Today is holiday in the middle east, so I don’t have hospital visits or other business related news to tell, but the day was interesting anyhow. Do you remember the polenta I taught Majid to cook yesterday night? Well, today we grilled it with meat, chicken and salmon in the backyard of Majid’s house! It has been a lovely day with his family and friends of AHCSC; in fact Hosam, the AHCSC general manager, picked me up at the hotel and we spent a pleasant day together. To continue my cultural mission from Friuli (the north east region of Italy I live in), I also prepared the “frico”, that is the most typical dish of the region, very simple (just boiled potatoes and cheese cooked in a frying pan until it gests crispy outside and soft inside) but really delicious, and my Arabian friends appreciated a lot!
AHCSC top management making the grill - note the toasting polenta
Me proudly cooking the "frico" in Saudi Arabia
All together in Majid's living roomDuring the day I discuss with Majid and Hosam of the cultural and religious peculiarities of their Country, and they give me more insights into the culture of the Muslim world and of their religion in particular. I can summarize just a few of the most remarkable teachings they explained me as inherently present in their religion, and I feel very fortunate to have had a first-hand non-stereotypal view of this world that seems so well known (from the distorting reports of the media most of all) but has a richness I would not have expected before coming here:
- Treating the other people as you would be treated yourself (as an example Majid told me of when in his previous company he made change all the cars of the employees with new models equipped with air conditioning, just after he had experienced on himself how painful it was driving in those conditions – a 1M$ non required expense indeed)
- Brotherhood of all people (one of the side effects of praying together five times a day with all colleagues in the company is the experience of equal dignity and respect between all of them; moreover, interrupting your business activities because it’s time to pray, reminds you of what really matters in life and where all our fortunes come from)
- Particular care of the poor and unfortunate (would you imagine that here they have no gorvernmental taxation for individuals, but according to their religion – Zakat or alms giving - they have to willingly give to the poor and needy 2,5% of their yearly excess savings; in general taxes are only levied on excess wealth and not on income)
- Consciousness of the unavoidable arrival of death (Hosam told me that they have a very effective expression for this, that says that death is not chasing you, so that you may be tempted to try and escape, but we’ll encounter it coming towards us in the middle of the way)
- Respect for all life forms (we were talking of domestic pets and the responsibility they bring to take care of them, and Majid told me how in a famous story, a woman was doomed to Hell after she kept a cat till it starved to death)
- Consciousness of the common roots of the three monotheistic religions and respect for the Prophets (Jesus Christ being one of the most important Prophets for the Muslims)
Majid tells me that he’s so sorry that many Muslims themselves don’t know, understand or apply the principles he explained me, and they just mechanically apply the exterior forms of the religious practice; this leds to many problems and misunderstandings between our cultures and religions, and makes lots of people subject to easy manipulation, as we can easily see.
I love my religion and I’m proud to be Christian (my religion having inside all of the above principles, and the universal message of loving each other that Jesus brought to the mankind); however, from these days on I take with me a better understanding and an unbiased respect for our brothers under the unique God that created and rules all of us.
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