Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
Abdul Rahman Manief’s five-volume novel Cities of Salt recounts the history of the Gulf region, starting from the discovery of oil and the rapid transformations that took place in its societies, cities and villages.
The novel talks about how the state and the political, economic, social, and religious powers were formed and how the collective social consciousness came into being.
Gulf countries are alike as far as these aspects are concerned, even as there are minor differences between each country.
“We are in a homeland, which was founded 100 years ago, and was supposed to become better and have more than this but sorry to say, this did not happen,” writes Manief.
Have we missed the opportunity even as we are still in the middle of a time of great transformations in the Arab world? Gulf cities could have established a real democratic culture, based on political participation, freedom of speech, plurality, voting, free elections, citizenship, an active role of civil society, and diverse professional unions. We could have been rid of tribal and family dominations, realised gender equality and created government accountability mechanisms.
We could have launched the Gulf market, ushered in guarantees against torture, guarantees for the freedom of media, the independence of the judiciary, created measures to fight corruption in our institutions, the violation of the constitution, the abuse of detainees and the suppression of opposition demonstrations.
We could have eliminated the hindrances security agencies put against opposition newspapers and magazines, we could have eliminated censorship over publications and Internet websites. We could have confronted arbitrary detentions, state security courts and things that impede the work of human rights organisations and personal safety.
We could also have improved our education system, paved the way for more participation by women in the job market and achieved further equality among citizens with regard to salaries and channelled part of the money we spend on police and security measures to the urgent needs of society.
These are things that are always taken into account when countries measure the levels democratic transition has reached. We still stumble on the way of this transition, even as we construct the best buildings and skyscrapers.
How does the future look like while we stumble like this, and reformation wheel does not move forward in our countries and changes ferociously fought?
Will we be plagued by the curse of the cities of salt like the one Manief predicts in his novel?
How will the cities of salt, whose size has become exceptional, be like in the future?
These cities are also exceptional as far as the nature of relations in them and their internal formation, which makes them artificial, are concerned.
When water comes to these cities of salt, electricity goes out. They can even face a hardship of another nature. We will soon discover that these cities are weak and cannot survive. They are not natural places for the growth of civilisations. They are not fertile soil for humans either.
(Abdul Rahman Manief (May 19, 1933 - January 24, 2004) was a Saudi novelist and oil expert who acquired the Syrian nationality. His novels reflect social, economic and cultural developments in the Arab region and what he described as the painful cultural transformation of oil producing countries — the Gulf states.)
Abdul Rahman Manief’s five-volume novel Cities of Salt recounts the history of the Gulf region, starting from the discovery of oil and the rapid transformations that took place in its societies, cities and villages.
The novel talks about how the state and the political, economic, social, and religious powers were formed and how the collective social consciousness came into being.
Gulf countries are alike as far as these aspects are concerned, even as there are minor differences between each country.
“We are in a homeland, which was founded 100 years ago, and was supposed to become better and have more than this but sorry to say, this did not happen,” writes Manief.
Have we missed the opportunity even as we are still in the middle of a time of great transformations in the Arab world? Gulf cities could have established a real democratic culture, based on political participation, freedom of speech, plurality, voting, free elections, citizenship, an active role of civil society, and diverse professional unions. We could have been rid of tribal and family dominations, realised gender equality and created government accountability mechanisms.
We could have launched the Gulf market, ushered in guarantees against torture, guarantees for the freedom of media, the independence of the judiciary, created measures to fight corruption in our institutions, the violation of the constitution, the abuse of detainees and the suppression of opposition demonstrations.
We could have eliminated the hindrances security agencies put against opposition newspapers and magazines, we could have eliminated censorship over publications and Internet websites. We could have confronted arbitrary detentions, state security courts and things that impede the work of human rights organisations and personal safety.
We could also have improved our education system, paved the way for more participation by women in the job market and achieved further equality among citizens with regard to salaries and channelled part of the money we spend on police and security measures to the urgent needs of society.
These are things that are always taken into account when countries measure the levels democratic transition has reached. We still stumble on the way of this transition, even as we construct the best buildings and skyscrapers.
How does the future look like while we stumble like this, and reformation wheel does not move forward in our countries and changes ferociously fought?
Will we be plagued by the curse of the cities of salt like the one Manief predicts in his novel?
How will the cities of salt, whose size has become exceptional, be like in the future?
These cities are also exceptional as far as the nature of relations in them and their internal formation, which makes them artificial, are concerned.
When water comes to these cities of salt, electricity goes out. They can even face a hardship of another nature. We will soon discover that these cities are weak and cannot survive. They are not natural places for the growth of civilisations. They are not fertile soil for humans either.
(Abdul Rahman Manief (May 19, 1933 - January 24, 2004) was a Saudi novelist and oil expert who acquired the Syrian nationality. His novels reflect social, economic and cultural developments in the Arab region and what he described as the painful cultural transformation of oil producing countries — the Gulf states.)
