g many educated in the U.S., are returning home to assume key positions formerly occupied by expatriates. In order to control the influx of expatriate workers, Qatar has tightened the administration of its foreign labor programs over the past several years. Security is the stated principal basis for QatarÆs strict entry and immigration rules and regulations (U.S. Department of State, 1997, p. 3).
Qatar has a an overall literacy rate of 79.4 percent (this includes both native-born Qataris and the population of foreign worker), with women having a slightly higher literacy rate: 79.9 percent of women can read as opposed to 79.2 percent of the men. Education is compulsory (and free) for all Qatari citizens aged six to sixteen and school attendance rate in this age group is 98 percent. The standard measures of a populationÆs health show an infant mortality rate of 20.4 deaths/1,000 live births and a life expectancy at birth of 73.03 years (averaging men and women).
The official language is Arabic, although English is widely used in government and commerce. Most native Qataris belong to the Islamic Wahhabi sect and the country is almost universally Islamic û including the majority of the countryÆs foreign workers.
The fact that Qataris are members of the Wahhabi sect is an important aspect of their culture. The Wahabis are members of a puritanical reform movement begun by the conservative Syrian jurist Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab in the 18th century. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was faithful to the Koran, the supreme body of Islamic law as well as to the Hadith (or Sunna), a second body of Islamic law comprising the actions and utterances attributed to the prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He rejected, however, all innovations and also the principle of consensus (Ijma) of the Muslim community on any text of Islamic writ and on customs compatible with the Koran or Hadith.
The ascetic life and stern preaching of ibn Abd al-Wahhab ext...