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title: In The Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey in the Saudi Kingdom


author: Qanta A. Ahmed, MD

genre: non fiction/memoir

published: 2008

pages: 454



first line: Seeking respite from the intensity of medicine, I trained my eye on the world without.
rated:
4 out of 5

This memoir is a journey into a complex world readers will find fascinating and at times repugnant. After being denied a visa to remain in the U.S., British-born Ahmed, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin, takes advantage of an opportunity, before 9/11, to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia. She discovers her new environment is defined by schizophrenic contrasts that create an absurd clamorous clash of modern and medieval.... It never became less arresting to behold. Ahmed's introduction to her new environment is shocking. Her first patient is an elderly Bedouin woman. Though naked on the operating table, she still is required by custom to have her face concealed with a veil under which numerous hoses snake their way to hissing machines. Everyday life is laced with bizarre situations created by the rabid puritanical orthodoxy that among other requirements forbids women to wear seat belts because it results in their breasts being more defined, and oppresses Saudi men as much as women by its archaic rules.

In The Land of Invisible Women is Dr. Qanta Ahmed's moving memoir about how she left the States to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia and finds herself in a land where women are treated as less than men and where she has to make many adjustments in order to live there peacefully. As soon as she boards the plane, Qanta sees Saudi women covered, wearing their 'Abbayah', or veils covering their heads and body. Qanta herself is Westernized and is not covered, so once the plane lands in Saudi Arabia, she covers her head with the hood of her jacket. It is law in Saudi Arabia that all women be covered while in public.
So many passages grabbed my attention such as this one, where Qanta shares how she feels about being forced to be covered:

This veiling was an anathema to me. Even with a deep understanding of Islam, I could not imagine mummification is what an enlightened, merciful God would ever have wished for half of all His creation. ....While these veils conceal women, at the same time they expose a rampant, male oppression which is their jailor. Polyester imprisonment by compulsion is ungodly and (like the fiber) distinctly man-made.

I like the way Qanta tells her emotional story, she has a way of grabbing the readers attention. I found myself interested in what she had to say. You can quickly tell by reading In The Land of Invisible Women , that the author is a highly intelligent and educated woman.



Qanta finds herself frustrated by the way women are treated in Saudi Arabia. She sees first hand all the limitations women face. They are not allowed to be uncovered in public, they must be covered head to toe. Women are not allowed to drive and have to abide by many strict rules, while the men enjoy freedom and liberties just because they are male. There are 'religious police' called 'Mutawaeen' to ensure that women follow the rules. She mentions a law that was almost passed forbidding women to wear seat belts over thier abbayas or veils, because the seat belt would enchance thier figure under thier bosoms! These 'religious police' are all over the place and do use force to harrass not only the females, but whoever else they might be targeting at the time.



As Qanta makes friends with her female colleagues, she learns that these women must function on what they are allowed to do. So they use thier husbands, fathers, brothers names in order to open businesses or attend schools to better themselves. These women find ways to get around these rules and laws that hold women back.
Another thing that Qanta sees, is that many of these women dye thier hair, wear designer clothes and jewely underneath their abbayahs. She attends a party at a friends home and feels a bit self concious once she sees the women without thier veils, she sees how beautiful they are, and how well they take care of thier looks. She is the only woman in the room without dyed hair.




Qanta writes a chapter called "The Lost Boys of the Kingdom". She tells about the wealthy young Saudi men who are given free reign to do what they want, and wind up addicted to drugs and alcohol. It is a frequent event that these men drive drunk and kill innocent bystanders, many of them small children. As she puts it:

The glossy accessories and costly playgrounds only defined the void these men carried within them. They felt abandoned, lost and undervalued. These were men raised without fathers, sired by those old enough to be grandfathers. They were sons spawned of men who had lost interest in children, even a male. The Lost Boys grew into men without direction or future. For all their priviledge, which torpedoed them into the echelons of Western societies and appetites, they lacked the substantial anchors of a place and an identity in their own families, culture and religion.

This is a fascinating memoir, I found myself unable to put it down at times. It's a pretty thick book, 454 pages long, but I the writing is smooth and before I knew it, I was done reading the entire book.

All the while I was reading Qanta's story, I kept shaking my head at the way women are treated in Saudi Arabia. But I was also very impressed by the way some of these women find ways around these limitations to make better lives for themselves.

As I spent more time in Saudi Arabia, I would see how much strength would be asked of a woman at work. I would learn from them and observe them in action. Saudi women were indeed a force to be reckoned with.

While in Saudi Arabia, Qanta makes a pilgrimage to Mecca, called Hajj. This lasts five days and every Muslim is required to make the sacred visit at least once in thier lives. Millions of Muslims visit and perform a set of rituals. She is overcome with emotion once she is there. As she puts it: I realized I was at the nexus of mortality and divinity.

With a final backward glance at Riyadh, I boarded the plane that would take me to the Ka'aba, the House of God. I wondered what I would learn of the millions of Muslims who would soon engulf me, and even more so, of the Muslim within me.

My transformation had begun.

As I said, this was an emotional read. I really enjoyed it. I could go on and on, there was so much to this book, so many passages that really stood out. It was an eye-opener. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a glimpse inside a different culture and see it from Qantas point of view.





About the Author:



Dr. Qanta Ahmed joined MUSC as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at MUSC in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine in September 2005. Dr. Ahmed attended the University of Nottingham Medical School in England where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in medical sciences and a medical degree. After an internship year in England, she completed residency in New York City at the Staten Island University Hospital, followed by a fellowship in pulmonary, critical care and sleep disorders medicine.







special thanks to Ryan Segovich @ Source Books for sending me this book to read and review.