How not to make Muslims angry.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I think remaining completely ignorant of the Arab culture is enough to incite anger. You don't have to believe in their practices and agree with their way of living, but you should still respect it.

For instance, you should never wave to an Arab with your left hand. Doing so is highly disrespectful, for it is the hand with which they clean themselves, leaving the right hand sanitary for all social interactions.

Do not prop your feet up in a way that reveals the bottoms of your shoes. This is also highly disrespectful and should be avoided at all costs. I've had to practice keeping my feet planted on the ground whilst interacting my Arabic instructors. I'd say after 7 years of practice I've become pretty cognizant of my feet's position.

In certain countries, you do not speak to any of the females. Do your best to avert your eyes, if you can. Even if your intentions are not of a base sort, it's best to just avoid the action at all costs. (Always look up the local customs of any country before you set foot there - for instance, in pretty much every other place that's not America or Britannia, if someone offers your food or drink, you'd better damn well take it! Even if it's an alcoholic beverage and you don't drink...this time, you will drink it.)

Remember that culture is not always synonymous with religion. Though some cultural traits arise because of a religious background, that does not give an atheist or non-believer the right to ridicule what goes on the country. There is always a time and place to express concerns over issues of morality and ethics, but don't do so while you're interacting with, say, Saudis on their own soil.

A lot of Saudis themselves attempt to subvert the clear oppression to which they are clearly subjected to.

I think there's a difference between harmless societal norms that are just a mild inconvenience for going about your daily life (not waving with ones left hand), and being prevented from even leaving the house unless being accompanied a male.

I agree though, trying to make a point as an outsider whilst within the country is generally a bad idea. Case in point, a Norwegian woman was raped in a Dubai hotel ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23404042 ) and was advised against set informing the police owing to their extra marital sex laws. She ignored them and went to the police for help, and was subsequently arrested. It was obvious this would occur as there's a clear track record on this, but she did it anyway becuase she's used to common sense legislation on rape and human rights in Norway. The laws on this in Dubai are crazy, and I don't care that it might be labeled as cultural differences I don't 'get'.

Insane laws that, despite being as much a cultural as well as a religious idea, are very much a contravention of even basic human rights as most would understand them. They need to the challenged, ridiculed and ultimately destroyed.