¶ … Al Thani family ruled Qatar from the mid-1800s. It slowly changed itself from a poor British territory renowned mainly for pearling into an independent state with large oil and natural gas revenues. The Qatari economy was weakened during the late 1980s and early 1990s, by a constant tapping off of petroleum revenues by the Amir, who ruled the country from 1972 onwards. His son, the present Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani conquered him in a bloodless takeover in 1995. Qatar solved its very old border clashes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in 2001. Oil and natural gas revenues make Qatar to have one of the utmost per capita incomes in the world. Oil and gas report for more than 55% of GDP, around 85% of export earnings, and 70% of government revenues. Qatar has a per capita GDP of about 80% through oil and gas and it is ahead of the West European industrial countries. Established oil assets of 14.5 billion barrels should guarantee constant output at current levels for 23 years. Qatar's confirmed treasury of natural gas exceeds 17.9 trillion cubic meters, and it is 5% more than of the world total and third largest in the world. Long-term objectives include the growth of offshore natural gas reserves to compensate for the crucial weakening in oil production. Qatar has constantly declared trade excess since 2000, mainly due to high oil prices and raised natural gas exports. (Qatar: (www.cia.gov/cia/) Qatar, officially known as the State of Qatar, is an independent emirate with an estimated population of 534,000 and 11,400 sq km in area is a large barren peninsula in the Persian Gulf, which has borders with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The capital of Qatar is Doha. The main economy of Qatar is oil and natural gas and it accounts for 70% of the export source of income. The revenue from oil and gas is used to improve the economy, which is inclusive of development of chemicals, steel, cement and fertilizer industries and banking. A minority of 20% of the population are Qataris, who belong to the Wahhabi sect of Islam, the rest are mainly other Arabs, Pakistanis, Indians and Iranians. Arabic is the official language, but English is usually spoken and the country of Qatar is a monarchy. (The country of Qatar)

History of Qatar:

As per the archeological findings, writings and a compilation of beautiful pottery, which were located in different areas in the country, the land of Qatar was inhabited as early as 4000 BC. In the 5th century BC the Greek historian Herodotus considered the maritime Canaanites as the original people of Qatar. The geographer Ptolemy also showed in his map the Arab world "Qatara," which was thought that it pointed out to the Qatari town of "Zubara," which has the reputation of being one of the most vital trading ports in the Gulf region at that time. In the Islamic civilization, Qatar has performed a major role, when its people took part in the creation and provision of the first naval fleet, which was gathered to transfer the army during the Islamic Conquers. During the 8th century AH which is the 14th century AD, under the Abbasid state, Qatar underwent great economic affluence as can be gathered from the writings of Murwab Fort on the western coast of the peninsula, which shows the marks of the Abbasid architectural style. The Qataris united with the Turks in the 16th century, to send away the Portuguese. Later Qatar along with the entire region of the Arabian Peninsula came under the Ottoman Empire ruling for about four consecutive centuries. With the outcome of the 1914 First World War, the Turkish rule in Qatar came to an end with Qatar signing a protection agreement with Britain in 1916. But the British influence in Qatar remained only for the direction of some governmental issues. (Qatar Past and Present)

The Al-Thani family, who got their name from their predecessor, Thani, father of Skeikh Mohammad Bin Thani, who was the first Sheikh to rule over the Qatari peninsula during the mid 19th century, ruled Qatar, in the early 18th century. The Al-Thani family was amongst a tribal group who were inhabitants for a long time at the 'Gibrin' oasis in the southern Najd, prior to their entering to Qatar during the early 18th century. It is a division of the Bani Tamim tribe, whose ancestry can be dated back to Mudar Bin Nizar. At first they inhabited Zubara in the north of the peninsula and then shifted to Doha in the mid 19th century under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Thani. In 1878 Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammad replaced his father Sheikh Mohammad bin Thani and Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim, began to rule from 1913. During his reign oil was first discovered in Qatar. Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah reined Qatar until 1948. In 1949, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah began to rule and reined till 1960. From 1960, Sheikh Ahmad Bin Ali reined Qatar and his rule lasted until 1972. In 1972, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani reined the country....

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani took power in 1995 with the encouragement and the approval of the ruling family and the Qatari people. (Qatar Past and Present)
Women in Middle East:

Many facts have been exposed by socio-political research reports about the condition of the greater part of women in the Middle East: 1) in most of the Middle Eastern countries, women's political contribution is out of ratio to their population number, which is around 50%. 2) In all Middle Eastern countries, the position of women is inferior to that of men. 3) In the Middle East Countries' workforce, women are under-represented. 4) Mainly in the rural areas, the percentage of uneducated women is bigger than that of men. 5) Middle Eastern societies have a tendency to corner women in certain kinds of jobs, mostly as housewives, teachers, nurses, or unpaid helpers in rural areas. 6) The salary of the workingwomen is less for the same kind of work done by men. 7) Some cultural traditions and social practices prevailing in Middle Eastern societies act against the health, happiness, and social and personal development of women. 8) Whether Muslim, Christians or Jewish, women in Middle East dislike men's chief control of the explanation of the religious texts and traditions. 9) There is a requirement for legal improvements with respect to legacy, marriage, divorce and care of children in all Middle Eastern countries. (New Voices for Women in the Middle East)

If, as a man and a woman are as one and lonely, if they pair up, and if the woman does not refuse the sexual act physically but finds it agreeable, and if, the society where these two people exist is a patrilineal one, as in the case of the Muslim society, only one reaction is feasible: the two sexes can be divided by authorizing the isolation of the woman. The isolation of the woman is the consequence of the relation, which works out to be drawback for her. It cannot be rationalized that woman favor a life of forfeit, given that her temperament is different from that of the man. As the effect of the West grew, these clarifications, which rationalize women's lesser status on the basis of their different nature, were obtained from western Christianity later on. In the Arab World today, this has ended up in confusion and overwhelming oppositions at a theoretical level and in the tradition of relations between the two sexes. Only when she attains a higher age, the Arab women gets the liberty of movement or the freedom to move about in male surroundings, to converse with power with men. In other words, the society regards her as genderless. It is because she is not a suitable basis of arousal; she is not a sexual object with desires to be kept under control. Often a woman over fifty years of age is viewed as being fortified by a large male progenitor, smoking, laughing or talking without any trouble with a group of men. She is being considered as over emphasizing that is not being considered as sexually speaking. It is only then that she can enter the world of men, walk in the streets even in the evenings without dropping the respect of society because of her manners. (Women in the Middle East)

The Qatari woman uses her full liberty to play her role in society and functions as an essential element within the improvement process of the country. She has shown her aptitude to provide and partake along with her fellow men in all jobs and areas, and her contribution has been particularly improved by the support of HH the Emir and the support of H.H. The wife of the Emir, Sheikha Mouza. Qatari women have been given importance by Her Highness and have produced an atmosphere that cheers them to bear their social commitment and take part…