Cultural Diversity: The Report

Cultural Diversity Enriches Kingdom, says poll a recent Saudi Gazette article reported:

Riyadh – A telephone opinion poll conducted by King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue, about the level of interaction between Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom, showed that 35 percent of Saudis think that foreigners adjust easily to local traditions and customs.
The poll of 700 people across the Kingdom on June 27, revealed that 54 percent believe the diversity of nationalities enriches Saudi society; while 75 percent welcome the intermingling in commerce and at work.
A total of 45 percent believe there is respect, honesty and justice in the way expatriates are treated, while 60 percent say they interact socially with their foreign neighbors.
Faisal Bin Abdul Rahman Bin Muammar, Secretary General of the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue, said the center set up a unit five years ago to measure public opinion. The unit has conducted several opinion polls on various aspects of cultural dialogue in Saudi society.
He said the center is in the process of expanding the opinion poll studies. It has formed a team of experts; and developed computer programs linked to communication devices which carry out statistical analysis without any human intervention.
He said the unit provides its services to both government and non-government bodies and stressed the importance of these polls to provide a clearer picture of issues facing society.
He said the poll included male and female citizens in most parts of the Kingdom. It showed that there is acceptance, cohesion and cooperation between citizens and expatriates.

Cultural Diversity: Definition and Implications

Cultural diversity can be understood to mean the existence of different cultures in a single region.  In other words, “culture diversity” exists if groups of people with different sets of beliefs, customs, and behavioral norms share a space.  Often these diverse groups speak different languages, vary in race and ethnicity, have different religions or moral codes, and are of various socioeconomic backgrounds.

Thus, despite common perceptions to the contrary, the existence of cultural diversity in a region does not in itself suggest any cultural cohesion or cooperation amongst the diverse groups.  However, cultural diversity does create the only practical context in which such cohesion or cooperation can occur.  As such, cultural diversity is often spoken of in praiseworthy terms, the underlying assumption being that the existence of diversity itself creates positive and mutually beneficial and fulfilling interactions amongst the diverse populations.

Saudi Gazette Report: What Does It Mean?

Is it really the case that cultural diversity creates cohesion amongst diverse groups?

The poll reported by Saudi Gazette suggests that it is, as the survey “showed that there is acceptance, cohesion and cooperation between citizens and expatriates.”

However, there are at least two major problems with this conclusion:

Firstly, as is well known in the field of research, opinion polls, though useful in their own right, are not valid measures of reality.  At most, they can suggest the existence of certain perspectives of reality.

Secondly, the opinion poll, though based on cultural diversity, does not explicitly state which group(s) comprised the seven hundred “people” who made up the poll.  Nevertheless, based on the wording of other parts of the report, it can be surmised that only Saudis participated in this phone survey; thus, the specific part of the population that actually creates the cultural diversity was not included in the “cultural diversity poll.”

It is likely, however, that this was the intention of the survey:  to gauge the attitudes of Saudis about cultural diversity in their country.

In any case, a better conclusion of the poll would be that it “suggests that Saudis perceive the existence of acceptance, cohesion, and cooperation between themselves and expatriates.” 

Cultural Diversity: Between Reality and Illusion

“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.   And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)”
(Hujurat, 49:13).

When most Muslims think of “cultural diversity,” they do not think of its literal meaning—the existence of diverse groups in a single region.  Instead, they imagine the ideal—in which there is acceptance, cohesion, and cooperation amongst all believers regardless of race, ethnicity, or cultural background.

However, in the West, one of the most culturally diverse regions on earth, minority groups continue to express discontentment due to discrimination, mistreatment, and lack of acceptance from the culture’s majority.

And this discontentment is felt even more so amongst Muslim minorities in the West.

It is actually for this reason that many Western Muslims relocate to Muslim lands.

And Saudi Arabia, due to it being home to the Two Holy Cities (Makkah and Madinah), is often the first choice for Muslim emigrants.

However, even though Muslim emigrants naturally find the Islamic environment of Saudi Arabia and other Muslim lands to be more conducive to an Islamic lifestyle, what is the “cultural diversity” like for them in the new land?

The Illusion:

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”

—Jimmy Carter

“My family is very welcoming to others,” a Saudi friend told me.  “We have friends from everywhere—Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan…  We don’t see them as any different from us.”

“I think we all have friends from different countries,” I said.  “But I still think we all struggle with being prejudiced.”

She shook her head, disagreeing.  “Not my family.  One of my closest friends is from Ethiopia.”

I thought of how many Americans said “I have a lot of Black friends” as evidence that they were not at all prejudiced against minorities.

I decided to approach the issue differently.  “Okay, let me give you an example,” I said.

“Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, your family has Pakistanis as neighbors.”

She listened.

“And you’ve known this family all your lives.  In fact, your parents and their parents have been friends since before you were born.  You have the same ideas about life, and you even practice Islam similarly.  Your parents really respect the Pakistanis for their values and view them as amongst their closest friends.”

I continued, “Then one day, years later, your neighbor’s Pakistani son comes to your father to ask permission to marry your sister.”

I paused as the expression on my Saudi friend’s face changed.

“Will your father view the Pakistani just like one of you then?”

She averted her eyes as she looked away from me before saying quietly, “I see what you’re saying.”

The Reality:

No matter how much so many of us take pride in being non-prejudiced of culturally diverse groups, marriage remains the ultimate test of where our hearts really lay.

And it is not only Saudis who are guilty.

We all are.

In the hypothetical scenario that I presented to my Saudi friend, I intentionally created a scenario for which the “unknown” of a strange culture and people could not be used as an excuse to refuse the marriage.  For surely, we are not obligated to give our daughters away in marriage to any ostensibly righteous man who comes to propose—especially if he and his culture are completely unknown to us.

But even when the “culture” is no longer unknown (as was the case with the hypothetical Pakistani neighbor in my example), we refuse because of the known—that he is not Saudi (or not American or not Desi or not the “right color” etc.)…

…Even if we know in our hearts that his addition to the family would be a blessing for both us and our daughter.

So where then are the “acceptance, cohesion, and cooperation” that the poll report spoke so confidently of in its conclusion?

Or is our viewing others to be “just like us” limited to a charitable smile—or riyal—we give to that “foreign worker” when we feel so inclined?

Or perhaps, our idea of “culture diversity” is limited to inviting the “Sudani” over for tea?

…And, certainly, most of us don’t do even that.

The Real Conclusion of the Opinion Poll

Our lands, whether Western or Arabian, are increasingly becoming more culturally diverse.  Thus, inshaaAllah the seemingly ineffaceable boundaries between our cultures and that of others will inevitably give way to bridges—however meager in strength—that force our hearts to cross over into the reality of human existence…

…That we are but different nations and tribes that must eventually get to know each other.

And once we truly know each other, we can no longer feign ignorance—or innocence—when it is time to decide the salary (or fate) of a foreign employee…

…Or when it is time to welcome a Muslim “stranger” into our families.

“Culture diversity enriches Kingdom,” the opinion poll concluded.

And it is true.

Cultural diversity does enrich the Kingdom…

…But only when those in Saudi Arabia—as in other parts of the world—get beyond the illusion of “acceptance and cohesion” and enrich our hearts with the reality of human brotherhood and true cultural diversity.

Umm Zakiyyah is the internationally acclaimed author of the If I Should Speak trilogy and the novels Realities of Submission and Hearts We Lost.  To learn more about the author, visit themuslimauthor.com or join her Facebook page.

Copyright © 2011 by Al-Walaa Publications.  All Rights Reserved.