Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dating from the earliest days of Islam, remain pretty much unchanged, however - especially their legendary hos-
pitality towards strangers.
Living arrangements tend to stay the same too with tents generally divided into a haram (forbidden area) for
women and an area reserved for the men. The men's section also serves as the public part of the house, where
guests are treated to coffee and dates, or meals. It's here that all the news and gossip - a crucial part of successful
survival in a hostile environment - is passed along the grapevine.
The Bedouin family is a close-knit unit. The women do most of the domestic work, including fetching water
(sometimes requiring walks of many kilometres), baking bread and weaving. They are also often the first to help
pull, dig and drive a tourist's stuck 4WD out of the soft sand. The men are traditionally the providers in times of
peace, and fierce warriors in times of war. Though most Bedu are more peaceful these days, warring still goes on
in northern parts of Yemen and border incursions are not unusual in the Empty Quarter.
Marriage & the Role of Women
Islam allows men to have four wives, but only if a man can treat each equally. In reality,
there are few Peninsula Arabs who can afford the luxury of two houses, two sets of gold,
two extended families of in-laws - let alone four. Nor, with the greater demands of the
modern workplace, can many aspire to satisfying more than one partner in equal share -
though only wives will let you in on this secret.
And it's not just about expense either. While law permits a man four wives, even two
centuries ago no 'man of quality' would make use of this and no 'woman of rank' would
suffer it. In fact, Peninsula women are far more empowered than might be supposed, and
they don't like sharing their husband and his income any more than Western women. If
the wife doesn't like something, she can and often does make the man's life a misery and,
as controller of the household, often co-opts the children into her camp. Divorce is easily
enacted and is becoming less of a taboo, especially in Oman and the Gulf countries, be-
cause women will put up with less these days. Modern Peninsula women are educated,
usually far harder working at college than men and therefore often more successful in the
workplace. They are entitled to earn and keep their own income (unlike the man who sur-
renders his salary to the household) and as such have an independence unthinkable by
their grandmothers.
Rural Peninsula families comprise an average of six children. Children were traditionally seen as a re-
source, not an expense - another pair of hands to work the land or provide support in old age. For many
they are now seen as a status symbol of both wealth and fertility.
Or was it ever thus? 'The Europeans are mistaken in thinking the state of marriage so
different among the Mussulmans from what it is with Christian nations,' wrote Niebuhr in
