Making dua for your dad. Umrah mubarak. I appreciate this so much and I wish I had the same experience as you in Madina. It will almost be close to a year since my first Umrah in conscious memory (my first actual umrah was when I was a baby). My experience of Madina was not like yours because during my Umrah, I had my baby with me and I was barred from entering the masjid because of said baby. I believe the restrictions have lifted now. Truly felt that the appalling Nusuk app system, being subject to the ever-changing decisions of a kingdom about Masjid e Nabvi as it is now. Despite the hyperconsumerism in Makkah, I found immense peace just because of the Kabah. Being a woman, I could pray near the Kabah despite not being in ihram. In Madinah, women had to pray with their little ones in the courtyard even with the temperature being 36-40 degrees. When attempting to enter through the gates, the female guards would point to the baby and and say "no baby". With the exception of entering from Gate 32 (Imam Muslim Gate) where some of these guards almost ushered me in when they saw me carrying my less than one year old, none of the other many gates had that generosity. I mentioned the essentially dysfunctional Nusuk app (though some say it's good to have an appointment booked well in advance of your trip), and there were lots of contradictory directions from mosque staff. Random rules and yelling by security. (Some traumatising) crying by pilgrims who spent way too much and travelled from far after a lifetime of being able to save up for a trip where their energy, time, and unawareness of technology is not considered.
What made it Madinah special for me, even in moments of feeling like sheep being fenced in, was trying to imagine what the mosque would look like were the Prophet here. How much more accessible and easier would it be.
The two books to read somewhat in tandem (both published relatively recently) are Rosie Bsheer's historical work, Archive Wars, and David Rundell's popular political analysis, Vision or Mirage.
For sober-ish, state-aligned, Elbridge Colby-esque assessments of how the Saudi government sees itself, geopolitically, and acts, strategically, I find Hesham Al Ghannam (via majalla.com) to be solid. Whenever Bader Al Saif writes on Saudi, or the GCC states more broadly, he can't be missed.
If Saudi contemporary history continues to strike your fancy (after Archive Wars), Robert Vitalis' work in America's Kingdom explodes many Saudi and American sacred cows. Toby Jones work, Desert Kingdom is also a must. Toby Matthiesen has a great chapter, "Saudi Arabia and the Cold War," (where I first learned of The Safari Club) in Madawi al-Rasheed's (2018) edited volume, Salman's Legacy.
Lastly, despite falling into the popular history category, I've never heard anyone authoritative and trustworthy say anything bad about Robert Lacey's two exceptional volumes--in terms of elite access and the richness of the information drawn out, as a result--Inside the Kingdom, and The Kingdom.
I am now really interested in visiting Saudi Arabia, Medina in particular, after reading what you wrote. But about Mecca, it sounded worse than I had imagined, from what I had previously read. I find it so offensive, just a desecration of human history, and hope, as you did, that Saudis will put their money, and it seems their emerging better sense of their own identity and purpose, to good use, to change what they wrought.
Something occurred to me while reading your section on Mecca, particularly your observation that the clock tower resembled something Stalinist. Everyone constantly remarks upon the influence of American consumerism and its midcentury ideals of modernity on the Gulf- the glass skyscrapers, the highways, the fast food, the chain stores. But I think you hit upon an unremarked aspect, the 20th century European influence. Something that the Nazis, and Soviets had, and something you can see in Modi's remaking of the similarly spiritual and religious cities of the Hindustani plains, or his building of giant monumental structures. The insecurity about the traditional cities- their dense, human-scale layouts and rooted architecture. The idea that what is yours is not up to the task, so it must be demolished and replaced with monumental, unadorned, garish structures. The scale compensating for an inner sense of lacking something in the face of the West. Mimetic development, but the imitation just becomes larger and cartoonish. Almost as if you need to demolish yourself, and build yourself up as a bigger imitation of the West, stripped of overt Western identifiers, and having your own plastered on top.
Considering that history, I viewed the rise of MBS with apprehension, but I increasingly feel I was rather mistaken. Yes many of his giant infra projects are ridiculous and Ozymandian, and will not succeed. But his rise and changes seem more a natural evolution/reflection of societal pressures, and less of an ill-advised top-down reform sure to inspire a backlash in a conservative society, as I imagined. Your lines about the confident men and women working together, and the lack of an underlying societal rage, points to a young society that was waiting for the green light to emerge into the spotlight, with hope. I was astonished to see the music videos coming from the country, which seems like it emerged out of nowhere, fully formed, but must in fact have been a culture percolating and forming in the shadows unseen.
All of this perhaps points to a new Arab nation (a real country as you wrote) with ancient roots and a great history, but quite new in fact as a demographic force, emerging to lead the Middle East, and possibly Islam, to a new and better age, from the depths to which it has fallen to in modernity; particularly with the fall of Persia, Egypt and the great Arab cities into reaction and despair. I met a young female museum curator from the Gulf once. And she was so damn charming, and so utterly convinced that her culture deserved to be cherished and given its place at the table. In a way it felt like talking to a post-Independence Indian elder, that same sense of hope and pride. Bodes well.
Coming back to what you wrote about Medina, you painted a beautiful and intriguing picture of the place. You actually managed to achieve in those lines, and elsewhere in the article, something you wrote you wished the Arab world and Islamic world achieved- a synthesis of the best of the West and the East. You wrote about the country from the perspective of a North American, threading the American emphasis on egalitarianism and universalism, with that of Islam, using the simple language of an American. It was refreshing to see Islam and the Arab world written about by a Muslim with openness and humanity. Its something the West and the East needs more of, to quote bell hooks, a world where we can face one another as we really are, stripped of artifice and pretense, naked and not ashamed.
I’ve never been. Mostly because of KSA domestic politics, but as I grow older, I want to visit Medina and Mecca because my mother did not get the chance in her lifetime. The Naʽats she used to sing to me lullabies as a child strike deep emotion in me as I read in your words about your father. Thanks for sharing something so personal. Inspired me
My path in life was similar to yours with my family leaving Oman in the early 90s to snowy Alberta. But I had the opportunity to return in my high school years to Kuwait in the august and saw the beginning of the transformation you’ve witnessed here.
Kuwait was always more liberal comparatively than Saudi Arabia, but I visited often as an adolescent for umrah and to visit relations in Jeddah. In Kuwait there was no morality police but malls for example did not allow bachelors during “family hours”. It was an exciting time prior tor he Arab Spring where modernity d the internet really was transformative in both good and bad ways.
Saudi Arabia is a completely different country than the Gulf kingdoms it gets lumped in (GCC) as you have noted. Saudis work, there are real class divisions, and ideological diversity. If you travel off the beaten path into the heartland on minor highways there is still a lot of poverty (or there was) and people still tied to Bedouin roots.
Will it stick the landing? I think without unconditional US support it will have to find its footing without a guaranteed bail out. But the maturity you speak of will not come about unless the more grandiose ambitions of the coddled elite in making things like NEOM or waging war on Yemen struggle or fail and result in a more even temperament.
Right now elements in Saudi are like Amish teenagers on Rum Springa, not wishing to hear anything from anyone and to make up for what they see as lost time. But after a decade I think there will be a reckoning as the shine of western modernity loses its appeal. Kuwait experienced this and Kuwaitis are a big mix from infatuated westernized social liberals to social conservatives whose interests are much more parochial. But they all seem to agree not wanting their country to become Dubai. I expect Saudi Arabia is similar in this regard.
Thank you for sharing your experiences as I will never be able to make that same beloved visit to the Islamic holy sites so long as the current government is in power. If you dig deeper as I hope you will, you will find that the decline of the Muslim world connects right back to MBS and the policies of Islamophobic Saudis, Emiratis, and the cohort of American-installed autocracies around the world. It is not a problem with Islam. It is a problem with the world order, the multi billion dollar Islamophobia industry that has turned Muslims quietist and non-political, the Muslim disconnect with the Qur’an’s message of active justice and engagement with the world, and so much more than meets the eye. Scholars like Khaled Abou El Fadl, Nader Hashemi and Abdullah Alaoudh are a good place to start. Many more who could help have been put in political prisons by MBS, MBZ and their cohorts. MBS uses Mecca and Umrah as a way to entrap Uyghur Muslims and send them back to China, and Egyptian Muslims who are critical of President Sisi to send them back to Egypt to be imprisoned. Muslims who are critical of MBS and the injustice of the so called Muslim leadership would be arrested and disappeared if they tried to go to Mecca—simply for speaking the truth. The Prophet Muhammad would be mortified and outraged if he saw the state of Mecca today. Place the blame where it belongs. Otherwise, the world continues on believing the narrative that it is a problem with the religion rather than a problem with those who want you to believe that.
Have you read Lacroix's 'Awakening Islam' on the Sahwa movement? from what it sounds like it's not particularly relevant to Saudi today but a thorough work on an important episode of recent Saudi history
I'm an American who recently lived in Riyadh for 2 years. I would never be able to visit these places but your description doesn't surprise me. I was very struck how Riyadh is in many ways like a far-flung Texas or Arizona exurb on steroids with large SUVs on huge highways and enormous malls with the Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang's, but would close for prayers and be filled with veiled women. It was a completely trippy mix of a carton version of the very familiar combined with the extremely foreign.
My guess is that a large % of pilgrims coming to Mecca had never been on a plane before and will never go on one again once they return home, so a I would excuse them if they want to go to Dunkin Donuts and KFC.
Economically, KSA still has an enormous amount of work to do. I hope they stick the landing because they are frankly too big to fail. MBS has on net been hugely helpful for the country but in an absolute monarchy, you don't have countervailing pressure against stupid ideas and I think The Line and NEOM are very good examples of stupid ideas. They should start by improving the roads in Riyadh, getting people to stop littering, and reforming the legal system.
In defense of Western consultancies (I used to work at one, full disclosure) I don't think that McKinsey would advise that they build something like The Line, though now that MBS decided to do it, that's where the money is so that's what they'll support. The main role of the consultancies is often to rubber stamp or provide incremental improvements on decisions already made.
I'm an American who recently lived in Riyadh for 2 years. I would never be able to visit these places but your description doesn't surprise me. I was very struck how Riyadh is in many ways like a far-flung Texas or Arizona exurb on steroids with large SUVs on huge highways and enormous malls with the Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang's, but would close for prayers and be filled with veiled women. It was a completely trippy mix of a carton version of the very familiar combined with the extremely foreign.
My guess is that a large % of pilgrims coming to Mecca had never been on a plane before and will never go on one again once they return home, so a I would excuse them if they want to go to Dunkin Donuts and KFC.
Economically, KSA still has an enormous amount of work to do. I hope they stick the landing because they are frankly too big to fail. MBS has on net been hugely helpful for the country but in an absolute monarchy, you don't have countervailing pressure against stupid ideas and I think The Line and NEOM are very good examples of stupid ideas. They should start by improving the roads in Riyadh, getting people to stop littering, and reforming the legal system.
In defense of Western consultancies (I used to work at one, full disclosure) I don't think that McKinsey would advise that they build something like The Line, though now that MBS decided to do it, that's where the money is so that's what they'll support. The main role of the consultancies is often to rubber stamp or provide incremental improvements on decisions already made.
I don't really understand how someone could be so privileged enough to go to Umrah and also complain about it the whole time. There are people who spend their entire life savings just for the chance to go there once and you decide to spend it complaining about Dunkin Donuts? I presume you stayed in one of the gaudy hotels right next to the Kaaba and not in a Bedouin tent subsisting on tharid and water.
Beautifully written. I learned so much from this piece!
Making dua for your dad. Umrah mubarak. I appreciate this so much and I wish I had the same experience as you in Madina. It will almost be close to a year since my first Umrah in conscious memory (my first actual umrah was when I was a baby). My experience of Madina was not like yours because during my Umrah, I had my baby with me and I was barred from entering the masjid because of said baby. I believe the restrictions have lifted now. Truly felt that the appalling Nusuk app system, being subject to the ever-changing decisions of a kingdom about Masjid e Nabvi as it is now. Despite the hyperconsumerism in Makkah, I found immense peace just because of the Kabah. Being a woman, I could pray near the Kabah despite not being in ihram. In Madinah, women had to pray with their little ones in the courtyard even with the temperature being 36-40 degrees. When attempting to enter through the gates, the female guards would point to the baby and and say "no baby". With the exception of entering from Gate 32 (Imam Muslim Gate) where some of these guards almost ushered me in when they saw me carrying my less than one year old, none of the other many gates had that generosity. I mentioned the essentially dysfunctional Nusuk app (though some say it's good to have an appointment booked well in advance of your trip), and there were lots of contradictory directions from mosque staff. Random rules and yelling by security. (Some traumatising) crying by pilgrims who spent way too much and travelled from far after a lifetime of being able to save up for a trip where their energy, time, and unawareness of technology is not considered.
What made it Madinah special for me, even in moments of feeling like sheep being fenced in, was trying to imagine what the mosque would look like were the Prophet here. How much more accessible and easier would it be.
Just ordered that. These kinds of insightful comments are why I enjoy this platform thanks for sharing.
The two books to read somewhat in tandem (both published relatively recently) are Rosie Bsheer's historical work, Archive Wars, and David Rundell's popular political analysis, Vision or Mirage.
For sober-ish, state-aligned, Elbridge Colby-esque assessments of how the Saudi government sees itself, geopolitically, and acts, strategically, I find Hesham Al Ghannam (via majalla.com) to be solid. Whenever Bader Al Saif writes on Saudi, or the GCC states more broadly, he can't be missed.
If Saudi contemporary history continues to strike your fancy (after Archive Wars), Robert Vitalis' work in America's Kingdom explodes many Saudi and American sacred cows. Toby Jones work, Desert Kingdom is also a must. Toby Matthiesen has a great chapter, "Saudi Arabia and the Cold War," (where I first learned of The Safari Club) in Madawi al-Rasheed's (2018) edited volume, Salman's Legacy.
Lastly, despite falling into the popular history category, I've never heard anyone authoritative and trustworthy say anything bad about Robert Lacey's two exceptional volumes--in terms of elite access and the richness of the information drawn out, as a result--Inside the Kingdom, and The Kingdom.
I am now really interested in visiting Saudi Arabia, Medina in particular, after reading what you wrote. But about Mecca, it sounded worse than I had imagined, from what I had previously read. I find it so offensive, just a desecration of human history, and hope, as you did, that Saudis will put their money, and it seems their emerging better sense of their own identity and purpose, to good use, to change what they wrought.
Something occurred to me while reading your section on Mecca, particularly your observation that the clock tower resembled something Stalinist. Everyone constantly remarks upon the influence of American consumerism and its midcentury ideals of modernity on the Gulf- the glass skyscrapers, the highways, the fast food, the chain stores. But I think you hit upon an unremarked aspect, the 20th century European influence. Something that the Nazis, and Soviets had, and something you can see in Modi's remaking of the similarly spiritual and religious cities of the Hindustani plains, or his building of giant monumental structures. The insecurity about the traditional cities- their dense, human-scale layouts and rooted architecture. The idea that what is yours is not up to the task, so it must be demolished and replaced with monumental, unadorned, garish structures. The scale compensating for an inner sense of lacking something in the face of the West. Mimetic development, but the imitation just becomes larger and cartoonish. Almost as if you need to demolish yourself, and build yourself up as a bigger imitation of the West, stripped of overt Western identifiers, and having your own plastered on top.
Considering that history, I viewed the rise of MBS with apprehension, but I increasingly feel I was rather mistaken. Yes many of his giant infra projects are ridiculous and Ozymandian, and will not succeed. But his rise and changes seem more a natural evolution/reflection of societal pressures, and less of an ill-advised top-down reform sure to inspire a backlash in a conservative society, as I imagined. Your lines about the confident men and women working together, and the lack of an underlying societal rage, points to a young society that was waiting for the green light to emerge into the spotlight, with hope. I was astonished to see the music videos coming from the country, which seems like it emerged out of nowhere, fully formed, but must in fact have been a culture percolating and forming in the shadows unseen.
All of this perhaps points to a new Arab nation (a real country as you wrote) with ancient roots and a great history, but quite new in fact as a demographic force, emerging to lead the Middle East, and possibly Islam, to a new and better age, from the depths to which it has fallen to in modernity; particularly with the fall of Persia, Egypt and the great Arab cities into reaction and despair. I met a young female museum curator from the Gulf once. And she was so damn charming, and so utterly convinced that her culture deserved to be cherished and given its place at the table. In a way it felt like talking to a post-Independence Indian elder, that same sense of hope and pride. Bodes well.
Coming back to what you wrote about Medina, you painted a beautiful and intriguing picture of the place. You actually managed to achieve in those lines, and elsewhere in the article, something you wrote you wished the Arab world and Islamic world achieved- a synthesis of the best of the West and the East. You wrote about the country from the perspective of a North American, threading the American emphasis on egalitarianism and universalism, with that of Islam, using the simple language of an American. It was refreshing to see Islam and the Arab world written about by a Muslim with openness and humanity. Its something the West and the East needs more of, to quote bell hooks, a world where we can face one another as we really are, stripped of artifice and pretense, naked and not ashamed.
I was raised as a Lutheran in rural Iowa.
I cannot find words to express how eye-opening your essay is for me.
I am grateful.
Brenda
I’ve never been. Mostly because of KSA domestic politics, but as I grow older, I want to visit Medina and Mecca because my mother did not get the chance in her lifetime. The Naʽats she used to sing to me lullabies as a child strike deep emotion in me as I read in your words about your father. Thanks for sharing something so personal. Inspired me
My path in life was similar to yours with my family leaving Oman in the early 90s to snowy Alberta. But I had the opportunity to return in my high school years to Kuwait in the august and saw the beginning of the transformation you’ve witnessed here.
Kuwait was always more liberal comparatively than Saudi Arabia, but I visited often as an adolescent for umrah and to visit relations in Jeddah. In Kuwait there was no morality police but malls for example did not allow bachelors during “family hours”. It was an exciting time prior tor he Arab Spring where modernity d the internet really was transformative in both good and bad ways.
Saudi Arabia is a completely different country than the Gulf kingdoms it gets lumped in (GCC) as you have noted. Saudis work, there are real class divisions, and ideological diversity. If you travel off the beaten path into the heartland on minor highways there is still a lot of poverty (or there was) and people still tied to Bedouin roots.
Will it stick the landing? I think without unconditional US support it will have to find its footing without a guaranteed bail out. But the maturity you speak of will not come about unless the more grandiose ambitions of the coddled elite in making things like NEOM or waging war on Yemen struggle or fail and result in a more even temperament.
Right now elements in Saudi are like Amish teenagers on Rum Springa, not wishing to hear anything from anyone and to make up for what they see as lost time. But after a decade I think there will be a reckoning as the shine of western modernity loses its appeal. Kuwait experienced this and Kuwaitis are a big mix from infatuated westernized social liberals to social conservatives whose interests are much more parochial. But they all seem to agree not wanting their country to become Dubai. I expect Saudi Arabia is similar in this regard.
Thank you for sharing your experiences as I will never be able to make that same beloved visit to the Islamic holy sites so long as the current government is in power. If you dig deeper as I hope you will, you will find that the decline of the Muslim world connects right back to MBS and the policies of Islamophobic Saudis, Emiratis, and the cohort of American-installed autocracies around the world. It is not a problem with Islam. It is a problem with the world order, the multi billion dollar Islamophobia industry that has turned Muslims quietist and non-political, the Muslim disconnect with the Qur’an’s message of active justice and engagement with the world, and so much more than meets the eye. Scholars like Khaled Abou El Fadl, Nader Hashemi and Abdullah Alaoudh are a good place to start. Many more who could help have been put in political prisons by MBS, MBZ and their cohorts. MBS uses Mecca and Umrah as a way to entrap Uyghur Muslims and send them back to China, and Egyptian Muslims who are critical of President Sisi to send them back to Egypt to be imprisoned. Muslims who are critical of MBS and the injustice of the so called Muslim leadership would be arrested and disappeared if they tried to go to Mecca—simply for speaking the truth. The Prophet Muhammad would be mortified and outraged if he saw the state of Mecca today. Place the blame where it belongs. Otherwise, the world continues on believing the narrative that it is a problem with the religion rather than a problem with those who want you to believe that.
Have you read Lacroix's 'Awakening Islam' on the Sahwa movement? from what it sounds like it's not particularly relevant to Saudi today but a thorough work on an important episode of recent Saudi history
I'm an American who recently lived in Riyadh for 2 years. I would never be able to visit these places but your description doesn't surprise me. I was very struck how Riyadh is in many ways like a far-flung Texas or Arizona exurb on steroids with large SUVs on huge highways and enormous malls with the Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang's, but would close for prayers and be filled with veiled women. It was a completely trippy mix of a carton version of the very familiar combined with the extremely foreign.
My guess is that a large % of pilgrims coming to Mecca had never been on a plane before and will never go on one again once they return home, so a I would excuse them if they want to go to Dunkin Donuts and KFC.
Economically, KSA still has an enormous amount of work to do. I hope they stick the landing because they are frankly too big to fail. MBS has on net been hugely helpful for the country but in an absolute monarchy, you don't have countervailing pressure against stupid ideas and I think The Line and NEOM are very good examples of stupid ideas. They should start by improving the roads in Riyadh, getting people to stop littering, and reforming the legal system.
In defense of Western consultancies (I used to work at one, full disclosure) I don't think that McKinsey would advise that they build something like The Line, though now that MBS decided to do it, that's where the money is so that's what they'll support. The main role of the consultancies is often to rubber stamp or provide incremental improvements on decisions already made.
I'm an American who recently lived in Riyadh for 2 years. I would never be able to visit these places but your description doesn't surprise me. I was very struck how Riyadh is in many ways like a far-flung Texas or Arizona exurb on steroids with large SUVs on huge highways and enormous malls with the Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang's, but would close for prayers and be filled with veiled women. It was a completely trippy mix of a carton version of the very familiar combined with the extremely foreign.
My guess is that a large % of pilgrims coming to Mecca had never been on a plane before and will never go on one again once they return home, so a I would excuse them if they want to go to Dunkin Donuts and KFC.
Economically, KSA still has an enormous amount of work to do. I hope they stick the landing because they are frankly too big to fail. MBS has on net been hugely helpful for the country but in an absolute monarchy, you don't have countervailing pressure against stupid ideas and I think The Line and NEOM are very good examples of stupid ideas. They should start by improving the roads in Riyadh, getting people to stop littering, and reforming the legal system.
In defense of Western consultancies (I used to work at one, full disclosure) I don't think that McKinsey would advise that they build something like The Line, though now that MBS decided to do it, that's where the money is so that's what they'll support. The main role of the consultancies is often to rubber stamp or provide incremental improvements on decisions already made.
I don't really understand how someone could be so privileged enough to go to Umrah and also complain about it the whole time. There are people who spend their entire life savings just for the chance to go there once and you decide to spend it complaining about Dunkin Donuts? I presume you stayed in one of the gaudy hotels right next to the Kaaba and not in a Bedouin tent subsisting on tharid and water.
I was taken aback the first time I saw a photo of that clock tower building. I thought it must be a CG creation- it could not be real.