Sunday, September 30, 2012

Misyar marriage: definition and rulings

Posted by wael on 11/27/10 • Categorized as Deviant Marriages,Marriage Articles

Saudi Arabian women walking. Misyar marriage has become common in Saudi Arabia.

Source: Islam Q&A

Question:

Misyaar marriage was mentioned on your website. What is this marriage? Is it halaal or haram?

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Misyaar marriage is where a man does a shar’i marriage contract with a woman, meeting the conditions of marriage, but the woman gives up some of her rights such as accommodation, maintenance or the husband’s staying overnight with her.
The reasons that have led to the emergence of this kind of marriage are many, such as:
1.
Increase in the number of single women who are unable to get married, because young men are put off marriage due to the high cost of dowries and the costs of marriage, or because there is a high divorce rate. In such circumstances, some women will agree to be a second or third wife and to give up some of their rights.
2.
Some women need to stay in their family home, either because they are the only care-givers for family members, or because the woman has a handicap and her family do not want the husband to be burdened with something he cannot bear, and he stays in touch with her without having to put too great a burden on himself, or because she has children and cannot move with them to her husband’s house, and other reasons.
3.
Some married men want to keep some women chaste because they need that, or because they need variety and halaal pleasure, without that affecting the first wife and her children.
4.
In some cases a husband may want to conceal his second marriage from his first wife, for fear of the consequences that may result and affect their relationship.
5.
The man travels often to a certain place and stays there for lengthy periods. Undoubtedly staying there with a wife is safer for him than not doing so.
These are the most prominent reasons for the emergence of this kind of marriage.
Secondly:
The scholars differed concerning the ruling on this type of marriage, and there are several opinions, ranging from the view that it is permissible, to the view that it is permitted but makrooh, or that it is not allowed. Here we should point out several things.
1.
None of the scholars have said that it is invalid or is not correct; rather they disallowed it because of the consequences that adversely affect the woman, as it is demeaning to her, and that affects the society as this marriage contract is taken advantage of by bad people, because a woman could claim that a boyfriend is a husband. It also affects the children whose upbringing will be affected by their father’s absence.
2.
Some of those who said that it was permissible have retracted that view. Among the most prominent scholars who said that it was permissible were Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz and Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal al-Shaykh; and among the most prominent scholars who said that it was permissible and then retracted it was Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen; among the most prominent scholars who said that it is not allowed at all was Shaykh al-Albaani.
3.
Those who said that it is permissible did not say that a time limit should be set as in the case of mut’ah. And they did not say that it is permissible without a wali (guardian), because marriage without a wali is invalid. And they did not say that the marriage contract may be done without witnesses or without being announced, rather it is essential to do one of the two.
Thirdly:
Opinion of the scholars concerning this type of marriage:
1.
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about Misyaar marriage; this kind of marriage is where the man marries a second, third or fourth wife, and the wife is in a situation that compels her to stay with her parents or one of them in her own house, and the husband goes to her at various times depending on the circumstances of both. What is the Islamic ruling on this type of marriage?
He replied:

There is nothing wrong with that if the marriage contract fulfils all the conditions set out by sharee’ah, which is the presence of the wali and the consent of both partners, and the presence of two witnesses of good character to the drawing up of the contract, and both partners being free of any impediments, because of the general meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The conditions that are most deserving of being fulfilled are those by means of which intimacy becomes permissible for you” and “The Muslims are bound by their conditions.” If the partners agree that the woman will stay with her family or that her share of the husband’s time will be during the day and not during the night, or on certain days or certain nights, there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the marriage is announced and not hidden. End quote.

Fataawa ‘Ulama’ al-Balad al-Haraam (p. 450, 451) and Jareedah al-Jazeerah issue no. 8768, Monday 18 Jumaada al-Oola 1417 AH.

However, some students of the Shaykh said that he later retracted the view that it is permissible, but we could not find anything in writing to prove that.
2.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez Aal al-Shaykh (may Allaah preserve him) was asked:
There is a lot of talk about misyaar marriage being haraam or halaal. We would like a definitive statement about this matter from you, with a description of its conditions and obligations, if it is permissible.
He replied:

The conditions of marriage are that the two partners should be identified and give their consent, and there should be a wali (guardian) and two witnesses. If the conditions are met and the marriage is announced, and they do not agree to conceal it, either the husband, the wife or their guardians, and he offered a waleemah or wedding feast, then this marriage is valid, and you can call it whatever you want after that. End quote.

Jareedah al-Jazeerah, Friday 15 Rabee’ al-Thaani 1422 AH, issue no. 10508.

3.
Shaykh al-Albaani was asked about Misyaar marriage and he disallowed it for two reasons:
(i)
That the purpose of marriage is repose as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect” [al-Room 30:21]. But this is not achieved in this kind of marriage.
(ii)
It may be decreed that the husband has children with this woman, but because he is far away from her and rarely comes to her, that will be negatively reflected in his children’s upbringing and attitude.
See: Ahkaam al-Ta’addud fi Daw’ al-Kitaab wa’l-Sunnah (p. 28, 29).
4.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) used to say that it was permissible, then he stopped saying that because of the negative effects, as it was poorly applied by some wrongdoers.
Finally, what we think is:
That if Misyaar marriage fulfils the conditions of a valid marriage, namely the proposal and acceptance, the consent of the wali and witnesses or announcement of the marriage, then it is a valid marriage contract, and it is good for some categories of men and women whose circumstances call for this type of marriage. But this may be taken advantage of by some whose religious commitment is weak, hence this permissibility should not be described as general in application in a fatwa, rather the situation of each couple should be examined, and if this kind of marriage is good for them then it should be permitted, otherwise they should not be allowed to do it. That is to prevent marriage for the sake of mere pleasure whilst losing the other benefits of marriage, and to prevent the marriage of two people whose marriage we may be certain is likely to fail and in which the wife will be neglected, such as one who will be away from his wife for many months, and will leave her on her own in an apartment, watching TV and visiting chat rooms and going on the internet. How can such a weak woman spend her time? This is different from one who lives with her family or children and has enough religious commitment, obedience, chastity and modesty to help her be patient during her husband’s absence.
And Allaah knows best.

Tagged as: misyaar, misyar, misyar marriage, nikah misyaar, zawaj misyar

Misyar Marriage: Legalized Promiscuity?

Posted by wael on 5/02/10 • Categorized as Deviant Marriages,Marriage Articles

Arab World

'A golden age for Saudi women'

Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos recently visited Saudi Arabia on a UN fellowship. What she encountered there surprised her and completely changed her views on the lives of women in the kingdom.

For the first time this summer, women from Saudi Arabia will be allowed to take part in the Olympic Games.The fact that this subject is even being debated in the 21st century is a sign of just how closed the Gulf kingdom has been. Indeed, before I went there recently on a fellowship from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, I had never heard anything good about the place. Nothing, niente, nada.
Oppressed women, gruesome beheadings, human rights violations: you name it. The fact that one of our fellows was denied a visa and we had to say good-bye to him in Amman did not improve my opinion. To top it all off, the women in our group had to spend the first evening "locked" up in a hotel, as we didn't have black head-to-toe abayas to cover up with. Needless to say, after that great start, we weren't exactly looking forward to our visit.
But then things turned around 180 degrees; not just because we, the women of the group, finally got abayas and could leave our "gilded cage," but also because we were lucky enough to visit the Dar al-Hekma College for women. Dar al-Hekma means "the House of Wisdom" and that is just what we encountered. We met impressive young women and their female professors, who explained the college's ideology and introduced us to some extraordinary young ladies.
Teaching women to be confident

It may not appear so on the surface but Saudi society is opening up

At the college, they teach women to be confident about their knowledge, cultural background and roots. When the students designed affordable houses for a project, they not only took into account the fact that the houses needed a maid's room, something normal in Saudi Arabia, but also that the kitchen must be constructed so that women can move around freely without being seen from other rooms.
Our next stop was a working lunch with Arab News. One of the first questions we were asked was about our perception of Saudi women. That answer was simple enough. Throughout our entire trip, which also took us to Morocco and Jordan, the women in our group connected very easily to the local women, but especially so in Saudi Arabia. There are certain values, concerns, challenges and experiences that are universal among women. It does not matter what culture we come from, there are more similarities than differences between us.
We were impressed by all the women we met, but the Saudi ones impressed us the most. They were nothing like the stereotypes we had expected. Far from being oppressed, silent and shy, they were confident, intelligent and outspoken. They were brave enough to take on challenges and fight for their dreams.
Saudi women driving change
Change in this Gulf country is well underway, and Saudi women are a driving force. It is not a quick and violent revolution, but rather a smart, tactical one. "Always evaluate the impact and timing of changes," we were counselled. At the college, they are breeding a new kind of woman, one who is comfortable meeting heads of state and discussing issues on the same level. How much we in the West can learn from this approach, especially when it comes to women's education.
Later, during a visit to the King Abuldaziz Center for World Culture, yet another bright, young lady said: "This is a golden age for Saudi women. Whatever we do, we will always be 'the first Saudi woman who did this or that.'" She said that there are more opportunities to succeed in Saudi Arabia than in the West, even though life might not necessarily be easier. We congratulated them for being so active. In contrast, the men in the meeting said very little. "We have been shoved aside for so long, now it's our turn to speak up," the young woman said.

Women are gaining more rights

It might be easy to think that I was brainwashed and remain ignorant about the problems that persist. But Saudi women themselves pointed out that they still need permission from a male guardian to take up a job or travel, that they are not allowed to drive or openly take part in sports. Their challenges are many and complex.
Still, my perception of this country has changed entirely, having seen it from the ground. Saudi women are inspiring, and Western women can learn from them: learn that change is possible, even in the most closed and patriarchal societies. Who knows, some of these brave women may even inspire in the sporting arena in London this summer.
© Qantara.de 2012
www.qantara.de
Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos is a Bolivian/German journalist, co-founder and board member of the International Young Women Partnership in Brussels and UNAOC Fellow 2012.
Editor: Aingeal Flanagan/Qantara.de/ Rob Mudge

Saudi women encouraged to pursue education

Posted by Abida Rehman

Riyadh: Saudi women are being encouraged to pursue world-class educations, with new schools opening for gifted girls and a greater emphasis on attending university.

In 1965, the country’s female literacy rate was 5 per cent. Today, 60 per cent of the college students in Saudi Arabia are women, and their employment rate has nearly tripled from 5.4 per cent to 14.4 per cent, according to a report in Thursday’s Saudi Gazette.

The king has also launched a generous scholarship programme for young Saudis to study abroad with about 130,000 students now enrolled at universities outside the country, about half of whom are in the United States. Many are women, yet they only are granted an award if a male relative travels with them.

Still, as these women return, the king may be hoping their exposure to the outside world will help him move mainstream opinion in favour of controlled change, observers say.

Cairo:Across the world, word that Saudi Arabia would send women athletes to the Olympics for the first time immediately rocketed to the top of websites and broadcasts. In Saudi Arabia’s official media: Not even a hint.
The state-sponsored silent treatment was a lesson into the deep intricacies and sensitivities inside the kingdom as it took another measured step away from its ultraconservative traditions.

The Saudi Arabian media doesn’t seem to be celebrating the nation’s debut in the women’s leg of the Olympics.

While Saudi rulers found room to accommodate the demands of the International Olympic Committee to include women athletes, they also clearly acknowledged that — in their view at least — this did not merit billing as a pivotal moment of reform in a nation that still bans women from driving or traveling without the approval of a male guardian.
“It does not change the fact that Saudi women are not free to move and to choose,” said political analyst Mona Abass in neighboring Bahrain. “The Saudis may use it to boost their image, but it changes little.” Even the two athletes selected to compete under the Saudi flag — 800-meter runner Sarah Attar from Pepperdine University in California and Wodjan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani in judo — live outside the kingdom and carry almost no influence as sports figures.
There is no other choice: Women sports remain nearly an underground activity in Saudi Arabia. Ahmed al-Marzooqi, editor of a website that aims to cover women and men’s sporting events in Saudi Arabia, viewed Thursday’s announcement as mostly an attempt to quiet international pressure on the lone nation trying to stick with an all-male Olympic team.
The other former holdouts, Brunei and Qatar, had already added women Olympic athletes — with Qatar even planning to have a woman carry its flag in London later this month. “We are still disappointed here,” al-Marzooqi said from the Saudi city of Jiddah.
“I should be happy for them, but this will do nothing for women who want to be in sport in Saudi Arabia.” Still, the opening is not without significance. The Saudi decision must have received at least some nod from the nation’s Islamic religious establishment, which hold de facto veto power over nearly all key moves by the Western-allied monarchy and gives the royal court its legitimacy to rule over a nation with Islam’s holiest sites.
The inherent two-way tug — change-resistant clerics and leaders sensing reform pressures from the streets — has allowed enough slack for some slow-paced movement. King Abdullah has promised to allow women to run and vote in municipal elections in 2015. He also has tried to rein in the country’s feared morality police while challenges to the established order are growing bolder from a population, nearly half of which is under the age of 30.
Saudi women activists have gotten behind the wheel to oppose the driving ban, and bloggers churn out manifestos about how the Arab Spring will one day hit Saudi shores. “If Saudi does field women athletes, it is immensely interesting,” said Simon Henderson, a Saudi affairs expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “This flies against the traditions of having a woman not make a public display of herself or mixing with men. Now, the world could see women marching with men in the opening ceremony and — even more — women running in competition.”
It’s impossible to gauge the internal discussions before the Saudi Olympic decision, but Henderson speculated it could have influenced by Abdullah’s daughter, Adila, who has been an outspoken advocate of reforms such as ending the driving ban on women. On the other end of the spectrum, senior Saudi clerics have issued a host of edicts against almost all types of sporting activities for women.

Saudi Aramco, are we ready for an escalation of cyber attacks?

by paganinip on August 21st, 2012

Saudi-Aramco-to-Hold-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-Forum

Last week it has been registered a serious cyber attacks against the one of the world’s largest energy companies, the Saudi Aramco, and a group named the Arab Youth Group has claimed responsibility for the event.
The group posted a message on PasteBin, declaring that the attack has been carried out to protest against Saudi government and its policy of support to Israel and the United States.

“These betrayals are done with oil wealth of the Arab nation,”
“severe action” against companies such as Aramco.

I decide to write on the attacks because it represent a case study for the impact that a cyber attack could have on private companies and what is also interesting is the total anonymity on the real authors of the event. No one know the hacker groups, they could be competitors or state sponsored hackers, it’s hard to understand it, but what is interesting is the concomitance with another strange event I described in a past post, the discovery of the malware Shamoon that has been used also to attack companies in the energy sector.
When we have spoken of Shamoon we have raised several doubts on its origin and on its real targets, Symantec experts announced the possibility of specific targeted attacks against at least one organization in the energy sector, not identified that firm so far.
Coming back to that attack to Aramco, the company declared that its network was destroyed by a virus that infected machines at the company.
In an official announcement the company declared:

“The company has isolated all its electronic systems from outside access as an early precautionary measure,”
“The disruption was suspected to be the result of a virus that had infected personal workstations without affecting the primary components of the network.”

The company declared that no vital system neither the production have been affected but it’s clear how much dangerous could be similar attacks for a private business.
In many circumstances we have spoken of cyber operations that in a cyber warfare scenarios could hit private businesses that represent anyway critical component for any countries. In my opinion Saudi Aramco is one of them that why it is really difficult to back to the real perpetrators of the attack.
The company has released the usual message to return to normal and reassure the press, but in reality, in these cases it is easy to face with serious damages that could harm human lives.

Saudi Arabia: Rolling Back the Arab Spring

By Paul Mutter, June 29, 2011

Gulf Cooperation Council troops entering Bahrain

The Saudi and Bahraini monarchies recently announced the engagement of a Saudi princess to a Bahraini prince. A substantial bridal party has preceded her, though. Starting March 14^th, 4,000 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) troops, mostly from Saudi Arabia, have entered Bahrain to suppress its protest movement. Some 1,600 Saudi soldiers will remain in the country indefinitely to safeguard the regime there from further “disturbances,” i.e., pro-democracy protests.
Bahrain’s government will be seeking accommodations for these soldiers in the form of new, permanent GCC bases. This process will be helped along by the billions of dollars in aid that Bahrain is set to receive from the GCC.
The GCC presence has freed up the hard-pressed Bahraini security forces to take more “proactive” actions such as home and mosque demolitions. The United States has called on all parties to exercise restraint — though this has fallen on deaf ears with respect to Bahraini security forces, which have detained and intimidated numerous activists. Dozens of protesters have been killed or are missing.
Some dowry.

Arab Counterrevolution’s Heroic Square

At the hub of the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Bahraini capital of Manama, the Bahraini authorities remodeled the public plaza known as Pearl Square and renamed it the Gulf Cooperation Council Square to expunge any associations with Cairo’s Tahrir Square or Bahraini nationalism.
“Now even the Arab counterrevolution has its heroic square,” opined the German news outlet Der Spiegel.
It is fitting that the square has been renamed after the Saudi-dominated GCC, because the Saudis have been working hard to keep the winds of the Arab Spring from blowing into the Persian Gulf.
Saudi diplomacy has gone into crisis management mode as both old allies (President Saleh of Yemen) and old enemies (President Assad of Syria) face destabilizing domestic protests. “Regime change” is not something the Saudis — or the United States — is very comfortable with, even in Syria, unless they are able to manage it with military action (like the ongoing intervention in Libya).
“We are back to the 1950s and early 1960s, when the Saudis led the opposition to the revolutions at that time, the revolutions of Arabism,” according to a Saudi political analyst in the The Washington Post.
“We” are indeed turning back the clock — to the time when the United States sought to suppress self-determination in the Persian Gulf by means both fair and foul. The “special relationship” between the United States and Saudi Arabia has stood the test of time based on mutual interests — oil for security. It is therefore not surprising that the U.S.-Saudi alliance still endures as Saudi Arabia attempts to manage and roll back the winds of revolutionary transformation, from Bahrain to Yemen, with U.S. acquiescence.

Dictators-In-Arms

In addition to sending troops and using force as they did in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia has also sought to control the Arab Spring through backroom negotiations. The Saudis fear an Egyptian rapprochement with Iran and have responded accordingly: Der Spiegel reports that the Kingdom has promised the Egyptian transitional government $4 billion.
Although no friend of the Syrian government, the Saudis have felt compelled to proclaim their support for President Assad. “Better the devil you know,” as the saying goes. Saudi Arabia is also trying to bring Jordan and Morocco into its fold as a way to control and repress social discontent in those countries. Even though neither Morocco nor Jordan is a Gulf country, the Saudis have been pressing for their acceptance into the GCC.
The Saudis have also moved to extend the hand of Arab fraternity (or despotic fraternity) to deposed Tunisian president Ben Ali, who is now residing in Saudi Arabia (the new Tunisian government tried and convicted him in absentia for corruption charges). Idi Amin also took up residence there — and so has Yemeni President Saleh. “A Five-Star Retirement Home for Dictators” is what Ellen Knickmeyer sardonically calls the Kingdom in a recent article for Foreign Policy.

Shia Scare

One of the tactics being used in Bahrain is the “Shia Scare.” As its majority Shia population grows ever larger and calls for increasing change, the minority Sunni Bahraini monarchy sees an Iranian (i.e., “Shia”) hand in everything. But as Olivier Roy points out: "Arab Shias are not an Iranian fifth column: Shias in Iraq and Bahrain have long understood the dangers of becoming instruments of Iran. They are Iraqis and Bahrainis first and foremost and are fighting to be recognised as full citizens of the countries in which they live. But, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, they depend on Iranian patronage in a hostile Sunni environment."
Although Iran has its aspirations in the Gulf, Roy notes, “Saudi Arabia is behind the elaboration of a grand narrative that pits Persian Shias against Arab Sunnis and in which all Arab Shias are regarded as Arabic-speaking Persians (as well as heretics, according to Wahhabi doctrine).”
And with the Obama administration ostensibly less “tough” on Iran than its predecessors, there is a growing sense of U.S. abandonment in Riyadh over the supposed Shia threat, according to Saudi analyst Nawaf Obaid:
As Riyadh fights a cold war with Tehran, Washington has shown itself in recent months to be an unwilling and unreliable partner against this threat. The emerging political reality is a Saudi-led Arab world facing off against the aggression of Iran and its non-state proxies [Hezbollah, Hamas] and Saudi Arabia will not allow the political unrest in the region to destabilize the Arab monarchies.
The Saudis have made overtures to Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia regarding a possible containment of Iran. Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005, allegedly told a group of Pakistani generals, “The U.S. shouldn't be counted on to restore stability across the Middle East.”
Concerns over a reputed Iranian “fifth column” in Bahrain remain pronounced among GCC (and U.S.) officials. Despite expressing some human rights concerns, the United States has largely praised the actions of the Bahraini monarchy in managing demands for greater democratization, and has warned against Iranian interference.
"The United States has not been as supportive of human rights activists in Bahrain as it would be in other circumstances, and it's not putting as much pressure on the Bahraini government as it's putting on Yemen, Syria, and other countries where the government is engaged in suppressing protests," Marina Ottaway of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Al Jazeera. Saudi pressure, she argues, is exercising significant influence on U.S. politics.
Even without Saudi sway, the United States has plenty of reasons to stay silent about Bahrain. President Obama recently met with Bahrain’s rulers to discuss the strategic situation and the disposition of the U.S. Fifth Fleet based in the country.

“Backstop” against al Qaeda?

With Saudi help, Washington is now ramping up a “drone war” in Yemen against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Yemen’s historic relationship with Saudi Arabia roughly compares to that of Mexico and the United States: intervention in a 20th century civil war, an imbalanced economic relationship, and even a border barrier (purportedly aimed at “keeping out” illegal immigrants). Saudi involvement is only increasing in response to unrest and pro-democracy demonstrations in Yemen.
Though not happy with the content of the pro-democracy protests (and ever worried about al Qaeda and Iranian influence in Yemen), the Saudis are hoping to ease out a besieged President Saleh, while simultaneously taking steps to maintain their influence in the country. There is no easy solution for the Saudis regarding Yemen: President Saleh and his supporters have been bankrolled by the Saudi government for years, but continued support for Saleh may leave the Kingdom out in the cold if a new government is formed.
Although the United States publically supports a negotiated solution in Yemen likely to result in Saleh’s resignation, there is fear of the country becoming “another Afghanistan.” The rationale for the new “drone war” is that it will prevent al Qaeda from finding a new safe haven.
The United States blames AQAP for failed attempts to destroy U.S. commercial airliners, the abortive actions of the “Times Square bomber,” and the Fort Hood shooting. WikiLeaks disclosures reveal that the scope of the “drone war” over Yemen is larger than previously thought, and that the Yemeni government is an active participant (in contrast to the drone campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan).
It is difficult to tell just how the Arab Spring has affected official U.S. policy in Yemen, but consider this: A “secret CIA airbase” in the Mideast is reported to be under construction to enable this expanded effort. The AP reports that the United States views the new airbase as “a backstop, if al Qaeda or other anti-American rebel forces gain control.”

Charity Begins at Home

At home, the Saudis have moved quickly to suppress any stirrings of unrest. It would be an understatement to suggest that the United States looks the other way from Saudi human rights abuses. Strategic importance trumps human rights when certain allies are concerned — Musharraf’s Pakistan, Mubarak’s Egypt, Pinochet’s Chile, and, of course, Bahrain.
But U.S. silence on human rights in Saudi Arabia is deafening. Whether in response to the crackdown of public demonstrations (labor protests have been suppressed for decades), lack of religious freedoms for Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslim population, the indentured servitude that non-Saudi guest workers endure, or the arrest of women who have protested the country’s ban on female drivers, the U.S. response has been, at best, tepid.
Domestically the Saudis have moved quickly to buy off dissent with new social spending programs, reports Steffen Hertog for Foreign Policy. This approach is not new, but its scale is: $130 billion this year alone. In addition to housing and employment program and beefing up the bureaucracy, some of this money is earmarked for the country’s religious establishment. “Many Saudis see the extra cash for religious institutions, including the religious police, as a reward for their vocal public stance against potential anti-regime demonstrations,” according to Hertog.
Because Saudi Arabia was founded on the basis of a religious-royal alliance, clerical support is a vital competent of the House of Saud’s legitimacy. Wahhabism, a particularly puritanical strain of Sunni Islamism, is the ideological glue that has held the country together since its founding in 1932.

Business as Usual

Washington has given its blessings to Saudi Arabia to continue playing its counter-revolutionary role. This helps explain the new U.S.-Saudi arms deal on the table, including “warships with integrated air and Aegis missile defense systems, as well as helicopters, patrol craft and shore infrastructure” and a program to “train a new Facilities Security Force (FSF) designed to protect sensitive Saudi oil installations . . . to reach 35,000 strong.”
Historically, the United States has relied on Saudi Arabia to do some of its dirty work, such as funding certain unscrupulous dictators and causes. This is not limited to the Middle East: The Saudis, along with France, Egypt, Morocco, and pre-Revolutionary Iran helped bankroll anti-communist movements in Africa during the Cold War through the infamous “Safari Club.” Furthermore, Saudi largesse funded anti-communist propaganda across the Muslim world for decades.
But 1979 changed all of that. That year, the Saudis faced apparent existential threats from the Shah’s fall in Iran, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the violent seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by puritanical rebels. The Saudi establishment, shaken to its core, felt compelled to boost its image as guardians of the faith in order to regain domestic and international status.
Support for the Afghan mujahedeen, and increased deference to the Wahhabi clergy at home, was the solution the establishment settled on — and Washington, hoping to give the Soviets a taste of Vietnam in Central Asia, was happy to help out. Saudi money flowed to Islamist groups all over the Muslim world with U.S. assistance. Saudi Arabia, awash in oil revenues and under the enthusiastic direction of Intelligence chief Prince Turki, became the primary channel for U.S. aid to the Afghan mujahedeen via Pakistan. The CIA utilized the shadowy and now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International to fund the Afghan mujahedeen.
The Taliban also received Saudi guidance in implementing a harsh Sharia-derived legal system, which included an incarnation of the Saudi religious police, the mutaween. Before 9/11 the United States was not overly concerned with such things. In fact, in 1997, Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid reported a U.S. diplomat as saying that the “Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis. There will be Aramco, pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lots of Sharia law. We can live with that.”
Despite a bipartisan political tempest over Saudi support for terrorist organizations after 9/11, by the mid-2000s, the furor over Saudi actions subsided as hawkish eyes turned to Iran’s nuclear program and influence in post-Saddam Iraq.
The U.S.-trained Facilities Security Force, created solely to protect Saudi oilfields, represents the key pillar of the relationship: protection of U.S. oil interests in exchange for defending the Kingdom against any threats — democratic, terroristic or otherwise. “For more than 60 years, Saudi Arabia has been bound by an unwritten bargain: oil for security,” writes Nawaf Obaid. “Riyadh has often protested but ultimately acquiesced to what it saw as misguided U.S. policies.” This business, in the form of U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, is booming.
At the upcoming royal marriage between the Bahraini prince and the Saudi princess, the United States will be the Saudis’ date for the reception.

Liked this Post? Share it!

High unemployment among Saudi female university graduates

Universities News June 12, 2012 No Comments »

A study conducted by Booz and Co. for global management and strategy consultation, showed that 78.3% of female university graduates in Saudi Arabia are unemployed as well as over 1,000 Ph.D. holders.

According to the report, thousands of women graduate from Saudi universities each year who fail to find a job due to their area of specialization which were described as “routine” and “theoretical.” Women’s studies, the report added, are almost restricted to education and health.
The study explained that since 1992, female participation in the job market in Saudi has increased by three fold as it leaped from 5.4% to 14.4%. The number, however, remains the lowest in the Gulf region, according to Saudi newspaper al-Sharq.
Ahmed al-Bahkalai, head of the Jazan branch of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, said that employment basically depends on the grades of each graduate.
“It is much easier for graduates with higher grades to find a job and this is the case in any country in the world,” he said.
Irrespective of the reason for unemployment, argued psychologist Elham Hassan, getting an education then failing to find a job has a very negative impact on both individuals and society.
“Families see education as an investment because they know that their children will later work and help them with expenses,” she said.
When graduates are just added to the long list of the jobless, they themselves start suffering from psychological problems that can eventually lead to suicide or crime and their families and the entire society suffer financially.
Jamila al-Eissa, professor of history at the University of Dammam, disagrees that there are some specializations preferred by girls, like humanities, that make graduates unable to find a job.
“There are many schools all over the kingdom that need teachers in those specializations,” she said.
Eissa added that unlike the traditional concept, graduates of schools of humanities should not be confined to teaching.
“Graduates of history, geography, and Arabic department can work in the media, tourism, the municipalities and other government sectors that have started opening departments for women.”
For Eissa, the issue with female unemployment is not specialization as much as lack of a defined plan of the distribution of university graduates among different institutions.
“Thorough studies have to be conducted in order to determine the needs of the Saudi job market and accordingly decide where to make the best of each specialization,” she concluded.

Originally Posted by Palo $oldier

i tried googling 4 the image ('saudi rice') but all i seemed 2 get was pictures of arab leaders sucking up to condeleeza rice

LOL

Business And Politics News

Saudi Arabia vs Iran: possible consequences of the “battle” between the oil “giants”.

30 May 04:32 AM

The current situation in the Middle East keeps worsening while the center of the “thunderstorm” is moving towards the Persian Gulf, which is rich in crude oil. There is a possibility of confrontation between the world’s 2 oil giants: Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer and exporter, and Iran, Saudi Arabia’s ideological and political opponent and the 2^nd largest producer of oil. If something like this happens, nobody will dare predict the future of the energy market and even the entire global economy.

What is the new pretext for the tensions in the Persian Gulf?

· This time it is about Bahrain, a small island kingdom.

· For 2 centuries Bahrain has been ruled by the Sunnite royal family Al-Halifa. The problem is that 75% of the population belongs to Shiites. In other words, the power belongs to the religious minority.

· Bahrain’s Shiites and Sunnites have been opposing each other for the last 30 years. The Shiites are supported by Iran while the Sunnites enjoy Saudi Arabia’s support (Saudi Arabia is the USA’s ally).

· The situation is aggravated by the presence of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which doesn’t interfere but supports the existing political regime.

· In Feb 2011 the citizens of Manama, the country’s capital, started mass unrest, involving mainly Shiites. However, as opposed to the revolts in Egypt, Tunis and Libya, the Western powers do not seem to support the rebels. According to the Arab Association of Traders and Investors under Masterforex-V Academy, the US and its allies need “democracy” only if it favors their interests instead of contradicting them.

· In order to support the ally, Saudi Arabia brought its troops in Bahrain. Teheran in its turn considered this step as a pretext to do the same. Thus the 2 regional powers found themselves on the verge of a major conflict, which may really make the entire global oil market collapse.

· As the result of the worsening crisis, and a possible military conflict, the global economy may suffer greatly. According to the World Bank it is Iran and Saudi Arabia that are some of the major oil exporters and the economic locomotives of the entire Middle East.

Will Kuwait become another hot spot in the region?

Apart from Bahrain, Kuwait may become another hot spot in the area, the experts from the Arab Association of Traders and Investors say. The possible reasons are:

· Fairly brave actions and tough stand of the small Kuwait, which has recently been trying to compete with the 2 “heavyweights” (SA and Iran). Kuwait’s territory is rich in crude oil as well. That is why in the past it was the object of Iraq’s military assault. 22 years ago Kuwait was intervened and ruined by Saddam Hussein’s army. There were a number of reasons for that but contemporary analysts and political scientists pretend to not remember them.

- Kuwait wanted Iraq to pay its debts lent during the Iran-Iraq war. Saddam was hypersensitive about the claims as he thought that Iraq had fought against the Shiite Iran while defending the entire Arab and Sunnite world (including Kuwait) and consequently considered those claims unfair. Even Saudi Arabia forgave Iraq’s debt understanding the situation. But Kuwait was continuously claiming its money back with interest rates. So Hussein decided to punish its neighbor.

- Not so long before the assault Kuwait exceeded its oil production quota introduced by the OPEC, thus affecting Iraq’s standing in the oil market. So that was the last straw that broke the Iraqi camel’s back.

- In 1990 Hussein couldn’t expect that the USA would take the Kuwait’s side. He thought that the USA was grateful to him for the continuous struggle with Iran. So, that was the dictator’s biggest mistake ever.

· Today Kuwait behaves in the similar way. Even though it irritates mainly Iran, the Shiite government of Iraq becomes increasingly displeased with Kuwait as well.

· Moreover, Kuwait moved its insignificant navy to Bahrain’s coast in order to support Saudi Arabia’s intervention.

· Simultaneously the Kuwaiti authorities started an active diplomatic campaign against Iran, deporting the Iranian diplomats from the country and blaming Iran for interfering in the internal affairs of Kuwait.

· Moreover, Kuwait and its Sunnite allies (Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) stand for oil price cuts. Iran and Iraq don’t oppose it.

· Most OPEC members, including Kuwait, are now exceeding their quotas (under the US pressure) in effort to compensate the deficit of oil export as the result of the military campaign in Libya. However, Iran is not one of them: its production volume remains the same but the price is higher.

· Numerous countries of the Persian Gulf have already blamed Teheran for fomenting troubles in the region, urging it to stop its spying activity.

The OPEC is a “battlefield”

Iran and Saudi Arabia still confront within the OPEC. The next summit is to take place on June 8^th 2011. According to the Arab Association of Traders and Investors under Masterforex-V Academy, the summit is expected to spring a couple of surprises because:

1. This time the president of Iran Mahmud Ahmadinejad will be the Iranian leader and the temporary head of 2 ministries (oil and energy).

2. His presence is believed to enliven the forum. Saudi Arabia would like to show the world that the OPEC itself is the factor ensuring the stability of the entire global oil market. However, the forthcoming “speech battles” between Saudi Arabia and Iran well may put a damper on this assumption.

3. If the Iranian president uses the OPEC rostrum to blame the USA (the probability is high) it may damage the OPEC’s image.

4. In the meantime the EIA urges the OPEC to do its best to stabilize oil prices otherwise all the 28 members of the OECD will be determined to act.

5. According to the EIA from May till August the global economy will need more oil to prevent further tensions in the market.

6. Iran is against any increase in volume production as well as against any price reduction because numerous economic sanctions against the country make oil export the only source of income for Iran.

7. Saudi Arabia tries to persuade investors that the OPEC controls the market situation while being afraid that Ahmadinejad’s speech may initiate an increase in crude oil prices.

8. Besides Saudi Arabia strives to show the world that it plays the key role in the OPEC. The global oil market is monitoring the situation in the country, being afraid of another revolution in the Arab World.

9. In other words the OPEC doesn’t need any further tension in the Arab countries belonging to the OPEC. However, they are unlikely to avoid it.

10. These days the world’s major investment banks are getting ready for the continuation of the crude oil uptrend. This seems inevitable as the market keeps seeing new threats while the supplies are insufficient.

What is happening to the global prices on crude oil? According to the Department of studying Masterforex-V trading system , in early May the price stopped around the 38,2% support (96,57). At this point the market is probably developing a bearish wave A. The further succession of events will be clarified by the “MF moment of truth” pattern (a bullish wave following the current bearish one): a break above the high (114,78) will indicate the formation of a strong bullish wave c(C ); if the price comes out of the MF sloping channel and forms a bearish FZR, the bullish ABC pattern will be over while the price will initiate a downward wave of the senior timeframe.

flights to jeddah-women kinda, sorta welcome

U.S. Drivers Head to Mexico For Cheaper Gas, Despite Violent Drug Cartels

by America's News HQ Posted in: California, Gas Prices, Mexico

Desperate times may be calling for desperate measures as gas prices continue to soar. In California there are a growing number of motorists who are heading for Mexico to fill up their tanks. In San Diego, a gallon of gasoline costs nearly $4.40, but just miles across the border in Mexico it’s about $2.91 per gallon.
Casey Stegall reported that the Mexican government regulates the price to keep the economy going. He said driving south of the border has been especially beneficial for U.S. truck drivers (More…)

12:06 pm ET March 15, 2012

Despite remaining plentiful, lithium price triples in 12 years

Higher Gas Prices?

Old oil data but interesting…

We were able to secure the statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy for various oil companies for calendar Year 2000:

Shell purchased 3,611,000 barrels from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
BP purchased none from the Middle East.
Chevron purchased 14,724,000 from the Middle East.
Citgo-None from the Middle East.
Amoco purchased 3,611,000 barrels from the Middle East.
Exxon-Mobil combined purchased 13,273,000 barrels from the Middle East.
Marathon purchased 10,710,000 in Middle Eastern oil.
Sunoco purchased none from the Middle East.
Conoco purchased 523,000 from the Middle East.
Sinclair-We didn’t find any figures.
Phillips-We didn’t find any Middle Eastern purchases.

Push forward to 2010.…
Imported from Middle East

Shell 5,620,000*
Chevron/Texaco                                91,168,000
Exxon /Mobil     121,300,000
Marathon/Speedway                         76,660,000
Amoco                                                  55,906,000

Not Importing

Sunoco                                                 0
Conoco                                            18,687,000
Sinclair                                               0
BP/Phillips    55,906,000*
Hess                                                      0
Valero                                         92,305,000
Murphy Oil USA                               0

So why are we going to pay alot more for a gallon of gas? It makes no sense since most of the oil is not from the Middle East. Now the news will tell you because of the upheaval in Greece, the Iran threat of closing the passage, the other Middle East countries vying for a different ruler. It is my understanding that the U.S. gets most of its oil from Canada and Mexico. So where is the expense of importing a barrel of oil?
It is either trucked or piped into the refineries. Wake Up, America.
I guess that the other thing that bothers me is that the economy is trying to turn a corner and the gas companies are gouging us for more money.
Where is the outrage? Where is the uproar of the people?

HIGHEST IN HISTORY

15 comments

Posted on 6th August 2012 by Administrator in Economy |Politics |Social Issues

gas prices, oil prices, Peak oil, Saudi Arabia

Average gas prices in the U.S. are up 6% in the last month. In Philly they are up 9%. You don’t hear the MSM cackling about the falling prices anymore. I’ve pointed out before that the most important factor to people who live in the real world and have to fill up their tanks every week is the average price over time. Has anyone in the MSM mentioned that gas prices over the first half of 2012 were the HIGHEST in the history of our country? Remember 2008 when gas prices spiked and sent the country into recession? Gas prices in 2012 have been 7% higher than 2008 over the first six months, and prices continued to rise in July. The three highest priced years in history are as follows:
2012 – $3.69
2011 – $3.54
2008 – $3.43
If you don’t believe me, examine the data for yourself:
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost
I’m sure glad Ben Bernanke isn’t worried about inflation. He must be chaufeured in a hybrid limo. Now for the critical thinkers out there. Gasoline demand has plunged in the U.S. and Europe since 2008 as we’ve both been in recession for most of this time. The Saudis are pumping as much oil as they possibly can. The miracle of Shale Oil in North Dakota will make us energy independent according to the pundits and shyters. How can all this be true and oil is still $91 per barrel and we are paying the highest price for gas in history? Is it those evil oil companies and energy speculators? Or is it peak oil manifesting itself over our lives?

The US pays pittance for Gas

(13 votes, average: 2.62 out of 5)
You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

Posted in Images on May 27th, 2008 by borandi | Report This Post |

Add to favorites
Tags: wtf

world gas prices 500x450 The US pays pittance for Gas

A (2005) look at the worlds gas/petrol prices per US Gallon. Cheapest is Venezuela at $0.17/gallon. US is ~$2.70/gallon, UK is $6.65/gallon.
Figures from Mid 2007 show a distinct change (USD/Gallon):
United Kingdom $8.37
Ireland $5.40
Czech Republic $5.10
United States $2.88
Saudi Arabia $0.45
Venezuela $0.19

New Saudi metro to ease Haj traffic

Published: Saturday, February 4, 2012 with 0 Comments

By Aya Lowe, Staff Reporter www.gulfnews.com
Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s new metro system will ease traffic congestion during the annual Haj pilgrimage, a top official has said.

* Image Credit: EPA * Pilgrims using the new Makkah Metro. The capacity of the Makkah metro will be 70,000 to 80,000 persons per hour in one direction.

The Haramain High Speed Rail project, which is under construction, will be a 449.2km high-speed inter-city system linking Madinah and Makkah.
Each year three million to four million pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Haj.
During the Haj around two million people come from abroad by air and an estimated one million come by road.
During this period, Makkah, which has a resident population of 1.7 million, experiences high congestion from the 70,000 vehicles that transport the pilgrims between the sites of the pilgrimage.
“The number of pilgrims is increasing. We have about 70,000 buses moving between [three holy places].
“It’s very difficult to transport more than three million pilgrims in a very limited time and space,” said Salim Al Bosta of the Central Directorate for Development of Projects at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
“The target group of the metro system will be the pilgrims from inside the country, from the Gulf states and pilgrims coming by land by bus,” he added.
Shuttle transport from Arafat to Muzdalifah, which is about 12km, can take six to eight hours, and in some cases up to 10 hours because of the congestion. More info

Mecca & Medina without a Map

May 3rd, 2011 8 comments

When we got our visas for Saudi Arabia, the first thing I did was grab my Lonely Planet Guide to the Arabian Peninsula. I turned to the chapter on Saudi Arabia—seventy-five pages describing the cities and regions of Saudi. But wait!
There was no mention of Mecca or Medina. How had I missed it? I turned the pages one by one, flipping past maps of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Al-Khobar. Aside from one line about Hajj visas, there was no word about Mecca or Medina.

The Mystique

Of course, entry to Mecca and Medina is permitted to Muslims only. The holy cities are so inaccessible that even Lonely Planet didn’t dare write about them. (Don’t they have Muslim travel writers? Don’t they realize they have Muslim readers?)
All of this secrecy only increased mystique surrounding Saudi Arabia, reinforcing in my mind the notion of the “last forbidden kingdom.” My imagination grew. I pictured myself in the abaya and shayla I would be required to wear. I wondered if I would have a run-in with the infamous mutawwa, the Saudi religious police. Always the curious traveler, I secretly hoped I would.

Déjà vu

Despite the mystery, my overall impression of Saudi was one of familiarity. The streets of Mecca reminded me places in the UAE: Al-Ain and Ras al-Khaimah. The landscape around Medina reminded me of Fujairah and the way to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. But above all, Medina made me think of Jordan. Sometimes I had to remind myself that I was in Saudi, not Jordan. This was partly because our hotel was filled with busloads of Jordanian pilgrims.

There were surprises, too. We had a series of friendly, chatty Saudi taxi drivers who asked if we were enjoying our trip. They performed the role of tour guide and shattered any stereotype I may have had about Saudi men. One driver told me, “I like the American people. I like your President Obama.”

Another driver felt the need to tell me, “I hate Osama bin Laden. All Saudis hate Osama bin Laden.” Good to know.

We spent most of our time in the holy city of Medina, a sleepy getaway town. According to the hotel brochure—as I had no guide or map of the city—the list of “significant sights” was a list of mosques—the Prophet’s Mosque, the first mosque in Islam, and seven mosques for the seven companions of the Prophet. (Peace be upon them all.)

In the days that I spent there, I did not encounter the “rich oil country” that Saudi Arabia is known as. The Saudi that I saw was more underprivileged and run-down that I had expected. (Granted, coming from Dubai, even Seattle and Paris look run down to me.) I did, however, get a few glimpses of upscale neighborhoods.

The Saudi women were more modest and less flashy than their Emirati counterparts. Along with the black abaya and shayla, many wore niqab. At first glance, they all looked the same. But if you steal a second look, the variations appear. One wears sandals, one spiky heels, another wears Converse All-Stars.
In a Medina Starbucks, the Arab woman at the next table declared that I was a “beautiful woman.” This was particularly uplifting as I was feeling old and invisible in my black shayla. I wanted to tell her, “And you, too!” but it felt insincere, as I could not see her face, only her eyes peeking out from behind her niqab.
Saudi was not as strictly segregated as I had imagined. There was plenty of interaction between men and women. Saudi women needed to talk to men to order their cappuccino, buy clothing or do any kind of shopping. Everywhere I looked was a Saudi woman speaking to a man that was not her relative. Shocking!
Of course, Saudi Arabia does have its own wacky weird unusual qualities.
Unique Aspects to Saudi

I bought a TIME magazine, and later, I discovered the pages I wanted to read had been ripped out! (I much prefered the Emirati censors who merely black out offending images, but don’t rip out the whole page.)
Restaurants and cafés typically have two sections: Single men and Families. My husband and I spent a lot of time in the “Families Section” of Starbucks, where screens provided privacy to us caffeine-addicts. I also noted Starbucks’ trademark naked-mermaid logo was conspicuously absent from the signage.
Dressing rooms were non-existent. In the mall, I took a stack of clothing from the shop (based on the honor system apparently) and walked to the nearest restroom to try them on. Perhaps the idea of a woman undressing in a shop was too provocative.
However, sexy lingerie stores were not a problem. Just like in Dubai, they were all over. But in Saudi, women’s teddies and thongs are famously sold by men. According to one of our talkative drivers, the country had recently tried to employ women in these shops, but that attempt had failed—I’m not sure why.
Regarding Saudi hours of business, shops didn’t simply close for various prayers. They closed all afternoon as well. Restaurants closed a full hour before prayer time to make sure everyone was out on time. This meant that businesses were closed more often than not—a frustrating fact for a visitor.
Supposedly, the abaya and shayla were required by law when in fact I saw women from various countries wearing their own cultural form of Islamic dress—jilbab, dishdash, sharlwar kameez. The point was to be modest by Islamic standards. It was an interesting experiment to wear hijab for five days. I become temporarily fixated on pins, drape, and hijab styles. I discovered I preferred the long shayla over a square scarf, but in the end, I was content to return to Dubai, where there is no such requirement.
Women often have their own lines. I saw this as the positive side of segregation. For example, the women’s line in the airport was always shorter!
On our last day, we were at the Jeddah airport riding a bus to the tarmac on our way out. A man indicated to me that I had a strand of hair showing. I shoved the hair under my scarf, feeling utterly annoyed. Then I realized. Maybe I had encountered the mutawwa after all! Only then was my trip to Saudi complete.

Please share your impressions of Saudi Arabia.

Lihat Cara Orang Kaya Di Arab Melayan Tetamunya Makan!

August 8, 2012 By Ilalala

Sebenarnya gambar bagaimana pemerintah Qatar, Syeikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani melayani tetamunya sudah lama lama tersebar di internetBayangkan, nasi beriani dengan kambing seekor, diulang, bukan seketul, tapi seekor dihidangkan pada SETIAP TETAMU sewaktu majlis makan.

Macam manalah nak habis agaknya ye…tak tahulah kalau-kalau pak-pak sheikh tu boleh ‘menyelesaikan’ nasi beriani tu dengan sekali hadap.
Pendek kata, ‘confirm’ membazir!

Sulaiman al-Rajhi: Dari Billionaire Kini Cuma Tinggal Sehelai Sepinggang

by Suzardi Maulan

Berikut adalah catatan yang menarik mengenai Sulaiman al-Rajhi, pemilik al-Rajhi Bank iaitu bank Islam paling besar di dunia. Anggaran harta beliau yang dimiliki oleh Forbes adalah USD 7.7 bilion.
Namun kini beliau hanya tinggal sehelai sepinggang. Hartanya telah pun diberikan kepada anak-anaknya dan juga projek-projek wakaf. Ini adalah contoh orang kaya yang beriman yang dapat kita jadikan teladan selain dari kisah Ahmad Dawjee Dadhaboy yang mewakafkan tanahnya di ‘Golden Triangle’ Kuala Lumpur.

Bagaimana Sulaiman al-Rajhi Bermula?

1. Bermula dengan bisnes money exchange dan melihat masih belum ada bank Islam yang wujud, kira-kira 30 tahun dahulu.
2. Berjumpa dengan pengurus (CEO barangkali) Bank of England dan juga pelbagai bank pusat tentang idea bank Islam, menyakinkan mereka bagaimana perbankan halal dapat mengukuhkan lagi ekonomi dunia kerana orang Islam dan Kristian tidak dapat berurusniaga dengan riba.
3. Bermula di London dan setelah berjaya kembali ke Arab Saudi dengan sokongan mufti besar, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz.

Menjadi Miskin Semula Setelah Kaya

1. Beliau pernah jatuh sebanyak dua kali, dan ‘miskin’ kali ketiga ini merupakan kehendaknya sendiri dan ia memberikan ketenangan dalam diri. Hartanya telah diberikan kesemuanya kepada anak-anak dan projek-projek wakaf.
2. Sebahagian harta telah dibahagikan terlebih dahulu kepada anak-anaknya untuk mengelakkan isu perebutan harta yang merugikan syarikat, masyarakat dan negara.
3. Sebahagian yang lain digunakan untuk projek-projek wakaf SAAR Foundation dan kesemua ini dilakukan semasa masih hidup dan bukan efektif selepas mati seperti yang selalu dibuat ramai orang.

Bertindak, bukan Sekadar Komplen

Antaranya …
1. Beliau menyedari pada zamannya tidak wujud bank Islam, maka dengan usaha keras beliau bermula dari bawah.
2. Beliau melihat proses sembelihan yang tidak sempurna, lalu beliau menubuhkan syarikat yang mengatasi hal berkenaan; al-Watania Poultry. Kini menguasai 40% pasaran di Arab Saudi.
3. Beliau juga sedar terlalu banyak bahan kimia dalam makanan, maka al-Watania Agricultural terlibat pula menanam sayur secara organik untuk memastikan lebih ramai yang makan makanan yang bebas bahan kimia berbahaya.

Pendidikan Kewangan Anak-anak

1. Memastikan anak-anak pandai menguruskan bisnes dan pelaburan sendiri seperti anak-anak perlu ‘bekerja’ untuk mendapatkan duit. Tiada istilah dapat duit ‘in exchange of nothing’.
2. Menjadi mentor terbaik untuk semua anak-anaknya.
3. Sesibuk mana pun menguruskan bisnes dan pelaburan, pastikan persaudaraan sesama keluarga dijaga dan juga kehidupan di akhirat.

Lagi Yang Menarik

1. Tidak suka membazir; kenapa perlu pasang langsir tebal dan memasang lampu sedangkan Allah swt telah beri cahaya pada siang hari secara percuma?
2. Bisnes vs peribadi; memiliki ekuiti syarikat penerbangan dan masih membayar untuk tiketnya.
3. Merendah diri; masih menaiki penerbangan kelas ekonomi.
4. Menepati waktu; mempelajarinya pada awal memulakan bisnes kerana pernah lewat beberapa minit menghadiri mesyuarat dengan pegawai syarikat terkemuka di Eropah dan pegawai tersebut enggan berjumpanya kerana kelewatan tersebut.
5. Tegas dengan prinsip Islam; dijemput menghadiri jamuan makan malam. Keluar dari jamuan tersebut selepas menyedari ada program hiburan yang menyalahi syariat. Menteri bertanggungjawab akhirnya membatalkan program tersebut bagi membolehkan beliau berada dalam majlis tersebut. Itulah kuasa orang kaya yang beriman.
6. Semuanya baik-baik; Alhamdulillah. Itulah ucapan dari mulut beliau apabila mendengar kilang-kilangnya terbakar. Bukan sekali kejadian itu berlaku, tetapi dua kali.
7. Semuanya Allah punya; kita cuma pemegang amanah di atas muka bumi.
Ini cuma ringkasan dari saya, kalian dapat membaca berita penuh dari ArabNews melalui link berikut:
Sulaiman Al-Rajhi’s life a rags to riches story