Moving to Saudi

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Umar001

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As Salaam Alaykum,

Anyhow done it? What are the pros and cons what advise would you give etc.
 
:salamext:

I don't know :-[

But someday I really want to move on to Saudi Arabia..
 
Al Habeshi said:
As Salaam Alaykum,

Anyhow done it? What are the pros and cons what advise would you give etc.
Click to expand...
:sl:
I heard its hard to get a visa, you need a job that is useful to them.

Not that I'm interested in going. I don't want to move to Saudi Arabia unless the House of Saud is somehow removed or overthrown (preferably peacefully). I don't like the country very much.
:w:
 
I live in Riyadh and I pretty much hate it here.
If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer, else I could just ramble on forever about what it's like here.
 
:sl:

crayon said:
I live in Riyadh and I pretty much hate it here.
If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer, else I could just ramble on forever about what it's like here.
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^Haha, I'm assuming it must be real bad there then right? :X
I would like to move there though...Or to any other Arab country, Syria or Yemen maybe...

:w:
 
It's just my personal opinion, really.. It's a bunch of stuff that have me hating this particular place, it's not all the country's fault.:P

I love Syria, but I'm like really really biased (i'm from there:D). I guess a large part of that love is because it's home.
 
crayon said:
It's just my personal opinion, really.. It's a bunch of stuff that have me hating this particular place, it's not all the country's fault.:P

I love Syria, but I'm like really really biased (i'm from there:D). I guess a large part of that love is because it's home.
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so sis get us started :D what is soo bad there? I mean we would expect it to be all good as its an 'islamic' country with shariah laws

So besides the corruption of the royal family, whats soo bad about saudi?
 
crayon said:
I live in Riyadh and I pretty much hate it here.
If you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer, else I could just ramble on forever about what it's like here.
Click to expand...

Yes, please explain why you dislike it please.
 
First off, like I said, a lot of it is based on my personal experience, and a lot of it doesn't even have to do with the country itself.

I hate the "shariah" that is practiced here.
I hate that they ignore major issues while focusing on trivial, insignificant things. For example the red things on valentines day. I agree with what they did, but all there are so many more important things that they just willingly ignore.
I hate how crappy their traffic law enforcement is. My brother is 14, half the kids in his class drive and have cars. I know 3 people that have been killed in car accidents caused by underage drivers, and several people that were seriously injured. In all the cases, the driver was saudi, in all the cases, they were free to go.
I despise the racism in favor of saudis and against foreigners, especially those from india, pakistan, south east asia, etc.
There is nothing to do but go to malls. Absolutely no other form of entertainment, halal or otherwise.
Most "religious policemen" ie muttwia "advise" people in the exact opposite way as described by the prophet peace be upon him.
I can't think of any more at the moment, but if I do I'll come back and add them.

There are definitely some good things about living here, though, but most could be said for any muslim country, tbh. I like hearing the adhan, I like there being a mosque wherever you are. I like being able to visit the kaba more often than I would be if I didn't live here..

Hope that helps.. I apologize if I'm being to pessimistic, but this subject brings me downnnn. Got any questions I could answer?

edit- i hate how unsafe it is. Women do not walk in the streets for fear of being harassed/attacked. This is broad daylight btw, not at night. Stopping taxis in the street is rare, since those are also unsafe. Whenever my mom and I need to go somewhere and my dad can't take us (and since women can't drive we can't go alone), we call a taxi company. In syria I can walk home alone at midnight and be safe (bi'thni Allah, of course), and here I can't walk home in the middle of the day. There have been so many kidnappings of children, and even adults. My teachers son was kidnapped and almost raped when he was a teenager. He know some karate and attacked the guy, and escaped and ran till he found a police car. He told the police what happened, they asked if the kidnapper had a gun. He said no, the police said there was nothing they could do. They just left.
 
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Abu Dharr(RA) wrote a letter to Salman Al Farsi(RA) asking him to come and live where he lives, in the "Holy land"
Salman Al-Farsi Replied "it is not the land that makes a person holy...it is their deeds"

After which Abu Dharr(RA) went and joined Salman Al-Farsi in Jihad Fi-Sabeelillah.

:w:
 
crayon said:
First off, like I said, a lot of it is based on my personal experience, and a lot of it doesn't even have to do with the country itself.

I hate the "shariah" that is practiced here.
Click to expand...

In what way? You mean as you explained below:

crayon said:
I hate that they ignore major issues while focusing on trivial, insignificant things. For example the red things on valentines day. I agree with what they did, but all there are so many more important things that they just willingly ignore.
I hate how crappy their traffic law enforcement is. My brother is 14, half the kids in his class drive and have cars. I know 3 people that have been killed in car accidents caused by underage drivers, and several people that were seriously injured. In all the cases, the driver was saudi, in all the cases, they were free to go.
I despise the racism in favor of saudis and against foreigners, especially those from india, pakistan, south east asia, etc.
Click to expand...

what about in housing and medical stuff, what is it like? A big barrier?


crayon said:
Most "religious policemen" ie muttwia "advise" people in the exact opposite way as described by the prophet peace be upon him.
Click to expand...

What ya mean sister?


crayon said:
edit- i hate how unsafe it is. Women do not walk in the streets for fear of being harassed/attacked. This is broad daylight btw, not at night. Stopping taxis in the street is rare, since those are also unsafe. Whenever my mom and I need to go somewhere and my dad can't take us (and since women can't drive we can't go alone), we call a taxi company. In syria I can walk home alone at midnight and be safe (bi'thni Allah, of course), and here I can't walk home in the middle of the day. There have been so many kidnappings of children, and even adults. My teachers son was kidnapped and almost raped when he was a teenager. He know some karate and attacked the guy, and escaped and ran till he found a police car. He told the police what happened, they asked if the kidnapper had a gun. He said no, the police said there was nothing they could do. They just left.
Click to expand...

Ok well see now am confused, dang, sound dangerous.
 
Saudis have oil and that corrupts. I've seen it first hand in central Asia. The states with oil and gas transforms. Modern buildings, nice cars on the road. They think they are better and "smarter", than the people of nations without natural resources. And the worst thing is that they start drinking and committing other forms of sin. And they excuse that by paying for mosques.
 
I always wanted to live in Saudi too...
I think its likea muslim thing... you assume cos its the Prophet Muhammads Birth place that it should be the most Islamic.
Also when people come back from Hajj, and brag about the best experience ever, you really want to go experience the life there.
I heard actually that animals were sooooo thin, that they were basically starving there.... is that true?
 
edit- i hate how unsafe it is. Women do not walk in the streets for fear of being harassed/attacked. This is broad daylight btw, not at night. Stopping taxis in the street is rare, since those are also unsafe. Whenever my mom and I need to go somewhere and my dad can't take us (and since women can't drive we can't go alone), we call a taxi company. In syria I can walk home alone at midnight and be safe (bi'thni Allah, of course), and here I can't walk home in the middle of the day. There have been so many kidnappings of children, and even adults. My teachers son was kidnapped and almost raped when he was a teenager. He know some karate and attacked the guy, and escaped and ran till he found a police car. He told the police what happened, they asked if the kidnapper had a gun. He said no, the police said there was nothing they could do. They just left.
Click to expand...

Interesting and quite shocking as well. I have heard first hand accounts of how safe it is for women in Saudi. Although I have heard about how men keep staring at women and would propose any day anywhere, I have always heard its very safe in Saudi. The only reason I have liked Saudi so far was because I thought it was a safe haven for muslims, esp women!
 
Al Habeshi said:
In what way? You mean as you explained below:


I mean that they do carry out shariah punishments a lot of the time, but the rest of the time it's corruption with the label of shariah.


what about in housing and medical stuff, what is it like? A big barrier?

I'm not too sure about housing and health care, whether they're expensive or not.. All non saudis have to pay for health care, though, but that's a given for any foreigner in a country. A lot of foreigners here live in compounds, mainly westerners and arabs coming from the west. Normal saudi laws don't apply in compounds, so you don't have to wear abayas, women swim in the public pools, they have dances and parties. But if you're coming to saudi to steer clear of the west I'm pretty sure that's not what you're looking for. And previously, they didn't let women with hijab live in compounds. I lived here for a year in 2000, and we weren't allowed to stay in a compound because my mom wore hijab. After the bombings though all of them allow it now, if I'm not mistaken. Some don't allow abayas, though.

What ya mean sister?

There are religious policemen that occasionally raid malls in search of people doing haram things.. Haram police (ummahfilms!) basically. But instead of telling women to cover their hair in a nice way (or anything else), they tell them they're going to hell, they're committing a huge sin and will be punished, chase them around, etc.


Ok well see now am confused, dang, sound dangerous.

Of course it's not as extreme as it sounds, because I'm just isolating different incidents, but it is definitely not safe.
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ABWAN- Yeah, the staring is a given in any arab country really, but I've never heard of people being proposed to, only hit on and being thrown numbers written on pieces of paper. It is not the safest place for a woman to be.
 
aadil- the law enforcement is crap. after the red light turns on, you need to wait about 30 seconds before you can move because there's always like 10 cars that go through it.

fishermans_eye- that's exactly right. Most of the gulf countries are like this, but not as bad as saudi. I've lived in saudi, bahrain, and the uae, and i've visited oman, and this place is by far the worst. The bahraini people are great, even if there is a lot of haram that goes on there.

ebtis- i don't think i've ever seen any animals here, so i can't comment on that. hajj and umrah are amazing experiences, but living in this country is not. Live in a nearby country and make umrah often, but don't live here. :P

crazy_lady- if you've ever been to any of "bilad al sham" (syria, lebanon, jordan, palestine), syria is pretty much like that. the people are mellow, it's quite safe (although lately it's actually been getting worse).. there aren't many foreigners in syria though, especially in aleppo where i'm from, they're mainly in damascus.
 
Are you speaking then of a particular city in saudi i.e. where you have stayed or have you been loadsa places?
 
yee i've heard alottt about Saudi and WHOAAA...i freaked outt...some realll bad stuff so I dn't think i'll go dere to live fr a whilee.jst inshallah Hajj and Umrah and dats it
 

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