Professor Awad Al-Asmari combines the authenticity of his pride in his family and people, the courage to speak about a childhood marked by orphanhood, and the civility of speaking about himself, with all unpretentious humility, which reinforces in the mind of his interlocutor the integrated personality that God bestows upon whomever He wills of His servants, and the biography of a place and time that the man tells us and we convey to you from our Ramadan conversation with our guest:

She was born in Sabt Tanouma

• To begin with, when and where were you born and raised?

•• My father died while I was in my mother’s womb in the seventh month of pregnancy. This prompted my mother to go to her father’s house, Awad bin Talah Al-Shahri, in Sabt Tanuma, where I was born in 1959, in the summer, as my mother told me, corresponding to the year 1379 AH. I stayed in my grandfather’s house for about a year, and after that my mother married a man from Hawra, from Bani Manbah, who was not close to my father’s or grandfather’s house (may God have mercy on them all), as my father’s and grandfather’s house was in the village of Khurs in Balsamar.

I lived with my mother and her husband, the kind and generous man Musfir bin Ali bin Ghanem Al-Asmari from Hawra (may God have mercy on him).

• Your academic background and the positions you have held?

•• Elementary: in Hawra’a Balsamar, intermediate in Balsamar, secondary in Al-Yamamah High School in Riyadh, and I completed the third year of secondary school in Abha High School, and I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Riyadh University (currently King Saud University). After obtaining the Bachelor’s degree, I was appointed as a teaching assistant at the same university and worked for a year, then I was sent abroad to study at Ohio State University in Columbus, which is a prestigious public university. I completed my Master’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Toledo in Ohio. I then returned to the Kingdom after completing the Doctoral degree and was appointed as an assistant professor at the university in 1412 AH. I obtained the degree of Associate Professor in 1416 AH, then I obtained the degree of Professor in approximately 1422 AH and worked as a consultant to several governmental and private entities.

I was a member of the Shura Council for four years, and about two months before the end of the Shura Council term, I was appointed President of Shaqra University, where I completed the term.

Ramadan is difficult abroad

• I spent Ramadan in the village, in the city, and outside the Kingdom. What is the difference between them? Which do you prefer?

• Fasting outside the Kingdom was very difficult, especially with the long daylight hours in the summer, where the sun sets at 9 pm and the fast begins around 3 am, making the night period very short. Despite the difficulty, the gathering of Muslims in the mosque for Taraweeh prayers was a special moment, as they came from different places, which added a special spirituality to the experience.

As for fasting in the city in the Kingdom, the fasting person in the Kingdom feels the true spirituality of Ramadan, as everyone is fasting, and the general atmosphere helps in worship, including: the atmosphere of breaking the fast, and Tarawih prayers, and it is full of spirituality and collective participation, which makes Ramadan completely different from fasting abroad.

As for fasting in the village in the past: the situation was difficult, as the resources were very limited, and breaking the fast often depended on dates and bread made from wheat, and if ghee was available, that was a special thing. Nowadays, the villages have become developed, and life in them has become more comfortable, and their atmosphere is more peaceful compared to the cities.

• Do you still have a relationship with your childhood friends to this day? And who do you remember from them?

•• Some of my elementary school classmates in Hawra: Professor Abdullah bin Fayez bin Atef, Nasser bin Madawi Al-Asmari, Obaid bin Abdulrahman Al-Maouk, Ali bin Khuzaym bin Surur, Saeed bin Musfir bin Ghanem, Ali bin Khaloufa (may God have mercy on him), and Nasser bin Muhammad bin Abdulaziz.

In middle school: My colleagues were from Othman Bin Affan Middle School, and its principal was Abdullah Bin Abdul-Moein (may God have mercy on him), who had a great role in supporting and encouraging me. Some of my colleagues in middle school were: Saeed Bin Dhafer Al-Ridan, Fahran Bin Al-Qabas (may God have mercy on him), Dean Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Al-Khunain, and Hassan Bin Abdulrahman Al-Mousa (I ask God for his speedy recovery).

I entered the "tea room"

• A situation that is stuck in your mind that has affected your life.

In my third year at the Faculty of Engineering, my academic excellence caught the attention of one of the professors, the late Professor Mohamed Ali El-Shimi El-Masry. This distinction led him to take me by the hand to the tea room where the faculty members gathered. That room was filled with prominent engineers from various nationalities, and the place felt like an ivory tower to me, where the professors were like imposing military leaders.

It was extremely difficult for any student to dare go to that room, let alone enter it and sit with those scholars. Nevertheless, I entered the place I considered forbidden, with Professor Muhammad al-Shimi holding my hand. Perhaps if he hadn't been holding my hand, I would have fainted from the awe of the place and its people.

When we entered, he said, pointing at me with his other hand, “This student is Awad, a bright student, and he will have a great future.”.

These words deeply affected me, building within me towering castles of hope and lofty ambitions, and boosting my self-confidence and enthusiasm. They also eased the pain, stress, and wounds I had suffered greatly in my early youth, wounds that had plagued me throughout my studies at the Faculty of Engineering.

I love the evening very much

What is your favorite TV show?

•• I love cultural, historical and literary programs, and among the programs I follow are “Zero” and “Liwan,” as I find them to be valuable programs with distinctive interviews, and I like them very much, and I follow them regularly and care about them in every sense of the word.

• Sleep, exercise, reading... which one takes up the lion's share of your Ramadan schedule?

•• Reading takes the lion’s share, followed of course by sleep, and then by exercise. But I can almost guarantee that, God willing, I have a daily walking program. I used to be a member of a club, but my personal circumstances, my office work, and my travels have forced me to commit to walking and, very rarely, swimming.

• Some people dedicate the month of Ramadan to reading fundamental texts in Islamic culture. Are there any specific books that Ramadan brings you back to?

•• During Ramadan, I love the evenings very much. The time is good, so I take advantage of that time to write some scientific, literary, and cultural books. My reading is mostly scientific information related to future sciences. I have a number of lectures and I wrote a book in this field called “Future Sciences and Higher Education.” Ramadan really deepens your study of history and love of ancient history, especially regarding the Islamic conquests and invasions. I read in great detail, praise be to God, about the first, second, and third Saudi states, and also about King Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him. I have many books in my library and outside the library, and God willing, it will be one of the libraries that are pointed out in this field.

My experience at university and the Shura Council

What is your favorite dish during Ramadan for both Iftar and Suhoor meals?

•• For breakfast, I must have samosas, soup, and berry juice in front of me, and for suhoor, it is usually kabsa or leftover breakfast.

• What Ramadan tradition do you wish would return?

•• One of the customs that I loved very much, and it is one of the old customs, was that there was a mosque in the village and the people’s conditions were not good, so there was an endowment for the mosque and there were a number of people who would bring us breakfast in the mosque, young and old, because the dates and bread that that person, may God have mercy on him, would bring were among the most beautiful and best things, and I was in the fourth grade at that time, so I really wish that those days and those beautiful customs would return, and that there would be a group breakfast for the neighborhood in the mosque and everyone would bring their plate.

• Which reciter's recitation moves you?

•• Sheikh Saad Al-Ghamdi, Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Al-Afasy, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, Sheikh Abdul Basit Abdul Samad, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Minshawi, and Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ajmi.

What were the results of your work at King Saud University, Al-Shura University, and Shaqra University?

•• My experience at King Saud University: I held a number of positions that gave me great experience in management, time management, and dealing with multiple groups such as faculty members, students, employees, and visitors.

My experience in the Shura Council: I consider it one of the most beautiful phases of my professional life, as I dealt with 150 members, many of whom were like independent universities in their experiences and knowledge. I had the opportunity to study the systems and laws, and to review the reports of various ministries and institutions, even though my background was not legal, as I was good in the technical field.

The experience at Shaqra University: When I took over the presidency of the university, I had diverse experiences (administrative, academic, research, and strategic), and through them I worked on developing and implementing the Shaqra University strategy, and I was able to achieve the goals that I set. The witness to this achievement is the Prince of Riyadh, Prince Faisal bin Bandar. This success would not have been possible without continuous and diligent work, to the point that on some days I would only sleep 4 to 6 hours due to the volume of work and responsibilities.

• Who is the person you remember every Ramadan?

•• We remember the people who used to fast with us and are now under the graves, may God have mercy on them.

• Is there a line of poetry that is always in your mind and that you constantly repeat?

•• This verse increases my patience, and I always remember and recite it since I was in the second year of high school:

Do not think glory is a date you can simply eat; you will not attain glory until you taste the bitterest of trials

A more hardworking student learns more

• What is your opinion on the quality of university education today compared to the past?

•• It is difficult to judge because current educational methods differ from previous educational methods. In the past, education relied on specific references, which made the student more miserable, but he was more knowledgeable and more capable, because he searched in libraries and books and suffered.

Nowadays, thank God, there are good sources of information such as ChatGPT. Also, any scientific paper you see, you can get it. But the difference between the past and the present is that you must work quickly and with skill. In the past, you worked with skill, and speed was not important because the growth of science in certain fields was slow. But the current time, which used to take a month for research, now takes minutes. Also, there is something new that will be available in the near future, and Google is interested in this matter, which is the quantum computer. Meaning, research that used to take minutes now takes a fraction of a second with this great computer.

• Do you still have contributions in the academic or consulting field after retirement?

•• Yes, but retirement helped me to gather previous things that I had delayed producing, scientific books, historical books, and cultural books. There are also consultations from scientific, educational, and academic bodies, as well as consultations for some private universities, and simple participations in lectures and some materials, and a simple research project that I and some colleagues are working on in several universities.