This country has been blessed with two great gifts from God: Affluence and security. It continues to attract people from many different countries and many different cultural backgrounds. They all come here for work and many of them want only a decent living and to be near the Two Holy Mosques of Makkah and Madinah.
These people have made great sacrifices before coming here and they have all given up a great deal of their normal lives in their home countries.
The Kingdom and its government have given expatriate workers security and provided them with the means to provide a comfortable living for their families.
The Saudi government has enacted laws to protect the rights of these people. Unfortunately, there are those among us who continue to treat these people — who are our guests — with contempt. This is very evident by the fact that they never address these people by their names but refer to them by nationality alone.
Using language that should never be used against fellow Muslims, many Saudis scorn expatriate workers for no reason other than that the workers are culturally different.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to address people by their first names or their nicknames and this of course pleased them. He never differentiated between an Arab, a Roman or an Abyssinian. We should make the Prophet our model and do as he did; we should treat fellow Muslims as brethren rather than as strangers.
We should ask ourselves if the way we treat our maids and drivers and others who serve us — who wash our cars, fix leaky pipes or replace broken bulbs — reflects the real Islamic spirit. Do we behave toward them as Muslims should behave? We should ask ourselves what kind of language we use when addressing them.
Do we treat them as guests and brothers? Unfortunately, in many cases, the answers may not be what we wish them to be. Look, for example, at how some sponsors treat their workers — denying them their basic rights, delaying and refusing to pay their salaries and exploiting their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Such arrogant behavior has resulted in Saudis being disliked, and even hated, which gives a very negative idea of the country.
This arrogant behavior coupled with inconsiderate treatment has frustrated many workers and led them to resort to crime in order to solve problems which should never have arisen.
Early in our history, the late King Abdul Aziz favored seeing equal treatment accorded to all people, both citizens and non-citizens.
This country is the cradle of Islam and the home of all Muslims and in order for us to maintain that position, we must be a good example to others.
We need to change the way we treat others and we must always remember that to earn respect, we must also treat others with respect.
Arab News From the Local Press 3 August 2003
