At the elegant conference hall where the Jeddah Economic Forum was held earlier this year, I saw him busy receiving guests with a smiling face. He had kept his mishlah (cloak) in his left hand in order to free his right hand for handshaking. Sami Bahrawi, the young director of the forum, impressed guests with his Arab hospitality and attractive personality. The Western-educated businessman, whose mother is Danish, reflected the identity of Jeddah which is known for its cultural diversity and openness. While maintaining its local character, Jeddah continues its efforts to strengthen its position and become a melting point of international cultures.
Undoubtedly, the cosmopolitan nature of Jeddah is deep-rooted in its history. It begins with the very name of the city, evoking the local mythology that the mother of humanity, Eve, was buried in the city, and this legend speaks volumes for the city’s contacts with the outside world.
Jeddah has received people of all nationalities and welcomed all cultures without bias or prejudice. German traveler Karsten Niebuhr, who was in Jeddah for six weeks in 1762, narrated the differences between people he met there with those in Egypt. An envoy of Danish King Frederick V, Niebuhr pointed out that the people of Jeddah were very friendly in comparison to the Egyptians. The German team had anticipated that because of the city’s proximity to the Muslim holy sites, its people would be very unfriendly to non-Muslims. The opposite, however, proved to be the case with the people of Jeddah being remarkable for their hospitality and friendliness. Niebuhr and his colleagues were free to visit the coffee shops, markets and sights of the city without trouble or harassment. The people of Jeddah, according to Niebuhr, did not consider the presence of Europeans a humiliation, which was the opposite of the feelings of most Egyptians. All the people of Jeddah, rich and poor alike, were friendly and welcoming, the traveler said. He also recorded similar observations by an English trader who had lived in Jeddah for several years and was present in the city during his visit.
A Russian pilgrim who visited the Hejaz in 1895 observed that his wearing European clothing did not attract strange looks from the people of Jeddah as they were used to seeing both Europeans and their clothing. Other Western travelers such as Jean de la Roque in the 18th century and Johann Burckhardt and Jules Gervais-Courtellement in the 19th observed the same phenomena. All wrote of the diversity of Jeddah and its cosmopolitan population which came from all over the world; both eastern and western goods were on sale in the city’s shops and markets and all noted the city’s openness and relaxed social life in comparison to other eastern cities. In his diary, Burckhardt recorded the cheerfulness of the people of Jeddah and Makkah and their sense of humor. He praised them among people of the East for leading a happy and amusing life and accepting foreigners; in this last, he rated them far ahead of their counterparts in Syria and Egypt.
The above facts exemplify the cultural identity of Jeddah, which has been known for its freedom and tolerance for centuries. Its position as a vital business center has contributed to developing this identity. Jeddah has witnessed three booms. The first boom took place with the development of the city’s port in the 15th century and the second after the opening of Suez Canal in 1869. It later became the principal port linking the markets of India, China and Yemen with Egypt and Western Europe — Marseilles and Liverpool to be exact. It witnessed the third boom during the prosperous Saudi era.
Throughout history, Jeddah has been distinguished for its hospitality as well as its economic and social flexibility which matched changing realities. Beginning in the early 20th century, Jeddah implemented a unique judicial system which supported its open business identity and the fact of mixed races and religions. There were special courts to look into trade disputes between the people of Jeddah and foreigners or for those who did not want to approach the Shariah courts. (Refer to the decree creating a special court in the Qibla magazine of Makkah. Issue No. 405, dated Aug. 12, 1920). Moreover, there were also houses of worship for people of different faiths, graveyards for Christians and clubs for non-Muslims.
According to historian Ahmed Al-Sibaie of Makkah, from the 1960s Jeddah was competing with other cities in acquiring everything new and was courageous in establishing it. A novel mode of life, hitherto unknown, was making its presence felt in the heart of Jeddah with the wholehearted support of its people. It saw the formation of a social recreation club, providing a European environment. It also witnessed the opening of several cinemas in Jeddah. The first was behind the house of Zainal at the Al-Nahda Hotel in Balad. There was the Abu Safiya Cinema in Hindawiya, another opened by Fouad Jamjoom and Khalil Baghdadi in Ammariya and the Al-Attas Hotel Cinema in Obhur were other notable public entertainment facilities. Later, the city saw the launch of several music shops including the ones owned by Saleh ibn Hamad, Hassan Al-Wasiyah and Fatahi Abu Jadayel.
All these developments took place a few years before the return of Muhammad Saeed Farsi from Egypt. The young man from Makkah later played a significant role in changing the face of Jeddah because of his deep love for art and beauty. He transferred the cultural experience he had been fortunate enough to acquire from Cairo to Jeddah and transformed the city into an open-air art gallery displaying the works of Henry Moore, Cesar Baldaccini and Victor Vasarely.
Despite its rich and varied past, the ancient city has had to fight in recent years to preserve its unique identity based on openness and tolerance. The people of Jeddah have seen such organizations as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stopping activities designed to entertain and amuse the public. It prevented, for example, the ancient practice of street vendors and sweet makers in downtown Balad singing songs to celebrate Ramadan. They also forbade women from sitting in open-air restaurants that sell Ramadan food, saying such a thing would soon lead to mixing of the sexes. The commission also announced plans to set up a disciplinary committee without specifying either its motives or objectives. Statements have also been heard from one commission official that the organization would “monitor” young men and women wearing Western clothes. Threats to close down coffee shops and restaurants that provide Western food and services have also been made. None of these actions augur well for the city’s traditional identity or its tolerant nature, its inherited social heritage and its legitimate cultural desires.
Recently there have been instances of discrimination against women and calls to prevent any mixing of the sexes in order to preserve virtue. This discrimination includes continuous attacks being launched by unknown individuals and groups seeking to impose their beliefs and ideas on the activities of the chamber of commerce and industry, its working committees as well as the seminars of literary and cultural clubs, art exhibitions and other public events including tourism-related activities. Strong objections were heard condemning a musical program during the last summer tourism festival. The operetta, held at the Obhur Eid Festival last week, also drew opposition from the same quarters.
Those who cry for the protection of virtue — whatever that means — often argue that Jeddah is the gateway to Makkah and thus it is not suitable for the city to host musical and merry-making events. These are totally baseless arguments and reflect no more than the narrow view of their proponents. In reality, these festivals are planned and organized with noble objectives.
The opponents must surely remember that Makkah and its surroundings were once the settings for both music and merry-making. Sometimes such musical events were extremely well attended and noisy, continuing through the night into the following morning. In the past, the people of Makkah often gathered in public squares such as Burhat Al-Qarara, Qabur Al-Shabeeka, Maqarrat Al-Fatiha and Qahwat Safeena and in the city’s gardens — Arafat, Jaarana, Zeema and Muthnat Al-Taif. Musical performances by prominent singers such as Muhammad Ali Al-Sindi and Al-Jawa were held there.
The city of Jeddah, with its cosmopolitan history and tradition of welcoming all is seeking to gain a leading position on the regional level that is one with the identity and nature of its tolerant people. I expect the launch of modern projects on Jeddah’s 150-km coastline, including the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal and the King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, will add to the area’s beauty, promoting an atmosphere of tolerance, openness and cultural interaction.
