A WINDOW ON THE ARAB WORLD (3)

I was immediately pitched into a society that was totally different to my own.I still vividly remember the original culture shock, and the difficulty I had getting over it. The first thing that struck you was the prime importance of religion in daily life, and how it completely dominated people’s thinking. The Omani day began with a booming call to prayer at 6 am, from the mosque outside my window.The end of the day was signaled in the same way. Religion provided a rhythm of life for the whole society. Ordinary Omanis, in common with other Muslims, exhibited a remarkable devoutness in their religious beliefs .They really believed. .They prayed five times a day without fail.They washed their hands before reading the Koran. They did not question religious injunctions.I was frequently asked by my students whether or not I ate pork. When I said I did, I was given dire warnings of the damage I was doing to my body.None of my students had ever eaten pork , but that did not matter. They believed the mullahs (religious teachers) implicitly, when they were told it was injurious to health.It simply did not occur to them to doubt or to question.

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