Riyadh, January 31: When an American man who converted to Islam in Saudi Arabia was asked what made him take that decision, he came up with one of the strangest reasons in this respect – chaos on the country’s roads.
The unidentified American said he has been working in the capital Riyadh for a long time and that is still astonished at the daily disorder and anarchy on the streets by both drivers and pedestrians.
“Cars of all types and sizes move in an incredible way. There is no respect of the system at all. Drivers are jumping the red signal, storming the pavements and moving in the wrong direction. The roads have become scenes for daily battles,” he told the Arabic language daily Alhayat.
“What happened to me was that I was driving one day and my heart nearly fell off when a speeding car coming in the opposite direction rushed towards me and other vehicles. I closed my eyes but nothing happened and there was no accident. I escaped and other cars emerged intact while no one was hurt…after I opened my eyes, I made up my mind.“ He said that after returning home, he immediately decided to look for an Islamic centre to convert to Islam.
“That incident on the road took place in the day…in the evening, I was a Muslim man,” he said, shrugging off a question by the paper on whether he had other hidden motives for embracing Islam.
“This is the only reason. This nation is moving in this city in a high degree of traffic anarchy and chaos, indifference to regulations and exposure to daily risks. Yet it is still alive and is planning for the future. I am sure that this nation is preserved and protected by a divine power. The situation that I witness daily can not be normal or fall in the context of the laws of nature.”
-Agencies