He could not be dismissed, but things were awkward over the next two years. He was transferred to a branch in a city an hour s drive away and a substantial chunk of his meagre salary went on travel. Promotion would never be offered. He eventually left and now lives elsewhere with his wife and daughter. Dr M s opinion of the Wasta custom is that It s a kind of Arab disease.
People always look for someone to give a push , either by money, or connections, or both.
One of the doctor s foundational principles in life is to trust in God alone. Dr M recalls graduating in science with the highest grades of his year. By tradition, the university should have rewarded him by offering a teaching position in the science faculty, but he wasn t well-connected . He had no Wasta , so it went to the second graduate. A lesser man may have moaned constantly at the system, and maybe at God, but God used this to direct this young man into medical studies, where He wanted him.