Who do you THINK you ARE??

I have known pain. I have known pain on all levels. I have been disappointed. I have seen poverty. I have seen helplessness. I have seen hurt and I HAVE seen PAIN. And, during those times of pain, I have cried to God for mercy and help. I have prayed deep and I have done everything I could to fix what I was in. I have reached out to every person who offered help. Regardless of the fact that they maybe just talking. That it may not mean anything. I accepted the help. The only reason why I accepted help from everyone was because of a story I read once about a guy who declared that he will accept ONLY the help of God..( ask God ONLY but DO not refuse people when they offer)

Well, one day he was in a boat, in the ocean and there was a storm and his boat started to go down. So, as per his declaration, he said.. GOD WILL HELP ME. In some time, a boat passed by. A man shouted from that boat, come in my boat, will save you. He said NO, God will. The man went away. Another boat came and someone offered help. He said NO, God will help me.. and that boat too went away. This went on until he drowned with his boat. So, after he died, he stood before God. God asked him about what had happened. He said, very disappointed, that God, I had said ONLY you will help me, but you did not. So, God said, I did help you. I sent the first boat, you refused. I sent the second boat, you refused. And then, you died.

I don’t know the source of this story, but it makes a lot of sense. Allah helps people through people. He can, of course, choose ANY other means to help you. But, anything or anyone that shows up as HELP…is from Him. Accept the help and thank Him.

I see a lot of people daily. I meet a lot of people. And, ever since I started this Legal Help for Expatriates in KSA, I get lots of emails and am exposed to a lot of issues. Expatriates who have no clue about the legal system here ask me questions and bring cases to me. I resolve them, I answer them to the best of my ability. But, more than my ability, it is the AMAZING work that the Saudi legal advisors I have, do for me and for this project. They even work on some cases for FREE because that expat may not be able to afford our fee. Now, is that not very nice? I think it is GREAT.

Lets get one thing straight. No Saudi has begged anyone to come here into his country and live the good life. Everyone CHOOSES to be here. Everyone who is not born and raised here , of course.. ( I know that first sentence had some of you getting their whip ready..lol)..And, anyone who is born and raised here knows the system more or less and have now found their path here or OUT of here..

Once the expatriate is here, they start earning and living and many DO enjoy LOTS of things they normally would not elsewhere. A tax-free life for one..

Apart from this, it is about courtesy, the respect for someone’s home.. the respect for a STATE and it’s Ruler… to not behave like you own the place and start cursing and complaining about the country. You have NO right to come here and decide what changes need to be made.. The Saudi people and their Ruler can do that, thank you very much. It makes me sick to see someone land here, spend a week and decide how Saudi Arabia should or should not be.. COME ON!

Now, since we DO have a whole bunch of expatriates that seem to be in the position to decide the fate of this country and nation, we find that some of them end up having severe issues with their sponsors. The sponsor, being the average Joe that he is, may get his revenge by being a pain. He may want them to just leave. In such a case, one should leave. But, we find many INSISTING on staying and finding fault. We find them pushing things to the extent of causing a whole LEGAL issue for themselves and for their sponsors eventually…

For such people, I have a question: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE???

I mean, who the heck are YOU to walk in here and cause all this distress? Yes, the sponsor maybe a JERK . I agree. But, do you realize you are sitting on his land, in his home and even if there was NO sponsorship system and Riyadh was full of Discos and Clubs and all was “DEMOCRACY” and FUN and if women were driving around wearing bikinis, it is still Saudi Arabia – THEIR COUNTRY? You do not, cannot and SHOULD not have an attitude nor dictate. Find fault, sure .. give solution, sure.. criticize positively.. sure.. but AFTER you have spent enough years here to speak Arabic and know lots of people who consider you NOT an expatriate but a friend or even family… You , my dear expatriate who has been here for the past two years, are NOT like me who opened his eyes in Riyadh. What I say, the Saudi will understand and respond to because we have a history.. what you say will sound ABSURD to him even if you have a PhD on how countries should be.. RIGHT?

Now, in my attempt to provide good legal service, I find lots of people want to bring their families here.. when they knew upon signing contract that they would not be able to. For this, they do not want to even give any kind of guarantees. I also see people getting really mad at the way things are done here for them when they have been making the wrong choices to begin with. Question: Who do you think you are?

You are qualified to talk about KSA when you have lived with Saudis long enough to dress like them and talk like them and connect on that deep level where words are not really required sometimes and gestures do the job. Until then, you are a foreigner that has come here to earn. Please understand this. Now, during this time, if a Saudi violates your right like not giving you salary or renewing your ID, you can HIRE a legal representative and SUE them and I assure you, the court will get you your right. The Governor will help you and the Ameer will definitely speak in your favor.

Do not make decisions, get ADVICE.

Today, I went to the Ministry of Justice and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At MOFA, I went to get a paper attested. At the gate, they check ID. I found the guard very angry at one Egyptian. I went closer. The Egyptian was showing him his Egypt ID and not the Iqama. The Guard was saying ” WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS ID, SHOW ME ID FROM HERE”.. the Egyptian was angry. After a while, he got out his Iqama and the guard let him in. Now, I have no clue WHY he was doing this. Maybe he was in a hurry.. But, do you blame the guard for being angry? A small line had formed because of this guy causing delay. And he was angry too: WHo do you think you are?

I went to the Ministry of Justice for stamp on that document. It took me 10 minutes to get it done and leave. Some guard or employee helped me every step of the way. I had no wasta. I just spoke arabic and knew what I wanted. It is THAT simple.

Legal cases: Judge needs to see an Appointed Representative ( Wakeel Sharai), A statement that makes sense, and a definitely wronged person and not a person in the wrong. That will make him VERY angry.

I have often asked myself this too: Who do you think you are??.. So please, don’t get me wrong. I am trying to make a point here. I have asked myself several times and felt great pain.. My ego had caused me to react like “HIGH AND MIGHTY” me and only one person suffered.. ME. I speak of things I have learnt the HARD way myself. I don’t just talk.

I had one “free of charge” client make my Wakeel wait two days to see him because the Wakeel could not make it to the first meeting BECAUSE of a personal issue. The “Free of Charge” client is BADLY in need of legal help. Yet, he will doubt, be rude and miss two meetings in a row to make a point which is God knows what..

Go back to the story above.. every hand that reaches out to help you could be sent by God.. Never think you are big enough to refuse it, because then all hands reaching out may withdraw and your issues may get worse and then YOU will ask yourself: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

Be patient with people. Relax. Forgive and give chances. Be positive and help may come from a source you never even imagined.

This is how life works. This is how God helps..

Enjoy the weekend..