Thoughts about 'Inshallah' today

I was thinking the other day about my book “Inshallah” and my life in Saudi Arabia in 1978, I have no idea how it would be now. When I wrote “Inshallah” I did it with the purpose of trying to make expatriates appreciate that although different the Saudi way of life and appreciation of the world had a reason to it. A difference I tried to explain in an adult story form to show life in a family against its traditions and religion.

The episodes in the book are either taken directly from families I knew intimately or in the case of Mark and Jinnya a reasonably fair interpretation of a situation of the English man and a wilful Saudi woman who fall in love. Her character seems a bit excessive at times but I have known girls just like her. The western thought that all Muslim women are down trodden is far from the truth and if you care to read the Koran you will find there are many provisos that are ignored by extreme and to some extent more moderate Islamists.

Just like the Catholic Church in Christianity the rules have been altered to suit a political situation there are too many examples for me to list here but just two will suffice the crusades and the inquisition. Where in the bible does it say that we should ask Mary mother of Christ to intervene, no it quite clearly states that it is through Christ we should communicate with God.

Sorry I’ve gone off the script a bit but it does annoy me when any religion twists it’s mantra to serve a worldly purpose. Not only that but it leads to miss understandings and general confusion so people blame one another through ignorance. This leads us back to why I wrote “Inshallah” in my own little way I hoped to increase the understanding between east and west. But now things have changed so much that I doubt if I were to go back to my Saudi homes I would recognised the place even if they are still there. As for my book it is now just a fine love story in a place which has ceased to exist.

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Holiday

Sadly there will be no blog this week due to my annual holiday. Why not reread some of my earlier ones? I promise to be back next Friday. Many thanks Sybil

 

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Mother in laws advice

I was about to meet Mike my husband off the London train late one Friday night, the station was not in a particularly salubrious area of a nearby town. As I was getting ready my mother in law who was staying with us at the time said “Lock the car doors and take Tedder with you”. Over cautious I thought but decided to heed her advice.

Tedder having once shot off the back seat when we braked hard now took up residence in the back foot well. Just before I left, as instructed, I locked both the passenger and driver’s doors more to please my mother in law than for security.

It was just as well she had suggested it, as I stopped at some traffic lights a man from the pavement grabbed at the passenger door handle, Tedder who had been completely hidden in the back leapt up barking at the window. If it had not been so serious it would have been funny the man’s face changing from aggression to fear in a millisecond. He left go of the door handle and fled, it was quite a temptation to release Tedder and let him go after him. But I thought too much of my dog than to let him tear up my would be assailant.

Looking back on it, in a case like that I would normally have left Tedder at home with my mother in law and I never normally drive with the car doors locked, the consequences don’t bare thinking about.  Now Tedder and my mother in law are long dead and I still don’t lock my car doors but then I live in a wonderful and peaceful area of the country and my husband no longer has to visit London, in fact he is now my guard dog.

Dog caught by sofa

Tedder was a beautiful gentle German Shepherd with a well developed sense of humour. John was a colleague of my husband’s who used to stay with us when he was in the north, which is surprising as he was a little nervous of dogs. Though to give him his due he got on quite well with Tedder in a guarded sort of way.

 Unfortunately there was some reason we had to go out,  I don’t remember the reason now but it was a time when John was staying with us and he offered to baby sit while we were out. We left him sat in the lounge reading a book of some description, Tedder lay in front of the fire one of his favourite places it was a nice domestic scene. As John became more absorbed in his book Tedder moved alongside the end of the sofa by John then without warning turned and barked strait into his ear. John shot into the air and fled into the kitchen closing the door behind him. Meanwhile Tedder climbed on to the sofa and made himself comfortable, this was against the house rules but John was in the kitchen suffering from shock, so why not take advantage of the situation.

We returned home to find John in the kitchen, having calmed down he explained what had happened..  The sofa had loose cushions on top of elastic bands. On hearing us Tedder in a panic had tried to get off the sofa before we discovered him and had dislodged the cushions. So as we entered the lounge all we saw was a shame faced German Shepherd suspended on elastic bands frantically waving his legs in mid air trying to get down. There was no need to read the riot act to him for it was the last time he ever tried to get on any of the furniture.