Jordan

Salaam,

"War in Iraq has brought an influx of western visitors and investment to Jordan. Prostitution has become more common, although it remains discreet. Amman even has a lap-dancing bar, although the dancers remain fully clothed and there is no physical contact with clients"

I was gonna write a piece like the one on Turkey summarising what i thought of Jordan but i think this article summarises many of the things going on in this country very well.

The main thing one notices about Jordan is that it seems very well off; apparently 90% of the buildings in Amman were built in the last 15 yrs and you can see this is. Although i studied economics at uni i have no idea of how to explain what's going on in Jordan. This country is supposed to be a "developing" country at best but all the prices are like that in the UK if not more expensive - 5pounds for a box of crunchy nut cornflakes....! Criminal. And in terms of material wealth it's not doing too bad; i have never seen more mercedes' and BMWs anywhere than i saw in Amman. Literally every street had at least half a dozen, many of them being brand new.

When i spoke to the locals about this they had one group of people to blame - the Iraqis. During and after the war around 500,000 Iraqis fled their country for jordan, often bringing with them $m they had robbed. So suddenly there was an influx of all this money and so all the prices went up.

Alhamdulilla in many ways though Jordan is a country that other middle east countries should try and emulate; many of the things there in terms of efficiancy, cleanliness, beauracracy etc are much better than most other middle east countries making the whole experience of living there much more pleasant.

The danger with all this wealth though, as one could predict, is that its leading to divisions in society and much more fitna to be apparent on the streets. Just a five minute walk down Abdoun or Swehili, the two rich areas, and you cannot help notice the change in demeanour of the people and for example all the liqour stores standing there proudly with their alcohol advertisements.

As with many with of the countries in the middle east, most of the population in Jordan are under 21 so it is very worrying that so many of this age group seem so distant from their Islamic roots and are more interested in watching MTV.

Again, i think it will be interesting to see what happens to Jordan in the next few years.

May Allah guide us all.

Salaam