Comparison between life in Saudi Arabia and the United States - Essay Example

For example, in Saudi Arabia, when it is time for Salaat, which is the name for prayer in Islam, everybody can be seen rushing towards the Mosques. Saudi Arabians leave every business apart and go to the mosque to offer the prayers five times a day. They value Salaat above every other matter, and would not miss a prayer in any case. This particular habit of the Saudi Arabians makes them quite distinguished from Muslims in other countries. Not many Muslims in the United States rush towards Mosques when it is the time for Salaat.

Likewise, people from all other religions are not as practicing towards their religions in United States in general as the Muslims in Saudi Arabia are, at least with respect to prayers and appearance. The condition of law and order is much better in Saudi Arabia than it is in the United States. According to the most recent statistics about rape per capita recorded by (NationMaster.com), the rapes per capita in the United States are 0.301318 per 1,000 people where as the same in Saudi Arabia are 0.

00329321 per 1,000 people. In Saudi Arabia, when it is the time for Salaat, shopkeepers do not even shut their shops for the time they are out of it despite having nobody on their behalf to take care of the shop in their absence. They are so confident that no one is going to rob or steal anything from the shop. And the most interesting part of it is that, nobody really does steal there. This can be fundamentally attributed to the fact that punishments in Saudi Arabia for crime are just too strict for somebody to commit it.

If someone is found guilty of stealth, the thief’s hand is cut off. Likewise, if somebody is proved to have committed Zina’, that is the Arabic name for rape, or illegal sex or sex with someone out of the marital relationship, he/she is stoned to death. These are the punishments enforced by Islam for the respective sins. As Islamic laws have been enforced in Saudi Arabia, the crime rate is significantly less than what it is in the United States. In United States, the police is generally very efficient and the law and order is also extremely strict, yet the crime rate is higher than in Saudi Arabia because of several reasons.

A person in United States would surely close the shop before leaving the shop for any purpose, or if not close it, would make arrangements to keep the things secure. The culture of United States is largely dominated by multiculturalism. “America is ultimately a nation of immigrants and as a result is a cultural mish-mash in every sense of the word” (Kwintessential.co.uk). There are people from all over the world who have come to United States for studies or work. Multiculturalism is far more dominant in the life in United States than it is in Saudi Arabia.

People from all over the world that have been migrating to United States in the past have brought their individualistic cultures along with them that have blended well with the native culture of the United States. With the passage of time, the culture of United States has started to reflect the colors of all different cultures whose people make part of its society. Because of the widespread multiculturalism, no single religion dominates in the culture of United States. Accordingly, United States has formulated laws, policies, rules and regulations according to social factors