Abudai is a fictional city, although it’s typical of any one of the many oil-rich states in the Arabian Gulf. Before the discovery of oil in the area, the people lived in tribal groups ruled by sheikhs. They mainly lived in small settlements around central forts that were built near water, either the sea or an oasis. These people were fishermen, traders, merchants, pearl divers, date-palm farmers and goatherds. There were also the Bedu, the nomadic people who lived in small extended family groups and who moved camps on a regular basis to allow their animals to graze on the sparse vegetation of the desert lands.
Because there weren’t any lines on a map to show borders between countries there were often fights over territory between the neighbouring tribes.
With the extreme heat, barren land, and lack of any modern technology, life was tough. However, the people of the Arabian Gulf endured their hardships and even thanked Allah for His blessings. Their way of life had not changed for hundreds of years.
Then, in the 1960s when oil was discovered, progress, as we call it, was rapid. The mud-brick houses were pulled down and new concrete villas were built, and the Bedu began to move into towns where life was not so hard.
Now, where camels had roamed there are busy airports carrying thousands of people to and from cities that have been built in less than fifty years.
To build and run these modern cities, the local people needed skilled workers from many other countries and people of many other nationalities and cultures came to live in the Gulf region. Most expatriates are from India, Pakistan and other Arabic countries; westerners make up only a small minority.
Because of past bad experience the older generation of locals is often wary of foreigners, no matter where they come from. They still remember what it was like before the oil industry changed their lives, and they try to instil a sense of tradition in the young people. But as life becomes easier, living by the old ways seems more difficult.
Camel racing is one part of the old way of living that has survived the change – it is a traditional sport, although using young children to ride the camels is a recent development.
It should be noted that people of this area refer to the region as the Arabian Gulf, rather than the Persian Gulf, and that the Arabic words and phrases are spelt in a way that suggests how they would sound in that region.
I love you, my brother, whoever you are – whether you worship in your church, kneel in your temple, or pray in your mosque. You and I are children of one faith, for the diverse paths of religion are fingers of the loving hand of one Supreme Being, a hand extended to all, offering completeness of spirit to all, eager to receive all.
Kahlil Gibran
The Words of the Master