his phone number on the Internet just to prove a point]

So I was curious about this, did this have something to do with numerology? Were there lucky numbers and unlucky numbers? Did Qataris avoid certain numbers for whatever reason?

Don't think this is a bizarre thing, the Chinese believe 8 is lucky and 4 is unlucky, many in the West believe 13 is an unlucky number, and 7 has always been viewed positively. To this day there are still buildings in the West that do not have a 13th floor. Plenty of cultures around the world have their lucky/unlucky numbers.

I've asked around and so far it does not appear that Qataris have an affinity towards certain numbers or consider others unlucky. While number associations in the West, such as 7 or 13, tend to have some kind of Christian origin (7 Heavens, 13 at the Last Supper [or was it because that's how many witches medieval Christians believed met at Devil-worshipping ceremonies?]) No one mentioned any particular Islamic association with certain numbers, and a quick review of the Bukhari Hadiths did not turn up anything either. I'll ask around a bit more. Until then it looks like there is a vibrant secondary market for phone numbers and license plates because Arabs just find certain combinations of numbers cool to have.

Takaful

First, I would just like to say hello to everyone who has found this blog through that article in ABODE magazine. *waves*

Today I was at a roundtable discussion at the MultaQa insurance conference regarding takaful, or what many people might know as Islamic insurance.

Why Islamic insurance? It goes something like this: Islam has prohibitions about gambling, rooted in a concept that Muslims should avoid transactions that are maysir, an Arabic term where the only outcome in a transaction are that one party wins and the other loses -- there is no chance that both could win or both could lose. Gambling is definitely maysir. In fact I have noted before in my blog how raffles here never have a separate entry fee so that they would not be maysir (you didn't pay extra for the ticket so you didn't lose anything if you do not win). Grocery stores typically have promotions where for every 50 riyal worth of groceries you purchase you automatically get raffle ticket. Even if you don't win you still received 50 riyal worth of groceries for your 50 riyal so you haven't really lost, thus not maysir.

So, is conventional insurance maysir? It would be difficult to argue that it is not. When you buy an insurance policy you pay an amount of money to the insurance company for the policy. From this point there are pretty much only two outcomes: if you make a claim on the policy the insurance company has to pay so you "win" and the insurance company loses; if you do not make a claim then the insurance company keeps your money and you do not get anything in return. This creates an issue for devout Muslims who are reluctant to purchase conventional insurance because of its maysir nature.

To get around this prohibition on maysir some entrepreneurial people developed sharia compliant insurance, otherwise known as takaful. In a takaful when you purchase a policy your money is pooled with other policyholders in a policyholder fund. The shareholders of the company charges a policyholder fund a fee in exchange for managing the company. If at the end of the year there is a profit then some of the surplus will be given back to you, either by a direct refund or by a reduction in the amount you have to pay when you renew the policy. This avoids maysir because now it is possible for both the policyholder and the company to "win" by sharing any profits.

There are other requirements to being sharia compliant, the company can't invest in prohibited things like alcohol, investments that bear fixed interest etc. but it would take me forever to go into all the details. Takaful companies usually have a sharia board of Islamic scholars who review any investments and products to ensure that the company is being run according to sharia principles.

The roundtable discussion spent a lot of time on a key issue -- that there is no consistently accepted meaning of takaful across the Islamic world. Due to local beliefs and regulations an insurance company in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Malaysia might all consider themselves takaful but be very different when compared to one another. In Saudi Arabia they are known as "co-operatives", and others might call themselves Islamic companies but others might argue that they are not takaful for whatever reason. A universally accepted definition of takaful apparently does not exist. Some international bodies, such as the IFSB, are trying to standardize definitions, but perhaps it will take time before they are accepted across the entire Islamic world. I'm not sure how successful it will be, imagine in the West trying to get a diverse range of Christian groups, such as Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, evangelical Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mennonites and Mormons, to come to an agreement on anything! I don't think we in the West would even bother trying.

One thing that there was no argument over, takaful insurance is gaining in popularity in the Middle East. Over the last eight years it has outpaced the growth in conventional insurance and some are hopeful that in time it will become larger than conventional insurance in Islamic countries. I think there is still a long way to go, while it is gaining ground in the Middle East in many countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia takaful has a very tiny market presence. I think Malaysia and Sudan have seen the biggest success. Time will tell if takaful becomes bigger than conventional insurance but the major market players are already paying attention. Well known insurance entities such as Chartis (i.e AIG) and Allianz have takaful operations and other conventional insurers in the region have either set up sharia compliant entities or are considering it. I believe there are also takaful companies now in Europe and the United States, drawing on a customer base from Islamic communities in those areas.

For the record, my insurance is still with a conventional insurer. Not because I have an issue with takaful, when I purchased my car it automatically came with one year's insurance from a conventional insurer, and I have simply renewed it with the same company.

The move

Sorry for not posting but I've been quite busy. Everything is signed, sealed, and delivered. I've moved!

Not out of Qatar, but to another apartment. Something closer to work that makes the commute easier. I should get about an hour of my life back every working day, which will be nice.

Unfortunately rents in the neighborhood were still high and had not been impacted much by a financial crisis or property downturn. I figure if I had waited another two or three months I could've wrangled a better deal but alas I could not wait. So I have myself a one-bedroom apartment for...

... Wait for it...

... Are you sitting down? ...

About $US 3,300 a month, not including utilities. (Hey, I've told you before that rents were unbelievable here.)

Can't be helped I'm afraid, that is just the price you pay for being here. Once I've unpacked and settled I will be able to post more frequently again.

Where am I?

I'm right here! Having a great time!

On Vacation

I was so busy at work I didn't have time to update everyone -- I'm on vacation in Canada now. Left yesterday. I'll be here for 3 weeks but on the 15th I fly to Vancouver for 5 days to see the Winter Olympics. I'm so stoked about that! My sister even scored us some tix for a hockey game (finland vs belarus).

But today I'm off to a Superbowl Party, hosted by friends of my sister-in-law.

I'll try to post updates while I'm here, especially of the Olympics.

Cats

Did I mention that I'm doing some cat-sitting for some friends of mine? No, not the white cat who tried to get my soul, different cats.

My friends have three cats, with appropriate names:




Tubbo












Chubbo
















Twiggy



Don't ask me how one stayed so thin, maybe the other two eat all the food before the third can get to it. At least these cats don't try to get my soul, they know me well enough by now to know that I don't have one.






But wait, there's another mystery . . .



Locals have for years told tales of an unknown fourth creature in the house, ever elusive, its true identity unknown. This dramatic photograph, taken by an amateur photographer, is purported to be the only evidence on film of this mysterious creature. Many scientists believe it is a case of mistaken identity with Chubbo, or an elaborate hoax, but locals and noted cryptozoologists studying the case refute this, saying that Chubbo is way too fat to move so quickly, and the beast is too small to be someone in a costume. Skeptics remain unconvinced. Nevertheless, the search continues and it is hoped that one day the world will have convincing evidence of the creature locals call "Qatsquatch".

Skeptics in the Pub -- Friday, January 29

So having met another critical thinker in Doha, and he knows some other like-minded people, looks like it's time for...

The first get-together of critical thinkers in Doha!

Friday, January 29
Location: Library Bar, Ramada Hotel
Time: 7-ish

Nothing formal, just critical thinkers chatting over drinks. If anyone is interested feel free to come along!
(And if any Muslims are reading this and are interested in such events let me know, we will see about future ones being "Skeptics in the Cafe" so you can join us.)


I will also post this notice on the JREF forums on the odd chance someone in Doha peruses those boards. Stranger things have happened.

Scottish slang

Some friends of mine are on vacation for the next few weeks so I am popping by every day to check up on the house and make sure everything is okay. One of them is Scottish and on the coffee table they have a coasters with various Scottish words and their definitions. Being of British ancestry myself I decided to read through them all to see what ones I knew. Turns out I knew about half. See how you do:

blether
numpty
galoot
besom
steamin'
canny

Careful, you may think you know the definition of some of them but it turns out Scots may have a different meaning of the word, be sure to look them up afterwords.

Tattooing

No, not me. I don't have any tattoos.

Following up on my statements regarding how Muslims do not necessarily follow all aspects of Scripture, nor interpret things exactly the same way, here is an interesting article regarding tattooing in Qatar. Apparently tattooing is banned here as it is haram (prohibited under Islam) but many do it anyway.

I was not sure why tattooing is banned so quick search came up with this.

Tattooing is not mentioned in the Qur’an, but I guess later scholars decided it was not a good thing.

Some rubbish on the internet about Muslims can't be "Good Americans"

In the comments section of my previous blog post came a notification of an e-mail making the rounds regarding whether Muslims can be “Good Americans”. Let's take a look, shall we?


CAN A MUSLIM BE A GOOD CANADIAN OR AMERICAN?

In light of the murders at Ft. Hood by a Muslim Officer (who had sworn to defend the people, our Constitution and the United States) this article becomes more timely and real than ever.

What does this have to do with being a Canadian when the first paragraph makes it quite clear this is about the United States? My guess, and this frequently happens with e-mails that circulate around, is that the original just said “Good American" and it reached the inbox of some Canadian who decided to tack on Canada as well. It becomes quite apparent when you read on that this has nothing to do with Canada or being Canadian.

Can a good Muslim be a good American or Canadian?

I sent that question to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is his reply:

Theologically - no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia.

Right away we get to at least two problems.

1) That for someone to be a good American or Canadian they have to be theologically compatible with a specific viewpoint; and
2) That Allah is “the moon god of Arabia”

Anyone who spends just five minutes browsing through the Qur’an would quickly determine that Islam is an Abrahamic religion. Many of the stories and key people in the Bible are mentioned in the Qur’an (Adam, Abraham, Noah, David, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Job, Lot, Solomon, Moses, Jesus, they're all in there). Allah is the same as the God of the Bible and the Torah. Surah 3:45-3:47 should spell it out plainly enough if you want a reference.

This of course creates a conrundrum for the writer of this article. If Islam is an Abrahamic religion, and Allah = God, then it would be tough to state that it is theologically inconsistent with being a Good American (and let's be frank in case you didn't figure it out, the article equates being a Good American with being Christian). Because if Islam was incompatible than by that logic neither would Judaism, and any non-Abrahamic religion (Buddhism, Hinduism, native religions etc).

So what's the article writer’s solution to get around this problem? Declare it’s actually a moon god of Arabia, thus denying the religion its clear Abrahamic connection altogether.

At this point I strongly suspect that the original writer of this article is an Evangelical Christian living in America, and I highly doubt they have ever been to Saudi Arabia, but I'll discuss that later. Why do I suspect this? Because the “moon god” issue is sometimes touted around Christian websites as part of anti-Islamic rhetoric.

Sorry Christianity but you are not the ultimate arbiter as to who is and who isn't worshipping God. Fundamentalist Christians can claim the moon god connection until they are blue in the face, the actual followers of the religion, i.e. Muslims, all fully believe that they are worshipping the same God of the Bible and Torah, that the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, and so on.

The recent controversy in Malaysia is an odd one as no other Islamic country has an issue with non-Muslims using the word Allah to refer to God. My understanding is that the Malaysian government is concerned that if Christians use Allah instead of God it could help convert Muslims to Christianity. Not sure how that would work, and a judge threw it out.

Religiously - no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam.

this shows a complete ignorance of:
1) Islam;
2) countries where Islam is the majority religion; and
3) Medieval history of Europe and the Islamic world

The Qur’an does make distinctions between "People of the Book", the Abrahamic religions (Muslims, Jews, and Christians) and other religions. Islam definitely accepts Christianity and Judaism because, while perhaps “misguided” because they do not believe the Word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammed, they all do worship the same God. Christian and Jewish communities have lived amongst the Islamic world for 1400 years, and a Jewish or Christian woman can marry a Muslim man without needing to convert.

An Islamic scholar would probably have to chip in here but my layman understanding is that, in general, Islam takes the view that Jews and Christians were given the Word of God through various Prophets (Jesus, for example, is considered a Prophet of God). Because the scriptures were not written down immediately over time the sayings of those Prophets became corrupted by priests and other people in power, so that by the time they were written the scriptures were no longer the accurate revelations of God. (With the number of Gnostic texts out there I could see how this view could be supported.) Thus Islam concludes that Christians and Jews have been unfortunately misled by inaccurate scriptures, which was part of the reason why God revealed His Word to the Prophet Muhammed, to get worship "back on track" so to speak. Jews and Christians do not have to convert to Islam for they are still worshippers of God and ultimately God will judge them. The Qur’an has a lot in it about how someone's intentions and sincerity are important, Allah will forgive transgressions if people were honestly intending to do the right thing, so I guess Allah is perfectly willing to let Jews and Christians into heaven provided they lived a decent life had kept their religion because they truly believed Judaism/Christianity was a proper way to worship God.

The above interpretation is debatable I'm sure and like all religions there would be diverse opinion on the issue across the Islamic world. Some Surahs in the Qur'an probably support the view when some dispute it.

Anyway, to state that no other religion is accepted is false.

Now I am not implying that for the entire 1400 years Christians, Jews and Muslims all lived a happy peaceful coexistence. Depending on the region and at what point in history sometimes things were good and sometimes things were not. But as anyone who has studied Jewish history can tell you the same is true about Europe as well.

Other religions have also resided in the Islamic world and still remain to this day. There are many Zoroastrians in Persia, Druuze in the Levant Arab area, and let's not forget that large parts of India were once under the rule of the Muslim Mughul emperors, ruling over large numbers of Hindus, Buddhists & Sikhs.

Scripturally - no. Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Quran (Koran).

Okay so far this is three religious topics regarding how to be a "Good American" and it is getting ridiculous. Scriptural compatibility? What the heck does that even mean? Sounds even more ridiculous if you relate it to Canada. Isn't America all about separation of church and state? How can one be scripturally compatible with Canada?

The implication of this statement is clear -- a good American has to somehow be scripturally compatible. Hmmmm, wonder what scripture this might be referring to? I'll take a wild guess here that they are referring to the Bible. So I guess Buddhists can’t be good Americans either because of their allegiance to Buddha? What about Mormons, they have slightly different scripture? Sikhs? Wiccans? Atheists?

I'm not American and I have not done a lot of work on American history but my understanding is that many of the founding fathers were actually Deists (Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin for example), which is why there is a strong separation of church and state built into the founding documents of America. My understanding from attending JREF conventions is that many fundamentalist Christians are now trying to undermine that history in an attempt to erode the church/state separation, this statement about "Scriptural compatibility" seems to fall into this line of thinking. A topic far too big for this blog but I encourage anyone reading this, especially Americans, to investigate the history of church/state separation for themselves.

As for the Five Pillars people need to educate themselves a little bit on what they are before declaring that allegiance to them is somehow not becoming with being a good American, given the strong religious undertones of this article. (hint: one pillar is to worship no one other than God; another is to give to the poor)

Geographically - no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.

This struck me as being analogous to saying Catholics can’t be good Americans because the Pope sits in the Vatican, but I digress.

Mecca is a city and as far as I know Muslims do not swear allegiance to it. One just needs to educate themselves a little as to why Muslims face Mecca when praying. This blog post is getting long, so instead I will direct you to this website which gives an explanation. Nothing to do with allegiance to Mecca.

This has nothing to do with a geographical “allegiance”, Muslims face Mecca to demonstrate their allegiance to God, not to a geographic place. Christians do not make pilgrimages to Bethlehem to demonstrate their allegiance to the town of Bethlehem.

Socially - no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.

This is referring to Surah 5:51, which many have translated as stating Muslims can't take Jews and Christians as friends. Firstly not all agree with that translation (link has some detailed analysis), secondly this is a rehash of the fallacy that Muslims all obey every single thing in Scripture to the letter, exactly the same way, something we would never apply to Christianity. Would it surprise you to know I am friends with a number of Muslims? They don't seem to mind. Maybe Muslims are a lot like Christians and the vast majority of them do not follow every single thing in Scripture to the letter? You think?

Politically - no. Because he must submit to the mullah (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and Destruction of America, the great Satan.

Once again we have the fallacy that all Muslims practise their religion exactly the same way and have the exact same beliefs and prejudices, something I went on about in my blog post about the Swiss minaret controversy as well. And apparently the author of this article mistakenly believes that every single mullah is a rabid America-destroyer (which is odd since there are millions of Muslim Americans).

Yes there are mullahs who are openly hostile to America and Israel, they are the ones who get lots of press. I would not even say that such people were rare, they can certainly be found in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Palestine, Yemen, and Indonesia. But that does not represent the view of all of Islam, nor all mullahs. The problem is that "Mullah gives talk that does not mention America or Israel" doesn't make it into newspapers so peoples' perceptions can get skewed.

Domestically - no. Because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him.

Okay let's think for a second -- how would it even be possible for every man to marry four women?

A Muslim man is allowed to marry up to four women, it is not a requirement to marry four women (Surah 4:3), and the vast majority just marry one. In Islam you have to treat each wife equally so it is just not financially viable for most men to maintain multiple wives. Even then the Sultan of Brunei, one of the richest men in the world, has two wives, and the Sultan of Oman married once, divorced, and has never remarried.

I believe the beating women reference comes from surah 4:34. It does say that, but as the last of three options. One translation states:
The men are made responsible for the women, and GOD has endowed them with certain qualities, and made them the bread earners. The righteous women will cheerfully accept this arrangement, since it is GOD's commandment, and honor their husbands during their absence. If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first talk to them, then (you may use negative incentives like) deserting them in bed, then you may (as a last alternative) beat them. If they obey you, you are not permitted to transgress against them. GOD is Most High, Supreme

Not really as harsh as it is made out to be, but yes it is there. I do question how this is somehow equated with not being a "Good American" since domestic violence is still a significant issue in the West, and slapping a woman was common in movies and TV until the 70s. Domestic violence did not become an issue of American Patriotism, women's rights groups and victims fought hard to bring the issue into the spotlight in the 70s and 80s.

Intellectually - no. Because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.

But what about the Canadian Constitution? (*chuckle*) It's lines like this that make me wonder why someone would tack "Good Canadian" onto the article, did they even read it all the way through? I am quite sure the original author was just writing about Americans.

Ironically this section is about being "intellectual" yet what in the American Constitution is based on Biblical principles? No, seriously, help me out here.

Philosophically - no. Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.

I already noted above that Islam does accept other religions and a quick Google will find plenty of Christian churches in Muslim countries. Qatar opened its first cathedral a few years ago. I will grant that religious freedom is definitely more restricted in places like Saudi Arabia and Taleban-controlled Afghanistan. Freedom of expression varies from country to country, I haven't heard much problems with Malaysia or Turkey, things are a bit tighter in Egypt, Gulf countries tighter still.

Looking at this list of 205 countries rated by media freedom the highest ranked majority Muslim nation is Mali at #57 (for comparison Greece is #56, Israel #59 and South Africa #63). Next is Turkey at #108 (Mexico is #107), Kuwait at 115, Lebanon at 116. All higher than Thailand (120), Singapore (145), Russia (170) and a number of former Soviet republics as well as some predominately Christian nations in Africa and South America. So the Islamic world is not great at media freedom but many other non-Muslim nations aren't any better.

As for the democracy jab look at Turkey, Malaysia, Lebanon, some states in India, and surprisingly, Palestine, where the West Bank voted in one party while Gaza elected another. Yes, some Islamic countries are monarchies, some are ruled by dictators, or they have elections but clearly one party has a stranglehold on power, but not all of the Islamic countries do, and some may have democracy at local or provincial levels. Democracy and Islam can coexist. To say that every Muslim government is either dictatoral or autocratic is wrong.

And was Christianity a big supporter of democracy? Most of the history of Christian Europe were monarchies with the Church also having a solid grip on power. Some attempts at democracy had to fight against the Church to become established (the French Revolution for example).

Spiritually - no. Because when we declare "one nation under God," the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in The Quran's 99 excellent names.

Let me see if I have this right -- you can't be a good American (or Canadian) unless your scripture refers to your God as "heavenly father"? Say what??

And the Christian God is loving and kind!? Looks like the author has conveniently forgotten most of the Old Testament, which does not portray God as particularly loving and kind (was it really necessary to wipe out almost all life in the Flood because people were sinful? How many children and babies were killed? And why kill all the bunny rabbits except two? I also recall the occasional city and tribe being wiped out by God. And did Lot's wife really deserve that? Did Egypt deserve plague after plague just because the Pharoh was a jerk?).

There are lists of the 99 names and yes, Allah is not called "love". So what? What does God being called Love (where in the Bible is that anyway?) have to do with being a Good American? And a quick flick through the index in my Qur'an shows frequent mention of Allah being things such as:

forgiving and merciful (for example 1:1, the very first line! but in numerous other places such as 2:192, 2:235, 3:89, 3:129, 4:23, 4:106, 4:110, 5:98 etc),
a healer (3:38),
that He loves the doers of good (2:195, 3:134, 3:148, 5:13, 5:93)
that He is with the doers of good (29:69)
He loves those who purify themselves (2:222, 9:108)
He loves those who act justly (5:42, 49:9, 60:8)
if you love Him, He will love you (3:31, 5:54)
he loves those who rely upon Him (3:159)

Don't get me wrong there are parts where He is not so happy -- frequent mention that disbelievers will earn His wrath in the afterlife, but then the Old Testament God wasn't a barrel of joy & love either.

Therefore after much study and deliberation....perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country.
They obviously cannot be both "good" Muslims and good Americans or Canadians.

After much STUDY! What studying?! Five minutes with a Qur'an dismisses many of the arguments, two minutes Googling dismisses most of the others. Anyone with half a brain about Canada could see the "Good Canadian" was just a tack-on, and I suspect some research into the history of the separation of church and state in America would undermine the not-so-hidden Christian undertone to being a "Good American". Oh, and the writer supposedly has lived in Saudi Arabia for 20 years, yet clearly does not know anything about the Qur'an? Uh-huh, right.

Call it what you wish....it's still the truth.

Truth? How about what this really is -- a pack of deliberate lies, fallacies, & deception mixed with denial and an inability to research the topic, with a pinch of hypocrisy. Had I mentioned the hypocrisy yet? This article loves to go on about how Islam cannot tolerate other religions, yet this article is chock-full of intolerance for other religions. It demands suspicion of an entire religious group, and the "Good American" criteria would exclude all other religions as well -- except Christianity of course.

If you find yourself intellectually in agreement with the above statements, perhaps you will share this with your friends. The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future. The religious war is bigger than we know or understand!

If you find yourself "intellectually" buying into this drivel you checked your brain at the door long ago. I strongly advise you to take a course in critical thinking, or to start training yourself to do a bit of research on e-mail chains like this before getting all outraged and passing it on your friends.

Honestly, there are many problems in the Islamic world, but promoting nonsense like this is not going to help. Imagine if Gordon Brown went to Egypt to negotiate a treaty and people were protesting his visit, or the Egyptian Government was "suspicious" of him, because the Bible has a section in it about selling your daughters into slavery! Do you honestly think Mr Brown would take you seriously in any way? Do you think any real problems would be solved if people demanded that no other negotiations take place until this "daughter-slavery" problem was dealt with in the UK?

This is part of the problem the West has right now. So many Westerners do not understand Islam or the Islamic world and because of it they easily fall for a bunch of mistruths that turns attention away from the real issues and instead to red herrings like wondering if they can be a "Good Canadian".

This blog post gets both an "Islam" and "Critical Thinking" designation.

Population

Okay, let's chill out a bit about my health woes and get onto other topics.

I had not mentioned this interesting article in the local newspaper regarding Qatar's population, or more importantly:

1) the change in the population over the course of one month; and
2) the gender ratio

It provides a great example of how transient and fluid the population is here. A population of 1.6 million had a net increase of about 50,000 in one month! These are changes of population ranging from approximately 3% over the course of one month. For comparison that would be the equivalent of Canada gaining/losing 1 million people in a month. In fact the change is so significant I'm skeptical that the numbers are accurate and unfortunately the article does not say how the numbers were determined by the Government.

I also wish there was a breakdown in terms of business sector. Qatar has only one major city, Doha, which contains around 60 to 70% of the country's population, but I did not notice a significant change to traffic in the last couple of months that could not be explained by school closures for the holidays. A population increase/decrease of 3%+ should have created a significant change in traffic density (especially because recent news reports state that the number of cars on the road is increasing by 10,000 a month, though again I think that figure is just new cars and does not take into account all of the older cars taken off the road or sold to people who take them out of the country, so the actual growth figure is smaller). Because the traffic has not increased significantly I suspect that most of the increase is either labourers from South Asia or family members of workers already here.

As for the gender ratio the numbers speak for themselves and I have touched on this a few times in the past on my blog. Most jobs here are held by men -- primarily a combination of most employment being blue-collar jobs like construction, migrants from countries where men are expected to be the breadwinner of the family, and where many workers come from countries that do not encourage single ladies to leave their country to work on their own (many Asian and African countries are like this, the Philippines being a notable exception). Combine that with laws that require you to earn a minimum amount to be allowed to bring your family here and you have a population heavily skewed to men.

I'm not criticising the law requiring that you earn a minimum amount to bring your family over (I think the minimum was recently raised to QR 7000/month (~US$1900)). Qatar is an expensive country, more expensive than many Western nations, and if you do not earn a certain income there is no way you would be able to maintain a family here -- better that they stay back in their home country where things are much cheaper and have money sent to them. I'm not even sure how one would raise a family here on QR 7000 a month, it would be tough to find a shabby apartment for less than 5000. I've heard rumours of people renting three-bedroom apartments and an entire family lives in each bedroom! I do not know how common that is though, could be one of those rare things that the rumour mill has run with, but classified ads and notice boards at supermarkets usually advertise rooms for rent in apartments or villas.

Anyway, this demonstrates just how different Qatar is to a typical Western nation, especially the gender ratio.

(Still not sure about the accuracy of the statistics though, I wonder what the Government was using to determine them)

Nothing starts the New Year off right like...

An emergency root canal! *sigh*

Remember how I had to have all of my wisdom teeth out? Well the reason I had to have them removed (aside from the fact they were heavily impacted) was because a big cavity had formed where a wisdom tooth was impacting another tooth, and the dentist could not get at the cavity unless the wisdom tooth was removed. So after the wisdom teeth were removed and my mouth had a chance to heal the dentist filled the cavity. It was so deep the dentist said she could see the pulp. So she warned me there was a chance it would get inflamed in which case I would be in real pain, so she gave me her mobile number in case that happened.

After nine days suddenly my jaw started feeling more sore than usual. By Friday I was having the occasional throbbing pain that would last about 3 or 4 minutes, and remember I'm on prescription painkillers for my back. Now I've had a toothache before that required a root canal and I remember the pain well so I knew something was up. I called my dentist and she said to come in Saturday at 5 p.m. as she worked evening shift on Saturday (everything in Qatar is closed on Fridays). I figured okay I can hold out until then because I have the strong painkillers and the pain attacks were annoying but bearable.

By Saturday I was doing little but laying on the couch watching the clock waiting for the time when I could head to the dentist. The throbbing pain was now every 40 minutes or so and would last for around 10 minutes. It was getting agonising even with the painkillers and when an attack came there was little I could do except lay on the couch and close my eyes until the pain passed. I do not even want to know what it would have been like without the prescription painkillers.

Got to the dentist and had a root canal done. Aaaaaaaah, I felt so much better. It is amazing how just a few little nerves in a tooth can cause such trouble. At some points it felt like the right side of my face was being punched repeatedly.

Go back to the dentist again this week to get the root canal finished. After that that should be it for dental problems this year (I hope).

Book Fair

Check out this recent article in the newspaper about an upcoming book fair. Figured I would mention it since I had recently posted about why it is difficult to find a detailed history of Qatar.

Back Update

Okay so the MRI results came back, looks like I have a slight degeneration in one of the discs in my lower back. It has a lot less fluid than the other discs, which affects the elasticity, which can cause soreness and pinching. Definitely could see it in the MRI -- all of my discs showed up as black with white in the middle except for the troubled disc which was entirely black. So I'm booked for physiotherapy (starting this week), need to lose weight, and try to avoid sitting for long periods of time, which is more difficult than it sounds since I work in an office. If after a few months there is still no improvements I think I can have fluid injected into the disc, but that sounds a little scary. The degeneration is apparently something that can come with age and also with people who sit for long periods of time. I'm getting old! *sigh*

On the plus side booking physiotherapy was a breeze, go down one floor to the physiotherapy department at the clinic, hand them the referral form, and my first appointment is in a few days (provided the insurance company approves it of course). When it comes to wait times for medical service Qatar beats Canada hands-down.

Christmas Eve Medical

While everyone else is gearing up for Christmas (well, the Westerners and Christians anyway) I decided to do something different -- go to the doctor about my back. The blood work and x-rays were ready so I was to see him.

So another meeting with a doctor, another consultation, and another prescription for medications, my third in eight days. I had to spend a minute to ask the doctor which ones of the old prescriptions do I keep taking and which ones do I stop. Oh, and I have to lose weight. Next appointment is on Sunday.

By the time I got home: my back ached, my tooth ached from that cavity I had filled a few days ago, my Repetitive Strain Injury was acting up a little because I was driving around, traffic was lousy, I'm now on a diet, and because of the cavity I can't eat anything hot or cold for a week, and it was still hot outside. I was miserable.

Then, like those corny old Christmas specials on TV, I received a gift. And thanks to this gift everything started looking better again, my misery vanished, and I was back to my happier self...




... prescription painkillers!



Wow, those things work like a charm! It's amazing how much better you feel about things when you're not in pain and discomfort.


Back to health care. When I first saw the back doctor (a neurosurgeon) he wanted me to undergo some blood tests, x-rays, and an MRI. Did the blood tests and the x-ray immediately thereafter, and made an appointment for the MRI, which would be in three weeks. When I spoke to the doctor today he asked about the MRI and I told them I had made a booking for January 11. He immediately said, "no, no that's too long, go back and tell them to get an earlier appointment, if you pressure them they will do it."

I thought that was strange, I thought three weeks for an MRI was pretty good (in Canada it would be). So I went back to the MRI area and told the clerk at the appointment desk that I had an appointment through January 11 but the doctor would like me to have it earlier. So he did a bit of typing on his computer, then said:

"Okay, comeback at 4:30 this afternoon"

So I had an MRI appointment for the same day! In fact, I just got back from it. (Are you reading this Health Canada!?) That's why my next appointment with the doctor is Sunday, to discuss my MRI results.


Now I do not want anyone to worry that I will be spending Christmas sitting in some corner alone in the dark. I'm visiting friends tomorrow morning, and going to another friend's place for Christmas dinner. I have also booked my plane tickets for Canada so in about five weeks time I will be with my family having our usual late-Christmas. And thanks to prescription painkillers I should enjoy it all, even though I will not be eating as much as I would have liked.

Merry Christmas everyone!

My Warranty Has Expired

These past few days has seen me go to one doctor for a problem with my back (doctor suspects it is a joint inflammation between the spine and the hip, test results come back Thursday), and to the dentist to get a deep cavity filled (this was why I needed to get my wisdom teeth out the cavity was between a tooth and an impacted wisdom tooth).

I swear my mother must have a certificate that was given to her when I was born stating that I have a 38-year warranty because, man, am I falling apart! I've been under general anaesthetic three times in the last year and have had two other medical problems besides. Almost everything has been resolved so if this back inflammation can get sorted out then I have to worry about is my repetitive strain injury.

I hope 2010 is way better medical-wise.