I was thinking the other day, in which country or large society is true Islam put to practice; Saudi Arabia, reportedly the birth place of Mohammad the prohet of Islam and home to Kabe and Madineh; or is it Egypt, the home to the most prestigeous Islamic university/center where the majority of research is done on Islam and most books on Islam are written and published. Or, maybe its Islamic Republic of Iran where the 12th Imam is reported to reappear soon. All of these places are strong contenders.
After a lot of pain stacking research I decided that Saudi Arabia is it. Why? Because the prohet was born and put to rest there; the most holly Kabeh is there; the Quran was revealed to the prohet there; and actually God chose Mohammad to be his absolute last messenger for eternity there. Like year 5061 and beyound.
Then I looked at quality of life for people of Saudi Arabia. Certainly if you are a Muslim man, remotely associated with the royal family (3rd cousing of a second cousin of King’s nephew is good enough), Saudi Arabia could be heaven. Your housing is subsidized, schooling is free, medical and dental care is free and you are guaranteed a job for life if you have a 4 year college degree and you will get a pension of around $1700 per month until you die. The closer your association with the King or the prince, the better off you will be. Democracy in action.
What if you are something other than a male Muslim. Lets analyze a couple scenarios one by one:
1) If you are a Muslim (sunni) woman: You must start wearing hijab from age 9 years and 1 day, 365 days a year 24 hours a day if you are in public. If the temperature is 120 F around 5pm, you must still wear the full hijab. You cannot marry a man until and unless your father grants you permission. If your father is dead, your male guardian must give permission. You cannot drive. You cannot go to the movies even with your husband. While in public, you cannot walk ahead of your husband. If you want to leave the country you need your father or husband’s permission. You cannot divorce your husband. Your husband can have 4 wives, have sex with any or all of them at once. Your husband can also have sex with your Philipina or Pakistani maid, maybe in front of you if thats what gets his rocks off. But if you are found alone in a hotel room with a man who is not your father or brother (lets say your second cousin), even if you are talking or watching TV, you can in most instances get the death penalty for adultry. You can work in Saudi Arabia. But, you will need permission of your father or male guardian. Your salary will be 50% of your male counterpart. You can attend meetings with men but you cannot sit at the same conference table with them. You will seat behind the men in a designated area. You will only speak when given permission.
2) If you are a non Muslim woman: You may enter the country but if its discovered you are a non Muslim, you have several nice choices: a) if you are Christian you can live in areas assigned to foreigners. If you are caught outside the compound alone, you will be jailed and then deported. You cannot drive, or work. b) if you are a Jew or a Bahai, well we won’t go there. Lets just say the treatment won’t be anything to write home about. c) you are a Philipina, Malay or Pakistani in Saudi Arabia as a maid on temp worker’s visa; the government allows your “master” to gain possesion of your passport. You can work inside the home of a Muslim Arab. If you are raped by the man, his son(s) or friend(s) or all of them, you have a few very excellent options: remain silent about it, try to get your passport and leave the country with most likely 50% of your wages unpaid, or complain to the authorities. The statistics do not support the last option because 99% of female non Muslim plaintiffs in these situations have lost their case and have been accused of adultry with the possible punishment of death.
Well I’ll be God damned!!! This Islamic Utopia where all the Islamic laws will be practiced as is for ever and ever sure sounds like where I wanna live. I am male, Muslim with a great grand father who ran a Mosque. I can have 4 wives, ……….Oh shit, I forgot, I am Shiet. Not sure if we are welcome there or not. I need to investigate this a bit more before I immigrate.
