Zohair A. Nawab: Keeping a Close Eye on Saudi Seismic Activity

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Monday, March 9, 2009

One of Saudi Arabia’s leading geologists and the former deputy minister of minerals says the Western Province may be in for a mild tremor, but there is absolutely no reason to panic.

“Saudi Arabia is part of the Arabian Plate, and this plate shares a border on the west with the Red Sea fault,” said Dr. Zohair A. Nawab, president of the Jeddah-based Saudi Geological Survey (SGS).

“We call this a spreading center, meaning at this fault in the Red Sea, the Arabian Plate is moving away from the other plate, i.e. the African Plate. The Arabian Plate is moving away from the African Plate exactly in the middle of the Red Sea, and the Red Sea is expanding. We don’t see it on a daily basis. We feel it and measure it with our instruments. Some movements happen all of a sudden and that is when earthquakes happen. This seismic activity is stronger in the northern part of the Red Sea.”

He said the biggest effects of these plate movements were felt in Iran. “Since the Arabian Plate is moving one to one-and-a-half centimeters per year, there is a collision with another plate — the Persian Plate. The effects of this collision between the Arabian Plate and the Persian Plate are felt in the Zagross Mountains in Iran where there are big earthquakes, and also in the Makran mountains in west Pakistan. All these are a result of this collision.”

As the Red Sea is expanding, something else is shrinking. “The Red Sea is opening up and getting wider and wider,” Nawab told Arab News. “As a result, the Arabian Gulf is shrinking and getting smaller and smaller. Several million years ago the Arabian Gulf was a big sea but in the last 25 million years, with the expansion of the Red Sea, it has shrunk to its current size.”

Nawab said people in the Western Province had to get used to living with seismic activity. “Simply because the Western Province is closer to the spreading fault line in the Red Sea, most of the earthquakes take place in the northwestern and southwestern parts of the Kingdom with milder ones in the middle of the western part,” Nawab said. “We also have some mild ones in the central-eastern part of Saudi Arabia. All this seismic activity is action and reaction — action in the Red Sea and reaction in the eastern part.”

The well-known geologist, whose specialty is plate tectonics, noted that the earthquakes, many of which are so minor as to escape the notice of most people, come and go.

“It comes like waves,” Nawab said. “Two years ago we had such a wave leading to earthquakes in the western region. This was announced on television, and newspapers wrote about it. Nobody can predict earthquakes. You can only notice some kind of activity. When will it explode? Nobody knows — not here, not in Japan or in the United States.”

Fortunately, Nawab says the Saudi Geological Survey and Civil Defense constantly monitor the Kingdom’s seismic situation. “Here in the Kingdom, the Civil Defense is always on alert,” he said. “We provide them with continuous seismic activity data. If they receive any report from citizens about unusual earth movements, they contact us immediately. Sometimes people call the Civil Defense and it later turns out to be construction activity. We basically tell the Civil Defense what exactly that activity is.”

Nawab said the biggest danger from earthquakes was ignorance about them. “We cannot run away; we have to educate people to accept these facts. There is always a possibility of an earthquake, but one need not panic. We have to make people aware about the building code for earthquakes. If buildings are not planned according to the international earthquake building code, then these structures will collapse in an earthquake with a magnitude of only 4 or 5 on the Richter scale. If there is no good building code, then there will be a lot of casualties. If you take care and you apply the building code strictly, many lives will be saved, and you will prevent a huge loss of investment.”

Nawab made his remarks in the run-up to the four-day Saudi Geosciences Conference which begins today at the Jeddah Hilton. As geologists and researchers from around the world gather for this event, the former deputy minister is particularly excited about getting to see the man who originally got him interested in geology in 1962 when he was a student at King Saud University in Riyadh.

“I thought I should take geology because it was a totally new subject,” Nawab said. “I wanted to explore it. I had a feeling that since it was a new subject in the Kingdom, maybe at a later stage the country might need people who were experts in the subject. The world-famous Dr. Zaghloul El-Najjar was teaching in King Saud University’s Department of Geology at the time. It was El-Najjar who unraveled the mysteries of this new science to us in a language that we understood. He got us hooked to the subject through clear, concise and simple explanations in Arabic. I fell in love with geology. I graduated from King Saud University with a major in geology.”

El-Najjar will be the conference’s keynote speaker. “It will be interesting to hear from him as to how far we in Saudi Arabia have come in the world of geology since those early days in the 1960s,” Nawab said.

The Saudi Geological Survey maintains a website with a wealth of fascinating information about the Kingdom’s unique features. For more information, visit http://www.sgs.org.sa/

The Generous People of Makkah

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Friday, January 21, 2005

To the uninitiated, hosting millions of pilgrims from around the globe and assisting them in performing the Haj might sound impossible, and it might well be impossible were it not for the dedicated people of Makkah.

The hospitality and generosity of Makkawis is legendary. For years, they have taken special pleasure in serving the guests of God. Each year, at least one member of every Saudi family in Makkah does voluntary work during Haj. This is done as a rule and is not an exception. However important a position they hold and whatever place they are posted in the Kingdom, these young Saudis come home during Haj and staff the establishments with which their fathers and forefathers have been associated.

Here in the tent city of Mina, you meet them everywhere. There are some who specialize only in Haj services. One such Saudi from Makkah is Dr. Khalid Sami Muhammad Hussain. His forebears have been serving the pilgrims for the last 400 years. He is young, bright and dynamic. He is highly educated, as well, having earned his bachelor’s degree at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah and having completed his master’s and Ph.D. from George Washington University in the United States in engineering management.

Those skills are handily put to work as he is the quality assurance manager at the South Asian Establishment for Pilgrims. It was a pleasure listening to his chaste English as he explained the steps that are being taken every year by the tawafa organizations for better services. Although the Haj emphasizes the longstanding traditions of Islam, it takes some pretty sophisticated organizational methods to accommodate millions.

“We at the South Asian Establishment for Pilgrims have become the first such organization to receive this prestigious ISO9001 certificate for providing good services during Haj,” he said. His establishment is organizing Haj for 380,000 pilgrims this year. Despite the devastating tragedy that recently hit that region, many people from that part of the world are reaching out to Allah as pilgrims this year.

“It is amazing because we thought tsunami tragedy would reduce the number of pilgrims coming from South Asia, especially Sri Lanka,” he said. “We were worried, but Alhamdullilah, the number only increased. Last year, we hosted 360,000 pilgrims, and that number has gone up by almost 20,000 pilgrims, which is great.”

You might even call the preparations high-tech. “Each year we add value to Haj services. We are applying the latest technology and research in providing services in a very scientific way,” he said. “We call this continual improvement. This year we printed maps of the camps in Mina in many languages. Of course, that didn’t help some pilgrims from getting lost, but it has had its effect.”

They don’t look at their task as a logistical nightmare, but rather a challenge. “Let’s not forget that Haj logistics are a big challenge,” he said. “This is a unique event. Where else do you have nearly three million pilgrims on the move?”

Even with highly trained and educated people, such as Dr. Khalid Hussain, it still takes a little faith. “We once approached a European management center to ask them how best to organize them. They studied the videos, had lengthy discussions with us, and they finally told us: ‘This is impossible. Why don’t you organize Haj three times in a year,’” he said. “They are astounded even grasping what Haj is all about.”

Dr. Hussain himself performed Haj this year. The last time he performed Haj was nine years ago. “I was not associated with this Haj establishment then. I was with my relatives,” he said. “The one difference that you fail to notice is the number of people. There are so many people now — almost double of what we had nine years ago.”

Dr. Khalid Hussain is a representative of the generation that’s taking the reins from their elders to provide the best possible services to the guests of God. And if a little modern management and the latest technology make the experience more pleasant for the pilgrims, it’s all the better.

Pilgrim after pilgrim offer words of praise for the Saudi government and the Saudis themselves for doing what almost looks impossible and defies imagination. “This mass movement of people is amazing,” Dr. Khalid Hussain said, “and it provides a big challenge for the organizers.”

Sir Syed’s Message Still Valid: Understand the West, Don’t Antagonize It

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Friday, October 8, 2004

When early last year the most powerful man in the world declared major combat over, few even in the Muslim world could have foreseen what horrors lay ahead in Iraq. Fought on behalf of what George W. Bush claims as civilization, the war was going to be swift and clinical, claiming a minimum of civilian casualties and, above all, as few lives among the invading forces as possible. Here was “freedom”, coming down like a ton of bricks on “terror”. What confrontation more likely to rally the whole world behind the forces of good and against the forces of evil?

Yet the loathing with which the Muslim world appears to regard that civilization, that freedom, has taken even those by surprise who urged caution on a power-drunk US leader and the extremists behind his throne. It was one thing to say that Bush had not learned the lessons of American history, that in Iraq like in Vietnam ideas and beliefs are not defeated by bombs. But it was another to realize that with each bomb dropped, with each pronouncement on the blessings of democracy emanating from the White House to win the hearts and minds of the Islamic world, the divisions between Muslims and what they see as the West would become more deeply entrenched.

Do we, then, hate freedom and civilization? It is well to remember that circumstances rather than philosophy has brought Islam and non-Islamic ideas into conflict. Posturing and challenges issue from both camps, extremist views clash. Each camp becomes progressively shriller in its wholescale rejection of everything the other side stands for. Whatever the truth of the convictions on either side of the trench, the practical effect is to polarize cultures, and to hinder meaningful communication when it is most needed.

The most powerful media influences in the world come out of the United States. Newspapers, television and films are the subtle weapons of the war of ideas, the carriers of assumptions and ideas, attractively packaged and presented as entertainment. The symbols of society — and therefore the philosophy — that produced them are universally known. The technology that comes from the same society spans the world, from the aircraft that drop their bombs on innocent civilians to the computers that power the most forceful engine of the war of ideas, the Internet. How then can the Muslim world have any hope for the future?

In a word: Understanding. In the 1860s, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan — the man who united the Muslim community and taught it the value of Western education — recognized change and movement in history. He knew his Islamic history well and understood the religion. Both the conclusion he drew and the message he communicated were directed against the ill-founded assumptions about the West and ill-informed criticism of the reform movement. He saw no conflict between Qur’anic principles and science. He laid stress on interpretation, not conformity, on innovation rather than blind acceptance of what some would tell us is Islamic law.

Sir Syed’s reformist concerns underline the significance of the intellectual history of Islam in the Subcontinent in changing the stereotypical images of Islam and its followers. The ethos that drove his reformist views is as valid now as it was then. Demystify Islam, move away from dogma and entrenched views, reveal the truer, liberal face of Islam and listen to liberal voices. As widely acclaimed historian Mushirul Hassan wrote in The Indian Express in a 1998 column, “Sir Syed could have settled for a lazy existence in one of Delhi’s havelis, reveled in the glory of a bygone Mughal past. Instead, he chose a harsher alternative in the dusty road to Aligarh, deciding to leave his mark on the city, the state and the nation. He moved with the times, responded to the winds of change with a sense of urgency and urged his community to seize the opportunities offered by British rule.” Sir Syed’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is now the principal seat of Muslim education in India.

Then as now, understanding was the key. Understand that the West leads the world in technology and scientific research and many of the forces that drive the planet — and, yes, that it organizes its own house more efficiently than we have learned to do, all its shortcomings notwithstanding. Understand that Western and non-Islamic culture is here to stay, is more physically effective and far wealthier than the Muslim world. Most important, understand that to prosecute the case of Islam, we must use the strength and proven effectiveness of Western method without necessarily being seduced by its philosophy. The rehabilitation of Islam and Arabs, for nothing less is needed after Sept. 11, 2001 and its fallout, is a task that requires all our wits.

Rather than relying on megaphone transmission of entrenched viewpoints, communicate through the peaceful technology the West has to offer. Present the human face of the Arab and Muslim world with its faults and richness, failings and strengths. Tell the population of the Western world that, though different in some ways, East and West have more in common than they realize.

How do the vast majority of people in the West get to know about the world? Their media tell them about it — through sophisticated manipulation of images, through a form of discourse immeasurably more advanced than our own. The task of the Muslim world is not to clash with the ideas, but to present effectively the human face of Islam and, by implication, the ideas associated with it, embracing the techniques developed in the West. Do not let the terrorists among us be the only ones who know how to use communication technology to their advantage.

Introduce the West to the historical fact that its existence was borne out of the civilizing influence of Islam: Do it not through screaming oneupmanship but by highlighting Islam’s contribution in terms the West can respect. Embedded in the fabric of the West are branches of the tree planted by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Madinah and Makkah 1,400 years ago, the early fruits of which were the foundations of modern mathematics, literature, medicine and science.

The West has developed enormously and differs substantially from Islam now, but the two cultures share the same roots. So where in truth is the conflict? Celebrate the differences, understand the commonality, and make a friend of the West. This was the message of Sir Syed in the late 1800s. And this should be our message in the 21st century.

Indian Muslims’ Support for Secular Parties Makes Sense

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Delhi’s Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency with its large Muslim population is home to the famous Jama Masjid. It was from the pulpit of this mosque that the Muslims of India were exhorted to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the last general elections. “It is the only party capable of ensuring communal harmony in the country,” the mosque’s prayer leader Syed Ahmed Bukhari told them in the run-up to the elections.

Yet even in Chandni Chowk, where the writ of the Bukharis was supposed to run strongest — leaving aside the rest of the country — the Congress Party’s Kapil Sibal defeated BJP’s Smruti Irani by more than 70,000 votes. Ahmed Bukhari realized, like many others before him, that the Muslim community in India has never trusted or even paid much heed to what its self-appointed and self-anointed leaders say.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur parliamentary constituency, the community voted in large numbers for the Samajwadi Party’s Jaya Prada, and against Congress Party’s Begum Noor Bano because it thought — and rightly so — that Jaya Prada was in a better position to defeat the BJP candidate there. And yes, Jaya Prada won handsomely in that constituency, despite all pre-poll surveys indicating otherwise. Once again, the ordinary members of the community showed political wisdom in exercising their franchise.

While Indian Muslims have as a rule refused to patronize their own parties in the political arena, there are notable exceptions, such as the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in Andhra Pradesh and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala. But on the whole the community has tended to synchronize its political fortunes with that of the secular parties. When they wanted to punish the Congress Party in the aftermath of the Babri Mosque demolition in 1991, they went with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, with Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, with Janata Dal in Karnataka, Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, the leftists in West Bengal and the National Conference in Kashmir. All these parties did exceptionally well. In Maharashtra, they voted for the Hindu fundamentalist Shiv Sena in the 1995 assembly elections just because there was no alternative to Congress — and Congress lost power there.

Never once during the pathetic days of BJP rule did the majority of India’s Muslims endorse the fundamentalist elements in their own ranks, despite the fact that the rank communal elements continued to grab the spotlight in the national media with their rhetoric. Many within and without the community are off and on heard lamenting that there is no Muslim leadership. But there is no need for one. The community is wiser without it. The more it supports Arjun Singh, Mulayam Singh, Sharad Pawar and Rajasekhara Reddy, the closer it gets to the political mainstream.

Muslims know that their community leaders, once in power, tend to work more for other communities than their own, be it to avoid attracting negative publicity or simply to dodge the communal tag. The result is that they become a liability to the community rather than an asset. It is perhaps because of this that the community has a very poor opinion of those in power, caustically calling them “sarkari” Muslims. Can a Ghulam Nabi Azad or Muhammad Taslimuddin, for example, do more for the community than an Arjun Singh or Shivraj Patil? Hardly.

Indian Muslims have been variously described as retrograde, backward, fundamentalist and communal. But their voting record in all parliamentary elections indicates otherwise. They have consistently gone along with secular parties and defeated the fundamentalists in their own ranks. The way they vote, moreover, proves unequivocally that they are not politically naive. Yes, they are backward educationally, because successive governments, both in Delhi and the states, have missed paying proper attention to their educational needs. But things are changing. With Manmohan Singh at the helm, their schools will get their due share.

The outcome of this year’s elections has only reinforced Muslims’ faith in the country’s secular credentials, and in doing so has thankfully nipped in the bud all the talk about launching an all-India Muslim party. Even if there was one, it would have met the same fate as that of Syed Shahabuddin’s Insaf Party. The party was dissolved because, according to Shahabuddin, it was launched to protest against V.P. Singh’s behind-the-scene deal with the BJP. “As soon as the V.P. Singh government fell in 1990, the party was dissolved,” he was quoted as saying. Perhaps. Yet the fact remains that there were no takers for his party in the community.

After the 2004 elections, the fundamentalists and the self-styled community leaders have been pushed further into the background, which is where they belong. By the way, whatever happened to the members of the so-called “Support Vajpayee Committee” formed on the eve of the last elections? Who are they supporting now? It might be worth finding out.

Or, on second thoughts, maybe not.

What If the Agra Summit Had Succeeded?

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Wednesday, September 8, 2004

In its Independence Day Collector’s Issue last month, India’s popular Outlook weekly magazine examined a series of hypothetical questions such as “What if L.K. Advani had been PM? Godse’s Bullets Had Missed Gandhi? India Hadn’t Tested the Nuclear Bomb? Rajiv Gandhi Hadn’t Unlocked Babri Masjid? Indira Gandhi Hadn’t Been PM? Gujarat Hadn’t Happened?”

Brilliant essays — all by some of the best analytical minds in India. But they somehow forgot to throw light on the most pertinent question of our time: What if the Agra summit had succeeded? Would it have changed the political and economic map of the Subcontinent? Would it have assured a second term for Atal Behari Vajpayee? Would it have sounded the death-knell for the Hindu fundamentalists?

The unfortunate failure of that summit in 2001 exploded a long-held myth among a large number of the Subcontinent’s population that a lasting peace between the two archrivals was possible only if there were a hard-line Hindu government in Delhi and a powerful military general in Islamabad. The popular perception was that any give-and-take on Kashmir would not have invited the charge that national interests had been compromised by a Hindu nationalist government. A strong army man in Pakistan would have eventually rallied round the weakened political parties in his country. In short, a popular Indian National Congress and an equally popular Pakistan People’s Party or Pakistan Muslim League would have found it extremely difficult to offer anything besides rhetoric.

Who would have imagined that one day both countries would be ruled by world-class economists whose eyes are fixed firmly on the welfare of their countries? Dr. Manmohan Singh became prime minister under special circumstances and now has the unflinching support of perhaps the most powerful woman in Indian politics, Sonia Gandhi. Pakistani Premier Shaukat Aziz got the top job under equally interesting circumstances and enjoys tremendous support from the most powerful man in Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Both Dr. Singh and Shaukat Aziz are proponents of liberalization. Both want economic reforms with a human touch. Both have lived outside their countries and know very well their nations’ problems. Both know full well the futility of fighting proxy wars. Both want a big chunk of their budgets to go toward alleviating poverty and educating the masses.

Both lack the cunning of politicians and are therefore in a better position to focus on issues of vital interest to their nationals. They will at least try to cut down on burgeoning defense budgets. Whether they succeed or not is another matter. They are a dream team to lead two big nations which have the indisputable potential to become the world’s largest trade zone.

The recent cricket series between the two nations opened the floodgates of goodwill between two different ideologies. Every other day, Bollywood now receives a guest from Lollywood. Every other day Indian newspapers are filled with beaming pictures of Pakistanis arriving in India for heart surgery and other medical treatment. There are similar stories in Pakistani newspapers. The desire for peace with India is perhaps more evident in Pakistan than in India. Pakistani cricket legend Javed Miandad literally took India by storm during his recent Zee TV-sponsored tour.

Everybody thought he was the most hated person in India. He was in for a shock when he met Bal Thackeray. “I am your admirer,” said Thackeray. “I love your game.” Mainstream Indian actors discovered a new-found courage and are increasingly refusing to act in anti-Pakistani films. Perhaps they have been encouraged by a series of failures of such films in theaters all over the country. The verdict is clear: The peoples of the two countries have had enough of the politics of hate.

There is a kind of war fatigue in both India and Pakistan. The hate on which many in both countries were brought up is rapidly turning into something better. The rhetoric is gone. And for good.

This is perhaps the best time in the history of the two nations. Both countries are at ease with themselves. They no longer suffer from the insecurities of the past. Both realize the unwinnability of any future war. Both have two dynamic leaders with refreshing outlooks toward life. Neither carries the usual baggage of popular politicians. When Dr. Singh speaks about improving relations with Pakistan, he sounds convincing. And when Shaukat Aziz talks about converting Pakistan into a giant economic powerhouse, everybody sits up and listens. It is indeed a blessing in disguise that the politicians have been given a much-needed rest. In all probability, what the politicians failed to achieve in 50 years may now be achieved by technocrat prime ministers in three or four years. They will focus less on the disputed border and more on the people who live inside those borders.

Indians and Pakistanis will hopefully no longer have to suffer the sight of hundreds and thousands of hungry and emaciated compatriots lining the streets of their cities and towns as so poignantly described by V.S. Naipaul in “India: A Million Mutinies Now.” As for what would have happened if the Agra summit had succeeded, history would have recorded something very different.

Jeddah’s Urdu Academy Has Got Its Priorities Right

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Friday, June 11, 2004

Indian social organizations abound in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, too many of these groups have a primary focus of arranging photo opportunities for their members. There are a few organizations, however, which do work hard to contribute something to the community. Jeddah's Urdu Academy is one of these.

The group’s specific aim is to promote the use of Urdu. In line with that goal, the academy invites well-known Indians to discuss events in India that have a bearing on the lives of expatriates working in Saudi Arabia. They also hold seminars and training sessions for Urdu teachers in India. Every year the academy holds a National Education Day as a tribute to India’s first Minister of Education Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Last year, the academy invited Kuldip Nayar to be its guest in Jeddah. His visit was met with enthusiasm. Kuldip Nayar has been a torchbearer of secularism and has highlighted issues concerning minorities in India. He is also a great advocate of Indo-Pak friendship and has always taken a lead in defusing tensions between the two nations.

Such visits work both ways. The visiting dignitaries get to know what Saudi Arabia is all about. This results in the explosion of many myths. They come here with many preconceived notions and then go back to India and relate how surprised they were with the quality of life here.

This year the organization invited two prominent journalists and they spoke at length about the Indian political scene, which has suddenly sprung to life with the shock defeat of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.

At the National Education Day celebrations last week, people wanted to hear what Rajdeep Sardesai, a prominent television journalist with NDTV satellite channel, and Sagarika Ghose of the Indian Express, had to say about the behind-the-scenes story. They didn’t disappoint the capacity crowd. Rajdeep holds a special place in the hearts of Indian expats for his fearless coverage of the Gujarat riots. He enthralled the audience. Even after he had spoken for three hours, the audience were still reluctant to let him go.

Jeddah Urdu Academy President Syed Jamalullah Qadri and Vice President Nayeemullah Shareef were delighted with the community’s response. It seems that people believe a wind of change is blowing in India. Even from a distance they want to participate in it. One can only hope that such optimism and enthusiasm will lead to better times ahead for India and all her people.

Haj Review: Testing Your Nerves

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Friday, February 14, 2003

Covering Haj tests your nerves, your patience and your driving skills (our means of transport was not a car but a two-wheeler). It requires stamina and courage. Above all, it demands a complete detachment from the events on the ground. If you ever thought being a journalist was a glamorous profession, think again: It requires dedication and perseverance, and the ability to deal with extremes.

For instance, when the paramedics were busy attending to people who had lost consciousness while performing one of the rituals earlier in the week, we were busy either capturing the scene on camera or talking to eyewitnesses for the quotes on which our tribe relies. This detachment is difficult, to say the least, because a journalist cannot and does not function in isolation from his fellow human beings. When the three of us failed to detach ourselves from the events, we found ourselves baby-sitting a three-month-old who had been separated from his mother on the plains of Arafat, or crying along with the three Iraqi pilgrims — Fadl Attoohan and the two women who were accompanying him — who were praying for their country's well-being. There were moments when we reached the limits of our patience. But we persevered and our perseverance paid off. In the end, we came away with some very good stories.

We were struck by the investigative qualities of our colleague Essam Al-Ghalib, who joined Arab News just three months ago. None of us had realized that there was a fantastic photographer waiting to be discovered, as well as a first-rate journalist. This year's Haj gave him the opportunity to discover that he had yet another quality. He would lie on his stomach, or perch precariously on the mountains, to get his brilliant pictures. Considering everything he went through on a personal level during the Haj, he can already be described as a veteran journalist.

Our other team member, Hasan Adawi, was the vital link between the two of us as he knows the topography of Mina, Arafat and Makkah like the back of his hand. He always knew exactly where we were in the sea of white at Arafat. He knew the shortest route from Arafat to Mina. And yes, his skills on the moped are only comparable with an experienced jockey of an Arab steed.

We would have been simply unable to function without him. Others like Jamal Banoon of Al-Eqtisadiah, Mowafaq Al-Nowaisir of Asharq Al-Awsat and Abdul Mughni Al-Ghalib, who have been covering the Haj for years now, were very helpful in guiding us through the day's events. Mughni Al-Ghalib is rightly described as the father of Haj coverage.

Haj cannot really be described in words. Each person's experience will be different and unique. On the plains of Arafat we met many pilgrims who were withering away in the blazing sun, yet many others felt the weather was quite pleasant. But one thing is certain: Haj draws Muslims closer to their spiritual roots. The pilgrims get an enormous spiritual energy, which transcends much of the physical difficulty. Remaining calm is no easy task, whether you are a journalist or a pilgrim.

Moving around the tightly packed hordes can be irritating. The intensity of the experience can elevate even simple tasks into a test of faith. Officials and businesses supply plenty of water, but gaining entry to bathrooms can be an arduous process, and access to mosques and other holy sites can verge on the impossible. The constant crush of hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims, each trying to perform the same rites at the same time in a limited space in unbearable weather, compounds the stress and heightens the demand for good physical conditioning and mental resilience.

Coping With Pain — Ahsan Jafri’s Daughter Reflects on Her Father’s Strengths

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Saturday, August 24, 2002

Fifty-eight Hindus died in an arson attack on a train at Godhra in Gujarat on Feb. 27. In retaliatory attacks that dragged on for months, rampaging Hindu mobs burned alive hundreds of helpless Muslims across the length and breadth of Gujarat, making a mockery of India’s secular credentials. This well-orchestrated violence against Muslims had the complete backing of the state administration led by the fascist Bharatiya Janata Party. Chief Minister Narendra Modi defended the carnage and refused to resign his post, spurring the world media to dub him "India’s Slobodan Milosevic."

Six months later, the deaths are only statistics; however, as we know very well, every number stands for one human life. Maybe a child with a whole life of discovery ahead of him, a mother with responsibilities or, as in this case, a father and distinguished public figure with a life of national service behind him.

Ahsan Jafri, a former member of Parliament and a prominent member of the Gujarat Congress party, was killed while sheltering scores of people in his house in Ahmedabad’s Gulberg Society. Although several phone calls for help were made to the police, they did not arrive until six hours later. By that time, the proud Indian Muslim and dozens of others were all dead, butchered first and their bodies burned. It was one of secular India’s darkest days.

Ahsan Jafri’s daughter, Nishrin Hussain, lives in the United States and was constantly in touch with her father. We contacted her recently for her thoughts and comments.

Nishrin had spoken to her father a day before the Godhra incident. "Since my two brothers — Tanveer and Zuber — and I live outside Ahmedabad and my parents were living alone at our house at Gulberg Society, we were in touch with them every day — partly to find out how they were doing and partly to keep them company. My younger brother, Zuber, is also in the US and one of us called our parents every two or three days. In fact, I spoke to my father on Monday, Feb. 25 which was just before the Godhra incident." Zuber had called their father early in the morning of Feb. 28. "Father told him not to worry," recalls Nishrin, "as he had called the police commissioner who had promised to provide protection." As events proved, it was the hollowest of promises.

Early in the morning of Feb. 28, Zuber called Nishrin and told her of their father’s murder. "My brother went on the Internet when he could not get through to our father by phone. He found the news of the attacks on the Gulberg Society and our father’s death in The Times of India’s Internet edition." Nishrin has not visited India since the tragedy. "My husband Najid and my brother went to perform the last rites. I plan to visit Ahmedabad soon."

It is axiomatic of course that fathers have special bonds with their daughters. And so Nishrin believes she was her father’s favorite. "For several years after I married and left home — when I was no longer there — he used to call my name to fetch his glasses, or getting the newspaper, or bringing a glass of water. Even when my elder brother had a daughter and we named her Aniqa, many a time my father would call her by my name."

Nishrin recalls her father with no sense of bitterness toward the events or the community responsible for his death. She makes it her personal choice, informed and guided by her father’s beliefs, to look positively at the future of India and to work for an eventual end to the agenda of division and hatred between people of different faiths and creeds. She has a gritty determination and sense of equity in addressing herself, together with like-minded people, to bringing some sort of social justice to the disadvantaged in Gujarat. "My father always thought that I would take his lead and follow in his footsteps... It is hard for me to believe that he is no more, that he has been taken away so suddenly and with such cruelty and brutality. Because he was burned and we did not find his body, there is no closure for me on his death."

Nishrin, who in her own words is old enough to understand the politics of hate, says "During the past few months, I have swung wildly between the extremes of faith and hopelessness, brotherhood and utter disbelief in humanity, our ancient values and wisdom and open dance of immorality and violence in Gujarat. Over this time, I even challenged my roots and religion. But thanks to the power of my father’s teachings and the support of my family, I have now regained my balance, overcome my grief, even if only partially. Partially, because I am still not fully in control of my emotions while thinking about the sword that ripped him, the fire that burned him and the people who killed him."

Nishrin remembers something else as well. "Our house was burned down once before," she says. "It was during the communal riots of 1969. We barely made it to safety and it was thanks to police protection. Despite expressions of fear for his safety by friends and family, my father returned to the same house and rebuilt it."

Ahsan Jafri was convinced that he could not abandon Gujarat. "He was sure that he could not fight the monster of communalism effectively and teach people to live in harmony and acceptance by keeping himself away from the area. He was a very proud Muslim," says Nishrin, who is currently a controller in a rapidly expanding printing company in the United States.

Nishrin remembered the natural kindness of her father, even in small things that others might overlook in the turmoil of daily life. "The sparrows in his office are no more — their nests burned. I remember how he used to encourage and assist the sparrows to make their nests there, lay eggs, rear their chicks and teach them to fly. Even when we went out and locked the entire house, he would keep one office window open so that the sparrows could get in and out freely all the time. Several times a day, he would happily clean the mess sparrows made while building their nests. When the sparrows had little chicks, he would put a tape on the fan switch never allowing anyone to turn it on even by mistake. He would work in the heat rather than risk injuring the chicks with the fan."

The destruction of Babri Masjid by Hindutva forces in 1992 was a devastating blow to him and to the entire Muslim community. "Even after this, he still believed we could build a bridge of communal understanding and put the troubled past of Hindu-Muslim relationships behind us. He was a very proud Muslim who always believed that Islam is a religion of equality, compassion, kindness and humanity. He also believed that Indian Muslims must rise, educate themselves and find opportunities instead of crowing about the past glory or complaining and cribbing about their present state and treatment."

Ahsan Jafri was a good poet too. "I can still hear him humming his ghazals. They were the expressions of his devotion to his family, faith, country and humanity. He was an optimist and that is something many find unique in his poetry. Majrooh Sultanpuri, the noted Urdu poet, has articulated those feelings very well in his foreword for ‘Qandeel,’ the title of the collection of ghazals and poems my father published. "My father," says Nishrin, "not only attended mushairas, he organized them in the pursuit of keeping Urdu alive. The following couplet from his collection is my favorite:

Kaam mushkil sahi aasaan banaana hoga

Husn-o-tadbeer se imkaan banaana hoga

Yun to bhagwaan bana daale hazaaron ham ne

Ab har ek shakhs ko insaan banaana hoga."

To date, the government has offered no apology or even approached Nishrin. "Perhaps they are a little ashamed to say a few comforting words after inflicting the wounds," she says. "Blaming my father for instigating the riots by allegedly firing shots in the mob, which many eyewitnesses confirmed he never did, goes to discount any feeling of remorse from the government."

In the long term, Nishrin, who had her schooling and higher education in Ahmedabad, sees India’s future in all its diversity rather than in the divisive politics of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. "Indian values and wisdom will prevail in Gujarat as well as in the entire country. The BJP government may use terrorism and communal polarization and even reap some benefits in the short term. But in the long term, we have faith in our Indian values and our system of democracy. The divisive agenda will be defeated because it has no support from Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or other faiths. We will continue the fight to educate people and restore security, social justice and confidence."

Great Expectations

Saudi students hope they will land a good job when they graduate. But they are acutely aware that competition in the jobs market is getting tougher all the time and worry that even if they do land the right job, whether it will pay enough. They also question whether they are getting the right education for the future.

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Saturday, February 1, 2003

Muhammad Al-Faris has a dream. He wants to teach English at a government-run school in the Kingdom. He is, however, extremely concerned about his “present continuous” and “future perfect” prospects. A graduate of King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Muhammad uses the analogy of English grammar perfectly to underline the fears and aspirations of a typical Saudi youth, or shabab as they are known in common parlance, in a job market dominated by highly-qualified expatriates.

“Teaching English is the best bet for me. Whenever I land a job in a school run by the Ministry of Education, I know it will be for life. It may not be a very high-paying job, but there are some excellent perks that go with it, such as a fully-paid two-month annual vacation, an assured pension at the end of service and ample time to pursue my own hobbies,” he explains.

But what worries him is this: Will he ever realize his dream? If yes, when?

“It is very, very difficult to get a job in a government school. The competition is very tough. There are hundreds of aspirants like me out there, in a market that can only absorb a limited few. The worst part is that I have never thought of a worst case scenario... I have no idea what I will do if I don’t get this coveted job.”

Muhammad admits to being under great pressure from many sides. His parents are keen for him to land a job as soon as possible. Being the eldest son in a family with seven children, he knows he has to help his father make ends meet.

“I worry that I may not succeed in my dream,” he says. “Everything depends on me having all the skills to face the interview board.”

Coming from a middle-class family, 23-year-old Muhammad’s case is typical of the vast majority of Saudi jobseekers, both male and female. Take the example of Hala Nakshbandi, 23, who has just returned from Egypt, having completed her degree in Arabic literature.

“As women, we have very few professions to choose from,” she explains, “Teaching naturally is the first preference. Our society rates teaching as a very honorable job. Nobody in the family will object to you being a teacher. Also, our parents feel that being a teacher will improve our chances in the marriage market.”

This is a change from a few decades ago, when women were not encouraged to complete their education. Tariq Alhomayed, a journalist with Asharq Al-Awsat, agrees that attitudes in the Kingdom are evolving.

“Women are being encouraged to take up jobs,” he points out. “Gone are the days when this was considered taboo. Double income couples are increasing at a rapid pace. This is in tune with the times. It is becoming increasingly difficult for a guy to run the household with his meager salary. Let us say that I want to lead a decent life. If I have to send my children to a decent school, I know for sure that I will have to look for my wife to supplement my income with her own.”

Twenty-seven-year-old Sara Al-Qahtani, who works in the insurance section of a top hospital in Jeddah, agrees. “This is a very practical change. Girls of my generation are joining or aspiring to join banks and hospitals in their quest to lead a decent life. Of course, there is a lot of frustration. It is a fact that women are more qualified than men here in the Kingdom and therefore there is a greater competition in the job market. Also, we have a limited number of professions to compete in.”

Sara laments that there are no training facilities. “We have to learn everything on the job. That undercuts our starting salaries. What I learned at the university has absolutely no bearing on what I do to earn my salary... Our universities are not doing what they should do: Training Saudis for the jobs available in the market.”

This is a serious issue, says Sameer Al-Rasheed, an information technology executive at Riyadh Establishment House (Al-Jeraisy). “Saudis graduating from our universities lack the skills required of them in the market. Remember, they are competing with some of the best professionals from other parts of the world. How could I compete with say an Indian or a Canadian IT professional with the little knowledge that I have acquired in one of our universities? Why should a company hire me when they have so many better options?”

He admits that private colleges are making a difference. “But the cost of education there is enormous. Not everybody can afford that.” He believes that there should be more government-run training facilities that middle class youngsters can afford. “Private companies have training programs but in general they are a really big PR exercise. The accent is not on training itself but on gaining mileage out of it.”

Another big problem in the job market is that many students are not realistic about which careers offer them the best chance of a good long-term future. Many young men head for the games field and gym, training all hours in the hope of becoming high-profile sports personalities. But Saudi Arabia will never offer what sportsmen can earn in Europe or the United States.

“They are joining football training clubs in droves,” said Saeed Al-Ghalib, a professional trainer for a football club in Jeddah. “Young men believe there is a lot of money to be made in sports. This is true only for a very few. Every day I have new faces expressing their desire to carve a niche in the sporting world.”

Money has always been the primary factor driving Saudi youth toward specific careers. The potential earning power of a profession is more important now than ever before, but some once-popular jobs have lost their appeal.

“There was a time,” says Tariq Alhomayed, “when everybody wanted to become a pilot. Those were the days when our national carrier, Saudia, had a huge number of vacancies. The salaries were fabulous and in those days being a pilot was considered chic. Not anymore,” he adds with a wink, hinting at the disrepute that the profession has fallen into in the post-Sept. 11 world.

Banking, Saudi Aramco and SABIC are, for the present, considered as top job destinations for young Saudis.

“Handling money somehow gives me a feeling that I am rich,” 24-year-old Abdullatif Gari quotes his banker brother as saying. Abdullatif too wants to join the banking industry when he completes his graduation from the University of Indiana in the United States. “We are a trading society and banking is an essential part of trading. In the coming days, this is one industry which I feel has enormous potential. The number of banks will probably rise slowly but surely; we are realizing the potential of savings and investments. In the days of my father such things were never thought of. People used to keep hard cash at home.”

Even though he is studying in the United States, Abdullatif believes that an American degree will not guarantee him a bright future. “It is no longer a passport to success. When I left for the United States in 1999, people with an American degree were still in demand. Now every second jobseeker is armed with a degree from a prestigious university in the United States. So there is no advantage whatsoever in the job market.”

What could give a student an edge in a highly competitive market?

“Students have to realize that a college degree isn’t enough to land them a good job at graduation,” says Yousef S. Ba-Isa. “In my last two years of high school, through my own initiative, I worked at a government office and an IT company during the summer months. The salary was minimal, but I learned a lot. I plan to do this every summer for the next four years until I graduate from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in the Eastern Province. That way I’ll be armed with real market experience when I get my degree. I am also working on some technical qualifications that will compliment my university education. And no, I don’t want to work for any company when I graduate. With the qualifications I hope to have, I should be able to set myself up immediately as an IT security consultant. The trick in a tight economy is to analyze the business needs and educate yourself to meet them. Then companies will be beating a path to your door to procure your services.”

Salman Khurshid Captures the Essence of Mughal History in the 'Sons of Babur'

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Thursday, April 10, 2008 

The 1990s were a turbulent period in the history of modern India. The phenomenal rise of Hindu fundamentalism raised alarm in a nation that prided itself on unity in diversity. When the 400-year-old Babri Mosque was destroyed in December 1992 by a frenzied crowd drunk on misplaced religious fervor, secular Indians of all communities found themselves under siege. It was also during this politically turbulent and communally violent period that talk of rewriting history books was first heard. In the demolition of the mosque, the Hindu fundamentalists saw a victory for “Hindutva” or Hindu nationalism. What until then was a whispering campaign against Muslims became a battle cry for some political parties: Muslims were now being pejoratively described as “Babur Ki Aulad,” Babur being the first Mughal emperor.

As all this was taking place, Salman Khurshid, the writer of the brilliant play which is the subject of this review, was part of the government in Delhi, being the deputy minister of commerce and minister of state for external affairs. The intellectual and humanist in him must have been eager to formulate a fitting riposte to the forces of exclusivity and darkness. Being a politician and an integral part of the Congress party, however, he remained bogged down in politics. Finally this year, he published a five-act play entitled “Sons of Babur”. It posits strongly that the later Mughals could not be classified as invaders and that all the Mughals contributed immensely to the idea of an entity called Hindustan. The play drives home this idea by pointing out that no matter how narrow-minded people may try to label them as foreigners and invaders, even a blind and helpless Mughal king was made to sit on the throne by the Marathas because it was felt that they could not do without the Mughal sovereign’s legitimacy.

The play documents the history of the great Mughals and both their love of, and contributions to, India. Although it depicts actual events that occurred hundreds of years ago, “Sons of Babur” could easily be set in the 21st century, so deftly does it portray the tensions that grip the subcontinent today. Through the play, Khurshid helps Indians understand their differences in this polarized world and offers trustworthy solutions of reason, hope and civility — quite an achievement for this extraordinary academic, politician and lawyer.

Khurshid’s credentials are impeccable. He studied at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He then taught law at Trinity College, Oxford. He was twice Congress president in Uttar Pradesh. A renowned legal thinker, he is a practicing senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India. If the play is a delight to read, imagine the thrill seeing it enacted.

The “Sons of Babur” successfully explores the meaning of nationhood and, in particular, India. It traces the birth of a nation through the eyes of a questioning and determined college student, Rudranshu Mitra, and his college friends, fresh with idealism and purpose. Rudranshu travels back in time to revisit the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, with an ailing Bahadur Shah Zafar as his guide. Bahadur Shah Zafar takes Rudranshu through the blood-stained and eventful passages of history to unravel its workings and intrigues, its sacrifices and disappointments. The central theme of the play is the relationship of India and all Indians with the history of the Mughal Empire and consequently the role that the Mughal emperors played in the development of the modern idea of India.

In his preface to the play, Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar Dr. Ather Farouqui writes that Khurshid’s interest in Bahadur Shah Zafar dates back to his school days. “Although he was not a formal student of history and had very little time for Bahadur Shah Zafar, nevertheless, the last Mughal captured his imagination not only as an intriguing tragic figure in Indian history but also as one of the most endearing, easy to understand Urdu poets.”

As Farouqui says, the play tries to answer a very critical, timeless question: “Why was it that a remarkable young warrior — Babur — from Ferghana in Uzbekistan, who journeyed across the Hindu Kush to lay the foundations of a vast empire in Hindustan, couldn’t relinquish Kabul, even in death. His descendants, at the same time, developed such feelings for Hindustan that the last among them wrote some of his most beautiful poetry in anguish at the loss of that motherland?”

Talking about the events of 1857, Bahadur Shah Zafar tells the British court that was trying him: “What you choose to call a mutiny will surface again for freedom. You have sought to crush the Emperor of Hindustan. We should thank you indeed. For in this very dust shall bloom an idea too powerful for you to overcome. The pain of this defeat is but the birth pangs of modern Hindustan, a greater land than ever before: Greater than your land. Our people will prevail. The wasted lands will flourish.” It was for this reason that historians and academics describe the events of 1857 as the First War of Indian Independence.

Khurshid has an answer in the play to those who insist that 1857 was basically a Muslim revolt. “Muslim? Most of the sepoys were Brahmins from Awadh, Purabi Bhumiars, and Telingas. And Nana and Tatia Tope? What of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi? Surely they were not Muslims. The wretched ‘firangis’ were clever.”

The play also puts Emperor Aurangzeb’s rule in proper perspective. Aurangzeb was truly the last of the great Mughals having ruled for nearly 50 years. “Emperors Jehangir and Shah Jehan also rebelled against their fathers; the former had blinded and imprisoned one of his sons; Emperor Shah Jehan liquidated his brothers and nephews. Why then reserve such criticism for Emperor Aurangzeb alone? Don’t judge the past by present standards. If you do, no one will pass muster.”

The play is gripping from the first word and it sets the clock ticking from the first moments. Khurshid has indeed done a remarkable job in telling the history of the Mughals in a most lucid fashion. If the Taj Mahal is the crowning glory of the Mughals, then this play is the crowning glory of their history. It is an epic drama.

My own favorite scenes are those in which Urdu poetry is quoted with telling effect. The scenes deal with the last Mughal’s love for Hindustan and his yearning to be buried in his own land, a wish which was denied by the British. Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Rangoon (Burma) and buried there, much against his wishes:

Lagta nahin hai ji mera, ujre dayar mein

Kiski bani hai alam-e-na-payedar mein

Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar, dafn ke liye

Do gaz zamin bhi na milee ku-e-yaar mein

7th Century Village Discovered in Saudi Arabia

By Siraj Wahab

Published in Arab News on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 

A 7th century village has been unearthed in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province near the shores of the Arabian Gulf. Researchers say the village, in the Al-Raaka district of Dammam, has been dated to the early Muslim era.

“From the materials that we have discovered at the site, such as ceramic pottery and other artifacts, it is quite easy to ascertain the period to which they belong,” said Dr. Ali I. Al-Ghabban, deputy secretary-general for antiquities and museums.

He showed all the artifacts that have been recovered from the area so far. They include clay utensils, pottery with intricate inscriptions, a highly rusted and broken pair of scissors, seashells and iron bars.

The site is located behind the headquarters of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry on a parcel being developed as a contractor training center by Saudi Aramco, which holds title to the land.

“The Department of Antiquities has known about this site for more than 30 years. We knew about this in 1977, but the actual excavation commenced only three months ago. We are carrying out this exercise in cooperation with Saudi Aramco,” Al-Ghabban told Arab News. “We undertake excavations when all elements are in place. Now was the best time to work on this site, and so we did.”

Perhaps crude by today’s standards, Al-Ghabban said the community was well planned. “This is an elaborate village compound. So far, we have discovered about 20 houses. We hope to discover more. These are separate houses, and each house has four to five rooms. What is common to these houses is that there is a special room for conserving dates. The floors of the rooms where dates are said to have been stored are in the form of furrows. Those early people used to keep dates here and then collect the juice from these dates through the hardened furrows.”

Also, in each cluster there is a well. “So far, five wells have been discovered. We don’t know if they still contain water, but we will at a later stage.”

Al-Ghabban said there was no mention of this village in any history book. “Nothing is mentioned anywhere. We will do more research, and when we have enough interesting information, we will publish it.”

Although foreign universities and museums often take part in Saudi archaeological explorations, Al-Ghabban said this was strictly a Saudi dig. “The Saudis are highly qualified and able to do the job,” Al-Ghabban said of the team. “We don’t have any international collaboration at this site, though there are sites in the Kingdom where international archaeologists are involved in field work.”

Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province holds many archaeological sites buried in the desert sands. A gold mask was found earlier at the closely guarded ancient city of Thaj, some 250 km from Dammam. Despite reports in local newspapers linking the two sites, Al-Ghabban said they were mistaken.

“There is no connection between this site and the site in Al-Thaj. They belong to two different periods,” he said. “These were early Muslims, and probably they were in this region because it was on the trade route starting from Jubail and Al-Hasa. Since the Arabian Gulf is less than a kilometer from here, there is every possibility that these people were involved in pearl fishing.”

Al-Ghabban expressed hope that the find would remind Saudis of a long and rich cultural heritage. “We want the local people to be the guarantors of our heritage. Without their help not much can be done,” he said. “These sites have historic value and will help in understanding the history of this region.”