Stopping cars in the middle of the road for a chit-chat with a friend in another car does not shock anybody in Saudi Arabia. If you happen to be behind such a stopped car,  you just have to honk twice and the stopped cars will move on to the side and give you way.

It just so happened that I had to do that one day.

I stopped the car on the left of a street that had a palatial building -- office of a billion riyal company I was visiting -- on its right side. I was getting down and my relative, who came to drop me, was to then take the car away. The street was empty, except for a security guard who was waiting nervously. Soon a VIP's Range Rover came along while our car was stopped on the side (all in less than 30 seconds). The guard was emphatic and urging us to move our car away as soon as possible. But our car wasn't in any way blocking the way. There was enough space for two cars to pass by, or may be one-and-a-half, but you get the picture? Much to the guard's disappointment, the VIP's vehicle had to pass by ours! He frowned and asked me not to repeat this.

As I entered this company, I saw an office boy holding the elevator's door open and waiting for the VIP to "arrive" after "descending" from his "chariot". When he walked into the elevator, the office boy lowered his head and eyes, and quickly followed -- no one else allowed inside.

Now picture the whole thing together. Just because this man (whoever he may be) is visiting, security guards are out on the street making sure the road is clear, the front gates are already open for his car to enter the special parking, and the elevator is ready with an office boy holding the door open. All this before this "persona" has actually arrived.

Isn't it surprising to see people willfully submit to the elite in a country that is probably the most monotheistic in the world?! Only God is worshiped here -- no saints, no pious people, and not even prophets are given any status or right that belongs to God alone. That's why you would never see tolerance for rituals, rites, or beliefs that in anyway undermine God or venerate anything/anyone besides God.

So why then has such "reverence" for men of power and wealth plagued the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who even forbade his followers from standing up to greet him?