Hamza Kashghari

As many now know, a Saudi writer – Hamza Kashghari – is in deep trouble. He went on Twitter on or near the Prophet’s Birthday (which is not, incidentally, officially observed in Saudi Arabia, though it is a national holiday in many other Islamic countries) and made some unfortunate remarks. These remarks questioned the almighty. Under Shariah law, that is a major crime, apostasy (ridda or irtidad) one which can lead to execution if not promptly repented. Kashghari appears to have repented in that he took down his offensive Twits as soon as he was told how unwise they were and acknowledged that they were a mistake. But he also fled the country.

Too late. As Arab News reports, not only does he now have the highest religious authority in the Kingdom calling, literally, for his head, but apparently he offended King Abdullah as well [link goes to Arabic source].

Ifta wants Kashghari tried for apostasy
ARAB NEWS
RIYADH: In a new development in the case of Saudi writer Hamza Kashghari, who wrote a few tweets that were considered slanderous to Almighty Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him), the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Religious Edicts (Ifta) issued a strongly worded statement in which it said mocking Allah or His Prophet is a downright sacrilegious act, kufr (infidelity) and apostasy that should no go undetected, local daily Al-Eqtisadiah reported Thursday.
“Whoever dares make a mockery of Allah, the Prophet or the Holy Book undermines the religion and displays enmity toward it. It is the duty of the rulers to try such a criminal,” the committee said, warning Muslims to stay away from such practices so as to avoid exasperating God.
The committee issued its statement after a meeting under its chairman Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Grand Mufti.
…

Various media pieces note that Kashghari fled to Southeast Asia. The Washington Post reports that he did, in fact, go to Malaysia, where an American human rights activist, David Keyes of Advancing Human Rightsconversed with him by phone. According to Keyes, Kashghari has been detained by Malaysian authorities pending extradition back to Saudi Arabia.
Keyes notes that this case has the makings of an international cause cause célèbre. International jurists are starting to line up to argue against his extradition. If he ends up being sent back, there will be loud and broad international calls for mercy.
Non-prosecution does not seem to be an available goal. Because Saudi Arabia closely follows Shariah law, it will be compelled to follow its rulings. The Quran [2:217] appears to consider apostasy to be a serious sin/crime, but that is to be punished in the afterlife. Numerous ahadith, however, call for the death of the apostate. The question is under debate in various parts of the Islamic world, but for the ulema in Saudi Arabia, the question is settled.

Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari faces charge of blasphemy
after tweets about Muhammad
David Keyes
Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari was detained in Malaysia on Wednesday night and is likely to be extradited soon to Saudi Arabia, where he will be tried for blaspheming religion. Kashgari, 23, had fled the kingdom Monday after he received thousands of death threats. His crime? He posted on Twitter a series of mock conversations between himself and the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
… The tweets came to light last week around a celebration of Muhammad’s birthday, and Kashgari’s ordeal began. Hours before he was detained, Kashgari spoke to me by phone from the house in which he was hiding. “I was with sitting with my friends and one of them checked Twitter on his mobile phone,” he said. “Suddenly there were thousands of tweets of people calling to kill me because they said I’m against religion.”
…

Saudi Arabia is not exactly a theocracy: the religious leaders are not also the secular leaders. Islam is so important that the government does things likesend out a quarter million copies of the Quran. But Islam and Shariah law are so intertwined in the Kingdom that religious judgments hold the force of law; many things which would be sins are also crimes. International human rights generally see sin as a moral failing and crime as a subset of those failings. Not all sins, however, are crimes. Certain things, like the ability to change or to leave one’s religion are seen as fundamental human rights, guaranteed to all mankind. Shariah law does not agree.
The recent years have seen conflicts over this issue in several countries. In some, human rights advocates have been able to exert sufficient pressure to save the lives of the apostates; in others, they have failed. We’ll have to see how the case of Hamza Kashghari works out, starting with his extradition.

http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/rights-groups-urge-malaysia-not-deport-saudi-055705267.html

Saher to the Rescue?

‘Saher’ is the traffic monitoring system the Saudi government has implemented to make the country’s roads less hazardous. It combines cameras and radar to track speeding as well as the running of red lights. It is not very popular, but it does save lives and resources, this article from Saudi Gazette reports.

In South Africa radar and laser speed-monitoring has been in effect for decades.There are however grave questions about whether they truly serve to reduce accidents (there is conflicting research) or are just mechanisms through which government extracts extra money from drivers’ pockets.
In the Kingdom, though, they seem to be having an effect. The piece states that since the introduction of the Saher program in August, 2010, Jeddah alone has seen a 35% decrease in road deaths, a 36% reduction in accidents, and a 38% reduction in injuries. Those are significant numbers.
The program has also been used, the paper reports, to track stolen vehicles as well as ‘suspicious’ ones, i.e., those being used by potential criminals. Those uses, though not major, are just a bonus. Anything that makes driving in Saudi Arabia less hazardous should be applauded.

Saher, a savior on the Kingdom’s roads
Amal Al-Sibai | Saudi Gazette
Were you furious when you were cruising down Jeddah’s Madinah Highway, and were discreetly clicked by a Saher camera? And you raged with anger when you were fined SR300.
Well, don’t be furious because it may affect the ‘cool show’ you are trying to put on by cruising and screeching in your fancy cars, but in reality Saher is saving lives of many such drivers and innocent victims of such sordid show.
A recent study by the Jeddah Traffic Police revealed that the introduction of Saher camera has significantly contributed to the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians. The immediate and costly penalties incurred on traffic violators have improved the driving behavior of many motorists, for they fear being clicked by Saher and slapped with heavy fines.

Breaking the Maid Habit

In this editorial, Arab News seems to have come to the conclusion that the dependency on foreign domestic workers that the Saudi society has created must come to an end. The issues surrounding maids have become so negative—from abuse of maids to abuse by maids—that it’s time to break the habit.

The writer correctly points out that if your children are raised solely by foreigners, there’s little likelihood that those children will be absorbing local values. In the case of Saudi Arabia, that might not be an utterly bad thing as some Saudi values are certainly ready to be discarded. Xenophobia, an unwarranted superiority complex, and an over-devotion to ‘tradition’ could certainly be replaced. Then there’s the fact that young people—both men and women—are growing up without even minimal life skills, like cooking or changing a tyre. Other values, including Arabic language skills, a sense of belonging to a unique culture, and a reasoned national pride are worth keeping, something made difficult when the primary care givers for children do not share those values.
Much of this reliance on foreign workers is the result of the perpetual childhood Saudi society imposes on its own women. Not being able to do things most women in the world do as a matter of course (like driving, working in mixed-sex environments, being personally responsible for themselves) necessarily leads to reliance on someone else to do them. Allowing Saudi women to be a fully-functional, equal part of society would do much to reduce the need for servants.
The editorial asserts that Saudi society is the most dependent on foreign domestic workers and I’ve no reason to doubt it. From the cultural costs to the very real monetary costs, Saudi Arabia needs to kick the maid habit.

Maids: Bitter truths
It is estimated that there are two million working in homes in the Kingdom
Reports about maids all too regularly hit the headlines in this paper and others in the Kingdom. There are stories about maids who are abused, maids who are kept locked up or unpaid for months, even years. There are stories about maids who run away, or who have tricked or cheated their employers. Likewise, there are complaints about the costs of bringing a maid into the country. There are reports, too, of other countries being whipped up into a frenzy of concern about the treatment of maids in Saudi Arabia and their threats to stop them coming in future or imposing conditions about their employment contracts, including demands to know details about the families they are going to, their financial position, a description of the house, the number of rooms, photos of the wife and husband. Regularly, too, there are reports about new sources of maids — from Cambodia, Vietnam, indeed anywhere they can be found.
The fact is that Saudi Arabia has become over-reliant on maids. It is estimated that there are two million working in homes in the Kingdom. There are reportedly 400,000 from Sri Lanka alone. From Indonesia, there are supposed to be even greater numbers while it is reported that 15 percent of the 1.3 million Filipinos in the country are also in domestic service. Add to that the maids from Nepal, from Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, and two million does not seem that excessive. But at two million, they constitute the biggest workforce in the country. It works out at roughly one maid for every nine Saudis, or one for every two households. It is no wonder then that maids are such an issue in Saudi Arabia.

ZAM ZAM WATER--IS IT UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION? by Tariq Hussein

We came here again to perform the Umrah, and I am reminded of the wonders of Zam-zam. Let me go back to how it all started. In 1971, an Egyptian doctor wrote to the European Press, a letter saying that Zam-zam water was not fit for drinking purposes. I immediately thought that this was just a form of prejudice against the Muslims and that since his statement was based on the assumption that since the Ka'aba was a shallow place (below sea level) and located in the center of the city of Makkah, the waste water of the city collecting through the drains fell into well holding the water.

Fortunately, the news came to King Faisal's ears who got extremely angry and decided to disprove the Egyptian doctor's provocative statement. He immediately ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources to investigate and send samples of Zam-zam water to European laboratories for testing the potability of the water. The ministry then instructed the Jeddah Power and Desalination Plant to carry out this task.

It was here that I was employed as a desalting engineer (chemical engineer) to produce drinking water from sea water). I was chosen to carry out this assignment. At this stage, I remember that I had no idea what the well holding the water looked like. I went to Makkah and reported to the authorities at the Ka'aba explaining my purpose of visit.

They deputed a man to give me whatever help was required. When we reached the well, it was hard for me to believe that a pool of water, more like a small pond, about 18 by 14 feet, was the well that supplied millions of gallons of water every year to hajis ever since it came into existence at the time of Hazrat Ibrahim AS., many, many centuries ago.

I started my investigations and took the dimensions of the well. I asked the man to show me the depth of the well. First he took a shower and descended into the water. Then he straightened his body. I saw that the water level came up to just above his shoulders. His height was around five feet, eight inches. He then started moving from one corner to the other in the well (standing all the while since he was not allowed to dip his head into the water) in search of any inlet or pipeline inside the well to see from where the water came in. However, the man reported that he could not find any inlet or pipeline inside the well.

I thought of another idea. The water could be withdrawn rapidly with the help of a big transfer pump which was installed at the well for the Zam-zam water storage tanks. In this way, the water level would drop enabling us to locate the point of entry of the water.

Surprisingly, nothing was observed during the pumping period, but I knew that this was the only method by which you could find the entrance of the water to the well. So I decided to repeat the process. But this time, I instructed the man to stand still at one place and carefully observe any unusual thing happening inside the well. After a while, he suddenly raised his hands and shouted, "Alhamdollillah! I have found it. The sand is dancing beneath my feet as the water oozes out of the bed of the well."

Then he moved around the well during the pumping period and noticed the same phenomenon everywhere in the well. Actually the flow of water into the well through the bed was equal at every point, thus keeping the level of the water steady. After I finished my observations I took the samples of the water for European laboratories to test. Before I left the Ka'aba, I asked the authorities about the other wells around Makkah.

I was told that these wells were mostly dry. When I reached my office in Jeddah I reported my findings to my boss who listened with great interest but made a very irrational comment that the Zam-zam well could be internally connected to the Red Sea . How was it possible when Makkah is about 75 kilometres away from the sea and the wells located before the city usually remains dry?

The results of the water samples tested by the European laboratories and the one We analyzed in our own laboratory were found to be almost identical.

The difference between Zam-zam water and other water (city water) was in the quantity of calcium and magnesium salts. The content of these was slightly higher in zam-zam water. This may be why this water refreshes tired hajis, but more significantly, the water contains fluorides that have an effective germicidal action. Moreover, the remarks of the European laboratories showed that the water was fit for drinking. Hence the statement made by the Egyptian doctor was proved false.

When this was reported to King Faisal he was extremely pleased and
ordered the contradiction of the report in the European Press. In a way, it was a blessing that this study was undertaken to show the chemical composition of the water. In fact, the more you explore, the more wonders surface and you find yourself believing implicitly in the miracles of this water that Allah bestowed as a gift on the faithful coming from far and wide to the desert land for pilgrimage.

Let me sum up some of the features of Zam-Zam water.

This well has never dried up. On the contrary it has always fulfilled the demand for water. It has always maintained the same salt composition and taste ever since it came into existence. Its potability has always been universally recognised as pilgrims from all over the world visit Ka'aba every year for Hajj and umrah, but have never complained about it. Instead, they have always enjoyed the water that refreshes them. Water tastes different at different places.

Zam-zam water's appeal has always been universal. This water has never been chemically treated or chlorinated as is the case with water pumped into the cities. Biological growth and vegetation usually takes place in most wells.This makes the water unpalatable owing to the growth of algae causing taste and odour problems.But in the case of the Zam-zam water well, there wasn't any sign of biological growth. Centuries ago, Bibi Hajra A.S. searched desperately for water in the hills of Sufwa and Murwa to give to her newly born son Hazrat Ismail A.S. As she ran from one place to another in search of water, her child rubbed his feet against the sand. A pool of water surfaced, and by the grace of Allah, shaped itself into a well which came to be called Zam-zam water.