23 December 2012

Inside the Saudi Kingdom

I found this BBC documentary, in which a Saudi prince agrees to let an English journalist follow him around, very interesting. It is an hour but if you're bored, I'd recommend it :)

25 comments:

Al-salaam alaikum said...

It was cool; the "Kingdom" should put out it's own documentary though.

StylishMuslimah said...

Salaam: I'm not sure they're proactive enough to do that. Their laziness comes across pretty clear in their TV programs.

Al-salaam alaikum said...

The BBC is so typical when it deals with the more "traditional" Muslim societies.

Every time the issue of "Sharia" comes up in one of their documentaries, they're sure to include some mention of "human rights groups" having issue with the fact that Sharia might discriminate unfairly against women; but they never ever give any cold hard numbers or statistics to back up discrimination claims. Yes, the Saudis might not be that organized when it comes to collecting such data, but surely the human rights groups are.

I also don't see the BBC or CNN giving a similar treatment to their own societies, which would go something like this:

"The society is run by a representative democracy set forth by a constitution, which guarantees universal human rights. But for the first 300 years of this constitution, these rights were only given to wealthy white males, with full rights going to females and colored-peoples only in the last 100 years. And even then, up until the 1970's, non-whites were systematically discriminated against on all levels of society.

Fast forward to the present-day, some human rights groups claim that this liberal constitution is harmful to women as it promotes higher reported rates of sexual assault, desertion by spouses, adultery, STDs, unplanned pregnancies, etc. And these same groups also claim that these societies have turned men and women into objects who should be liked solely for their physical attractiveness and popularity."

The BBC did the same shit in a pretty recent Yemen documentary. "Sharia blah blah blah, human rights watch blah blah blah."

These Anglo-Saxons never change....

Salaam.

Al-salaam alaikum said...

Oh, and we won't even talk about the American constitution's "right to bear arms" clause.....

StylishMuslimah said...

But I thought the documentary was quite accurate on a lot of aspects of issues in Saudi Arabia. Just because it's the West highlighting human rights problems it doesn't mean they shouldn't be acknowledged.

Salam

Al-salaam alaikum said...

I never said it shouldn't be acknowledged. But they have a habit of "acknowledging" with a high and mighty attitude; like, Sharia-based societies have such great problems, but they never highlight the much greater problems in their own societies.

StylishMuslimah said...

I can see where you're coming from but I have lived in Saudi for months at a time and I've seen the human rights issues that they have. They do not live by Islam when it comes to the rights of women or the rights of foreigners that do what Saudis would consider "menial" jobs, above their own race. I know the point you're making is true but you need to stop comparing the Muslims and the West, they both are flawed in their own ways. Anyway, it's not as though Muslims don't get all high and mighty when they "highlight" problems in the West..

Salam :)

Al-salaam alaikum said...

I never once said anything about how the Saudis operate; I know that they're scumbags, who starting in the 1970's chose the rewards of this life as opposed to the rewards of Allah(swt). I would never defend the politics of modern-day Saudi Arabia. My beef is with Western media, especially the BBC, putting out a narrow and false description of Sharia.

Everyone is high and mighty when it comes to their own culture, but most people don't have the global reach and influence of these Anglo-Saxons and other Westerners.

Whatevers, Insha'Allah we'll be fine.

Salaam :(

StylishMuslimah said...

Okie dokie I thought you're talking about Saudi because that is what the video is about.

Salam :D

Al-salaam alaikum said...

Is ur family originally from Saudi Arabia?

Maybe I'll get a definite answer, for the first time in three years....

StylishMuslimah said...

Nope I'm not Saudi. It is not important for people to know where I am from. You already know I'm a non-Saudi Arab born and bred in the UK. :)

Al-salaam alaikum said...

It's not important, but I'd like to know. I been coming to this blog for three years, and I always look forward to knowing more abt u. So, I hope you'll tell me one day, insha'Allah.



Anonymous said...

Wow after that back and forth discussion above im lost for words lol!.
I think people in general are intrigued by anything to do with saudi. The kingdom does have a certain level of mystery to it especially because there are not that many doco's that have been put out about it, and more so because poeple base their definition of what saudi life is like based on those falsified books such as "Princess" etc. Wether BBC is rite or wrong at least we get some sort of insight into the kingdom even if we have to laugh at some of their big bold statements that hold no validity.

Anonymous said...

Just curious did you used to post youtube video's? you would wear like a the saudi tradition imama around your face and just show ure eyes? Iv wanted to ask for ages but forgot.
Leila

StylishMuslimah said...

Annoymous: Do you believe the Princess books were falsified? I've read the trilogy and I've always been a bit skeptical but to be honest I found most of the content quite easy to believe.

Leila: Haha! No I've never made YouTube videos. I do love watching them but I'm too old school to actually do it myself :D

Salam x

Anonymous said...

@ Stylish Muslimah...i personally believe them to be untrue..supposedly Jean Sasoon the author copped a lot of flack for the books because someone accused her of lying about the story being true. To this day she still defends the fact that as unbelievably as it may sound; a saudi princess who visited the hospital she worked at would actually divulge information to a foreign un-related female american author about her inner most secrets to have published to the world about the Al Saudi family.
Sounds suss if u ask me. Personally knowing saudis they are in general VERY private ppl add on top of that a princess from the most powerful family in all of the kingdom speaking to a random lady about her family issues??? Something does't add up if u ask me.
Anyway my personal opinion lol :)
Leila

StylishMuslimah said...

Leila: Hmm that does sound suspicious when you put it like that! I don't know, I still love the books :D
Salam x

Anonymous said...

@Leila, can you plz give me the name of that youtube channel, or any others that have Saudi style hijab tutorials with the imama? I'd like to learn it inshaaAllaah. Thx!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the interesting documentary. It is difficult to learn much about Saudi in general so these kinds of doco's are great. Like the anon said the kingdom can be mysterious. Especially the girls. They often come across very snobby. Has anyone had experience with this? I might be heading there soon and hopefully I can make some friends and not be turned down just because I am a foreign gal!

StylishMuslimah said...

Anonymous: Yes I have experienced that. Some of them are snobby but some of them are actually quite nice when you speak to them. Can I ask where you are from? :)

ooga said...

u should read 'girls of riyadh' written by a saudi lady like the muslim/arab version of sex and the city !

StylishMuslimah said...

Ooga: I am currently reading that! Started it the other day :D

Desert Housewife A. (The Canadian in Jubail) said...

Ahhhh X-D

Michelle Therese said...

This is very interesting! It is lovely to see inside so many of the beautiful buildings and to see the beautiful desert scenes.

All countries have their violations and their sins, their evil and their darkness. Sadly that is human nature and while some may be very holy, there will always be evil and corrupt people as well.

StylishMuslimah said...

Michelle: That's very true! It is indeed the sad reality of man.