A rather unusual Reuters story from Oct. 5 illustrates
how residents of the Gulf nation of Qatar may find inherent
contradictions in new efforts to position Doha and other regional cities as
cultural hubs.
Titled “Qatar Trims Cultural Plans as Traditional and Budget
Pressures Weigh,” the piece points to both inherent cultural norms and
financial pressure as contributing to the restriction of new kinds of
social and “cultural” meeting places within the country.
The word cultural can be used as it is in this piece, to
promote things like jazz clubs — or it can be used in the context of the Muslim
world, to show why alcoholic beverages are forbidden to Muslims all over the
Middle East and elsewhere.
In the story, Qatari citizen Hanan al-Kaabi
complains of being barred from a neighborhood business that apparently sets its
sights on non-citizens, visiting expats and other outsiders.
Reuters, in describing efforts to open up local venues to
both expats and Qataris, calls the process a “tricky marriage” and illustrates
that with the legacy of the $20 million jazz club opened by a Qatari citizen.
In order to try to accommodate both sets of people, the club
had events where no alcohol was served, and practicing Muslims were welcome.
Other events were largely patronized by expats, as alcohol was served.
This strategy is something allowed under Qatar’s laws.
Eventually, this particular club faced budget pressures and had to close — but
the model is possible.
“They have the freedom to do it,” Yasir Mohamed, practicing Muslim and mental health clinician from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, told Gulf
News Journal, explaining that although Islamic countries often place
restrictions on alcohol, they cannot ban it altogether. “In Islam, morally, consuming alcohol is forbidden.”
However, he said, no such restriction exists for non-Muslims. That
creates two sets of rules inside of Muslim countries. Mohamed said in some
Islamic countries, purveyors of alcohol check an identification card to see if someone is
a practicing Muslim or not.
Still, he said, alcoholism exists in countries like Qatar
and Saudi Arabia.
“People find their way to it,” Mohamed said.
As for the keeping of religious laws in an “era of
imbibement,” as the pressure to globalize puts stress on cultural
values, Mohamed said, it can be hard to always strike that balance.
“Some Muslim countries try to juggle multiple value systems: Islamic, local-cultural and Western, while not always thinking critically about how to synchronize these values into a coherent system,” he said.
