Culture of Saudi Arabia

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Saudi males dressed and prepared for ardah, the national dance. It also includes swords, poetry, and singing. Saudi Culture - s+di sNskaarN 51.JPG
Saudi males dressed and prepared for ardah, the national dance. It also includes swords, poetry, and singing.

The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is greatly influenced by the Arab and Islamic culture. The society is in general deeply religious, conservative, traditional, and family-oriented. Many attitudes and traditions are centuries-old, derived from Arab civilization and Islamic heritage. However, its culture has also been affected by rapid change, as the country was transformed from an impoverished nomadic society into a rich commodity producer in just a few years in the 1970s. This change has also been affected by and the result of a number of factors including the communications revolution and external scholarships. The most recent ruler or king of Saudi is King Salman of Saudi Arabia. [1]

Contents

The Wahhabi Islamic movement, which arose in the 18th century and is sometimes described as austerely puritanical, now predominates in the country. Following the principle of "enjoining good and forbidding wrong", there are many limitations and prohibitions on behavior and dress which are strictly enforced both legally and socially, often more so than in other Muslim countries. [2] However, many of the traditional restrictions have been lifted recently by the government including allowing women to drive and many other female-related issues. [3] On the other hand, the things prohibited by Islam are banned in the country, for example, alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited.

Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance. Five times each day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques scattered throughout the country. Because Friday is the holiest day for Muslims, the weekend is Friday to Saturday. [4] In accordance with Wahhabi doctrine, only two religious holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha , were publicly recognized, until 2006 when a non-religious holiday, the September 23 national holiday (which commemorates the unification of the kingdom) was reintroduced. [5] [6] In terms of gender relations, Saudi Arabia's norms usually discourage non-familial free mixing between the sexes. [7]

History

Religion

Supplicating pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram, Mecca Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpg
Supplicating pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram, Mecca

The land of Hijaz, particularly Makkah and Madinah, is the place where Islam was firstly established. Thus, the majority of its population are Muslims. Moreover, Qur’an is considered the constitution of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic law "sharia’" is the main legal source. In Saudi Arabia, Islam is not just adhered politically by the government but also it has a great influence on the people's culture and everyday life. [8] [9]

Religious demography

90% of the Saudi citizens are Sunni Muslims while 10% belong to Shia's school. 80% of Shia’ are twelvers who live in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia and Madinah. In Najran Province there are approximately 700,000 seveners Shia’. Moreover, the majority of expatriate in Saudi Arabia are Muslims. [10]

Islamic rituals in the community

Unlike many other Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia has been following a strict version of Islam. The Sharia (Islamic law) is enforced by the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (also known as Haia or Mutaween), who patrol the streets "enjoining good and forbidding wrong". Rules include dress codes, strict separation of men and women, attendance at prayer ( salat ) five times each day, and a strict ban of alcohol, and segregation of men and women in universities. [11] [ predatory publisher ] Saudi Arabia is the only Muslim country where shops and other public facilities are required to close during prayer time which takes place five times a day and employees and customers are sent off to pray. [12]

Women are required to wear the traditional ”abaya” (long, fully covered dress). However, women are no longer required to wear abayas in public but are required to dress modestly as a form of respecting the Saudi culture. [13]

Cinema theatres were shut down in 1980, for example. However, Saudi Arabia has reopened cinema theaters since April 2018. [14]

Calendar

The kingdom uses not the international Gregorian calendar, but the lunar Islamic calendar, with the start of each lunar month determined not ahead of time by astronomical calculation, but only after the crescent moon is sighted by the proper religious authorities. [15] Civil workers in the governmental sector used to receive their salaries not according to the international Gregorian calendar, but the lunar Islamic calendar. However, the Gregorian calendar has been followed by many international companies operating in the country. Moreover, by 2016, a number of reforms took place in Saudi Arabia. One of them was to use the Gregorian calendar to pay for the civil servants. This measure has been taken to reduce the governmental spending as employees have lost 11 payment days. [16]

Weekends

Friday is the holiest day for Muslims. Thus, the weekend in Saudi Arabia was Thursday-Friday. [17] [18] [5] In 2013, the late King Abdullah Al-Saud issued a royal decree switching the weekend to become on Friday-Saturday. [19] This step was taken to reduce the adverse effects suffered by Saudi businesses [20] due to the difference in weekdays and weekends between Saudi Arabia and the other regional and international counterparts. [19] Like all other Muslims, on Fridays Saudis attend Jomua’h prayer that is held by afternoon and accompanied with a sermon. [21]

The holy month of Ramadan

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a holy month for all Muslims. In Saudi Arabia, this month is especially important and different as the lifestyle of the people gets more spiritual. During the month, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. Thus, in Saudi Arabia, the working hours are reduced as most of the employees go two hours later than usual. Moreover, friends and families gather by sunset to enjoy breaking their fast together. By night and particularly after the obligatory Isha’ prayer, people stay in mosques to pray the voluntary prayer of Taraweeh. Before the dawn prayer, Fajr, families wake up to eat Suhur, their last meal before they start fasting. [22]

Saudi Arabia celebrates two public holidays, namely, ʿĪd al-Fiṭr and ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā. Id al-Fitr comes after the holy month of Ramadan and employees enjoy a customary 5 to 10 days away from work. Id al-Adha comes by the end of Hajj -pilgrimage- and employees get similar off days. However, some other religious days that are considered as public holidays in other Muslim countries are not given days off in Saudi Arabia including, the Islamic New Year, Mawlid Alnabi – Prophet Muhammad's Birthday – and ‘Ashura day. [23]

"Fierce religious resistance" had to be overcome to permit such innovations as paper money (in 1951), female education (1964), and television (1965) and the abolition of slavery (1962). [24] There were a number of terrorist attacks targeting foreigners between 2001 and 2004, but these have been brought under control. [25]

Public support for the traditional political/religious structure of the kingdom is so strong that one researcher interviewing Saudis found virtually no support for reforms to secularize the state. Even the small minority of Westernized and liberal Saudis expressed "a desire for the kingdom to remain a Muslim society ruled by an overtly Muslim state." [26]

Because of religious restrictions, Saudi culture lacks any diversity of religious expression or buildings but annual festivals such as the Janadriah Festival which celebrates Saudi Culture, custom and handicraft held in a specialized arena just north of Riyadh and public events such as The Annual Book Fair are open to the public and are very popular although policed by the religious police. [27] [28]

The festivals (such as Day of Ashura) and communal public worship [29] [30] of Shia Muslims who make up an estimated 10-15% [31] [32] [33] are suppressed. Celebration of other (non-Wahhabi) Islamic holidays, such as the Muhammad's birthday and the Day of Ashura (an important holiday for Shiites), are tolerated only when celebrated locally and on a small scale. [34] Shia also face systematic discrimination in employment, education, the justice system according to Human Rights Watch. [35]

Masjid al Haram in Mecca Entrance Mecca mosque.JPG
Masjid al Haram in Mecca

No churches, temples or other non-Muslim houses of worship permitted in the country (although there are nearly a million Christians as well as Hindus and Buddhists among the foreign workers). [36] [37] Foreign workers are not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter, [36] and reportedly private prayer services are forbidden in practice. [36] And at least one religious minority, the Ahmadiyya, are banned with adherents being deported according to a 2007 report by Human Rights Watch. [38]

Proselytizing by non-Muslims and conversion by Muslims to another religion is illegal. [37] According to the HeartCry Missionary Society, in 2014 the Saudi government "issued an official statement signifying that capital punishment may now be used" on those who distribute the Bible and all other "publications that have prejudice to any other religious belief other than Islam." [39] [40]

In legal compensation court cases ( Diyya ) non-Muslim are awarded less than Muslims. [36] Atheists are legally designated as terrorists. [41]

Social life and customs

Saudi society lives within the circle of customs and traditions in which it was ingrained by the Arab culture of Islam and the Islamic culture, but the regions of the Kingdom differ from each other in the customs of clothing, food, dialects, songs, and even in marriage traditions. Saudi Arabia has a family-oriented culture; [42] the family in Saudi Arabia is the most important social institution, so the bonds are strong between their members. Key aspects include the concepts of obedience and mutual respect, [43] in addition to preserving family traditions and kinship ties. [44]

Al Badou

A large portion of the original inhabitants of the area that is now Saudi were desert nomads known as Bedouin. They remain a significant and very influential minority of the indigenous Saudi population, though many who call themselves "bedou" no longer engage in "traditional tribal activities of herding sheep and riding camels." [45] According to authors Harvey Tripp and Peter North, Bedouin make up most of the judiciary, religious leaders and National Guard (which protects the throne) of the country. Bedouin culture is "actively" preserved by the government. [45]

Greetings

Greetings in Saudi Arabia have been called "formal and proscribed" and lengthy. Saudis (men) tend "to take their time and converse for a bit when meeting." Inquiries "about health and family" are customary, but never about a man's wife, as this "is considered disrespectful." [46] Saudi men are known for the physical affection they express towards total strangers (i.e. Saudi male strangers), thought by some to be a continuation of the desert tradition of offering strangers hospitality to ensure their survival. [47]

Dress

Red and white keffiyeh commonly worn in the desert held with a black agal Kaffeyeh-checkered-Saudi-King.jpg
Red and white keffiyeh commonly worn in the desert held with a black agal

The religion and customs of Saudi Arabia dictate not only conservative dress for men and women, but a uniformity of dress unique to most of the Middle East. [49] Traditionally, the different regions of Saudi have had different dress, but since the re-establishment of Saudi rule these have been reserved for festive occasions, and "altered if not entirely displaced" by the dress of the homeland of their rulers (i.e. Najd). [50]

Many women normally wear an abaya , a long black cloak that covers all but the hands and face in public despite this not being required. [51] (Modest dress is compulsory for women in Islam but the color black for women and white for men is apparently based on tradition not religious scripture. [52] ) Some Saudi women wear a full face veil, such as a niqāb or a burqa. Women's clothes are often decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques. Saudi Arabia has recently relaxed the dress code for women. [53] [54]

The women of Saudi Arabia continue to wear the abaya in all its forms as a sign of modesty and identity. Although it is no longer mandatory, women choose to wear it, and it has become one of the most popular images of the country. Foreign women visiting the country also choose to wear the abaya, as a sign of respect. [55]

In recent years it is common to wear Western dress underneath the abaya. (Foreign women in Saudi Arabia are "encouraged" by the religious police to wear an abaya, or at least cover their hair according to The New York Times . [56] Authors Harvey Tripp and Peter North encourage women to wear an abaya in "more conservative" areas of the kingdom, i.e. in the interior. [57] )

Bisht Being Sewn in Al-Ahsa Bisht Being Sewn.jpg
Bisht Being Sewn in Al-Ahsa

Saudi men and boys, whatever their job or social status, wear the traditional dress called a thobe or thawb, which has been called the "Arabic dress". [58] During warm and hot weather, Saudi men and boys wear white thobes. During the cool weather, wool thobes in dark colors are not uncommon. At special times, men often wear a bisht or mishlah over the thobe. These are long white, brown or black cloaks trimmed in metallic thread. A man's headdress consists of three things: the tagia, a small white cap that keeps the gutra from slipping off the head; the gutra itself, which is a large square of cloth; and the igal, a doubled black cord that holds the gutra in place. Not wearing an igal is considered a sign of piety. The gutra is usually made of cotton and traditionally is either all white or a red and white checked. The gutra is worn folded into a triangle and centred on the head.

Among young men, since around 2000, Western dress, particularly T-shirts and jeans have become quite common leisure wear, particularly in the Eastern Province. [60] Traditional footwear has been leather sandals but most footwear is now imported. [50]

Work

Employment does not play the same part in native Saudi society as in some others. With enormous petroleum export earnings beginning in the mid-1970s the Saudi economy was not dependent on income from productive employment. Economists "estimate only 30–40 percent" of working-age Saudis "hold jobs or actively seek work," [61] and most employed Saudis have less-than-demanding jobs with the government. [62] [63] As of 2008, 90% of those employed in the private sector were foreigners, [64] and several decades long efforts to replace significant numbers of them with Saudis have been unsuccessful. [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70]

One explanation for this culture of leisure is the hot, dry climate of the peninsula which allowed nomadic herding but permitted agriculture only in a small area (the southwest corner). Like other nomadic herders worldwide, the ancestors of most Saudis did not develop the habits (so-called "work ethic"), skills, infrastructure, etc. of agricultural societies "that lead ultimately to present-day industrialisation". [71] As a consequence, "Saudis have rarely worked in the sense that other nationalities have worked. No product-based commercial economy existed until oil" was discovered. [71]

Socializing

Traditionally social life in the kingdom has revolved around the home and family. Saudis regularly visit family members, particularly those of an older generation. For women, most of whom have their own jobs, [72] [73] it is routine (in fact the only outside activity [74] [75] ) to pay visits to each other during the day, though the ban on women driving can make transportation a problem. The ban was lifted in 2017. [76]

For men, traditional hours involve a nap in late afternoon (after work if they are employed), and then socializing that begins after maghrib (roughly between 5 and 6:30 pm) and can last until well after midnight. Men gather in groups (known as shillas or majmu'as) of close friends of similar age, background, and occupation. Men typically relax, and joke while smoking shisha and playing balot (a card game), and have a meal around midnight before returning home. The groups may meet in diwaniyyas in each other's homes or a residence rented for the occasion. [76]

Families

A family fishing in Jeddah Eid alAdha 2103-1434 Jeddah (10326758016).jpg
A family fishing in Jeddah

Being part of a reserved, family-oriented society, Saudis tend to prefer to do business with, socialize with, and communicate with family members rather than outsiders, be they foreigners, or Saudis from other clans. [77] Extended families tend to live in family compounds in cities whenever possible and stay in contact by cellphone when not. [78] It is customary for elder family member to use their influence ( wasta ) for the benefit of family members, particularly for employment and advancement in the large Saudi government bureaucracy [79] where most Saudis work. [61]

Marriage

Traditionally, in Saudi Arabia (and other Gulf countries), families arrange marriages with the tribe [80] or family's considerations in mind. Forced marriage has also taken place. [81] [82] Sons and daughters have been encouraged to "marry cousins or other relatives in order to increase and strengthen" the extended family or tribe, [83] "or occasionally to marry into another tribe in order to heal rifts". At least in the 1990s, most marriages in Saudi were "consanguineous"—i.e. between close relatives—sometimes a second cousin but usually a first cousin. [80] and marriage between cousins in Saudi is among the highest rate in the world. [83] The practice has been cited as a factor in higher rates of Type 2 diabetes (which affects about 32% of adult Saudis), hypertension (which affects 33%), [84] and higher rates of severe genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis or a blood disorder, [84] thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, spinal muscular atrophy, deafness and muteness. [84] [85] [86] As a consequence of frequent consanguineous marriage, genetic counseling is a growing field in Saudi Arabia. [87]

Traditionally men having more than one wife (polygyny) was "fairly common", but marriage has become increasingly monogamous as income has declined and western ideas of mutual compatibility between husband and wife have taken hold. [82]

Steps of marriage

Wedding in Saudi Arabia Wedding-KSA-9780445.jpg
Wedding in Saudi Arabia
  • Proposal: traditionally, the prospective groom's senior female leader informs the prospective bride's mother of his intentions. . . both families determine whether or not the marriage would be suitable. [88]
  • Viewing (Shawfa): if assent is given by the two families, the bride is "formally allowed to unveil in the presence of the future husband." This unveiling is delayed until the wedding party among very strict families. [88]
  • Marriage contract (Milka): if the viewing does not stop wedding plans, the amount of the dowery ( mahr ) and other terms are negotiated by the prospective groom and the father (or legal male guardian) of the prospective bride, and are executed (approved) usually by the imam of a mosque and witnessed by two male witnesses (or one man and two women) and recorded by a qadi . [88] The mahr is much higher for a virgin than for a divorcee or widow. [89] According to former diplomat Carol Fleming, as of 2008, a typical Saudi mahr was typically 70,000 SAR (about US$18,660) for a virgin and 20,000 SAR (about US$5,330) for a non-virgin (i.e. widowed or divorced woman). [90] (As some observers—Harvey Tripp and Peter North—put it, "unmarried non-virgins may be lucky to escape with their lives". [89] )
  • Meeting of the families (Shabka): this is a "gala" party of both families, hosted by the bride's family, at which time the bridegroom presents the dowry and an engagement ring to the bride along with other gifts of jewelry. [88]
  • Betrothal (Makhtui, Khatub, or Makhtubayn): "setting the date" for the wedding parties (one for men and one for women) is "considered the formal betrothal." [88]
  • Henna party or ‘Night of the Henna’, is a party based around decorating the hands and feet of the bride with paste made from the henna plant. This is not a mandatory step in Marriage, it is optional, and often rare to happen in the recent years of Saudi Arabia. The occasion stems from South Asian traditions. [91]
  • Wedding celebrations (`Irs, Zaffaf, or Zawaj): usually comes six months to a year after the acceptance of the wedding proposal or based on their agreement. The separate wedding celebrations for men and women are attended by family, close friends and distinguished guests. Traditionally they were held in homes, but today are usually held in large hotel ballrooms or special wedding halls. [92] Each party usually consists of a large dinner featuring roast lamb or baby camel over rice or cracked wheat served on the floor, that begins after `Isha`. A traditional congratulatory phrase the guests tell the groom is 'from you the money; from her the children.' The men's party ends after the dinner, but the bridegroom and the male members of his and the bride's immediate family then go to the women's party. The women's party lasts longer than the men's, is more elaborately decorated, and in addition to food, has music, singing, and dancing. Around midnight, the bridegroom and the other family male members arrive and are announced amidst the ululation or zaghārīt (high keening sound) of the women. The other men then leave, but the groom sits beside his bride on a dais while the party continues. Some wedding celebrations can go on for several days, but the groom need attend only the first night. After all the celebrations, the couple is traditionally escorted to their new home, [92] or leave on their honeymoon. In some weddings, the couple meet for the first time on the final night of celebrations. On their return from the honeymoon if they have one, the couple either set up home with the groom's parents and "become members of the extended family or, as is increasingly the case, set up home by themselves".

Divorce

Saudi Arabia allows the traditional practice of "triple talaq" divorce, where a man can divorce his wife simply by saying ‘I divorce you’ ( ṭalāq ) three times. He can rescind the divorce if this was done in the heat of the moment, but only if the wife agrees (and only on three occasions). The husband must maintain a divorced wife and any children from the marriage if the wife is unable to support herself, although she may have trouble receiving timely payments. [93] Children generally remain with their mother until about five or six, after which boys return to their father to begin their formal education. [94] The husband can claim custody of any sons when they reach the age of ten. Girls more often remain with their mother. [94] A female divorcee usually returns to her family, and few remarry. Despite the liberality of divorce laws, divorce is not commonplace outside of the royal family where it is "endemic". [95] )

Divorce for women who have been abandoned by their husbands in Saudi Arabia has been criticized for being slow. [96] Divorce initiated by a wife ( khula ) is unusual in the kingdom even if a husband has been unfaithful, abused or deserted his wife, or engaged in criminal activity. For female initiated divorce in Saudi, a wife must go to a court for the case to be heard. [97]

LGBT rights

Saudi is one of ten countries where homosexuality is punishable by death (the punishment of stoning to death may be applied to married men who've engaged in homosexual acts or any non-Muslim married or unmarried who commits homosexual acts with a Muslim [98] ) as well as fines, flogging, prison time, on first offense. In April 2020, the Saudi Supreme Court abolished the flogging punishment, and replaced it with jail time or fines or both. [99]

Other customs

As in other Arab and especially Gulf countries, Saudi customs include avoiding certain practices, such as:

Observers have noted the importance of custom and tradition in Saudi society. Folk beliefs such as "which foot to step first into the bathroom with, or urinating on the wheel of a new car to ward off the evil eye," hold an important place. [105]

Older brothers—even if older by only a few days—should have their hand kissed by younger brothers, sit above them on formal occasions, enter a room before them. [106]

Women who go on even short trips of a few days are expected to visit senior relatives and even close neighbors to bid them goodbye, and upon returning, make another round of visits to the same individuals to pay her respects and dispense small gifts. [107] Saudis may "require four to six months" to check their plans with extended family before finalizing them. [108]

One observer has noted that "through their love of language, Saudis are swayed more by words rather than ideas and more by ideas than facts." While vigorous public arguments ("shouting matches") may be commonplace, it "is most unusual to see a Saudi strike another Saudi." This emphasis on rhetoric is reflected in foreign affairs where, for example, the government "regularly condemns the State of Israel in the most vehement and bloodcurdling terms but rarely takes action." [109]

Wasta: A term that refers to the use of connections and relationships to gain benefits and advantages. It is evident all around the world, but specifically in the Middle East. Key features of Wasta can include negations and contracts, better employment opportunities, and social ties. The Wasta culture in Saudi Arabia can connect to their family orientedness with extended family, as someone would always want something to be easier if a connection is present. [110]

Physical environment

Many outsiders are struck by the superficial resemblance of Saudi cities (at least the major cities such as Jeddah, Riyadh and the eastern province), with their superhighways, shopping malls and fast food, to those of post-World War II western cities and suburbs. [111] [112]

Urbanization

As late as 1970, most Saudis lived a subsistence life in the rural provinces, but the kingdom has urbanized rapidly in the last half of the 20th century. As of 2012 about 80% of Saudis live in urban metropolitan areas, specifically Riyadh, Jeddah, or Dammam. [113] [114]

Housing

Residential homes in Yanbu Home in Yanbu City - panoramio.jpg
Residential homes in Yanbu

Saudi houses and housing compounds are often noted for the high walls (3 or 4 metres high) surrounding them, explained as useful in keeping out sandstorms [115] and/or reflective of the families' self-contained outlook on the world. [116]

Style and decoration

Like many people throughout the world, many Saudis derive "much pleasure and pride" in their homes. Saudis enjoy decorating rooms of their homes in "all the colours of the spectrum" and display objets d'art of many different styles together. "Clashes of colour and culture are the norm, not the exception," with the value of an artefact, "rather than consistency of style" being the major criterion of display. Foreigners may also be struck by the lack of finishing touches in construction ("Electrical switches may protrude from the wall supported only by their wiring") or maintenance ("Piles of masonry are likely to lie scattered beside and on the streets of expensive suburbs"). [103]

Islamic heritage sites

The Mosque of the Prophet in Medina containing the tomb of Muhammad Masjid Nabawi The Prophet's Mosque, Madina.jpg
The Mosque of the Prophet in Medina containing the tomb of Muhammad

Saudi Arabia, and specifically the Hejaz, as the cradle of Islam, has many of the most significant historic Muslim sites, including the two holiest sites of Mecca and Medina. [117] One of the King's titles is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the two mosques being Masjid al-Haram in Mecca (which contains Islam's most sacred place, the Kaaba), and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, which contains Muhammad's tomb. [118] [119]

However, Saudi Wahhabism doctrine is hostile! to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise to 'shirk' (that is, idolatry). As a consequence, under Saudi rule, an estimated 95% of Mecca's historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished for religious reasons. [120] Critics claim that over the last 50 years, 300 historic sites linked to Muhammad, his family or companions have been lost, [121] leaving fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad. [122]

Demolished structures include the mosque originally built by Muhammad's daughter Fatima, and other mosques founded by Abu Bakr (Muhammad's father-in-law and the first Caliph), Umar (the second Caliph), Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law and the fourth Caliph), and Salman al-Farsi (another of Muhammad's companions). [123] Other historic buildings that have been destroyed include the house of Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, the house of Abu Bakr, now the site of the local Hilton hotel; the house of Ali-Oraid, the grandson of Muhammad, and the Mosque of abu-Qubais, now the location of the King's palace in Mecca. [122]

Women, youth and foreigners

Women

A Saudi woman riding a horse at Souk Okaz, a yearly cultural festival in the outskirts of Taif Saudi woman in Souk Okaz.jpg
A Saudi woman riding a horse at Souk Okaz, a yearly cultural festival in the outskirts of Taif

While women were forbidden to drive motor vehicles until June 24, 2018 [124] and were consequently limited in mobility, they traditionally have often had considerable informal power in the home. According to journalist Judith Miller, "some Saudi women were veritable tyrants in their own homes. They decided where their children would go to school, when and whom they would marry, whether their husbands would accept new jobs, with whom the family socialized, and where the family would live and spend vacations. They promoted their friends' husbands, sons and relatives to key jobs." [125] David Long, a former American diplomat who had taught in the kingdom, has described Saudi men as "the world's most henpecked". [125]

Outside the home, a number of Saudi women have risen to the top of some professions or otherwise achieved prominence; for example, Dr. Salwa Al-Hazzaa is head of the ophthalmology department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh and was the late King Fahad's personal ophthalmologist. [126] However employment for women is limited, and urban middle and upper-class women spend much time in socializing with the extended family and close friends. [75] Writing in National Geographic Marrianne Alireza noted: "For city women like us the only activity besides living communally within the extended family was leaving our quarters to visit other women in their quarters." [74] [75]

As of 2014, child marriage is still legal [127] [128] [129] but no longer common, [130] [131] with the average age at first marriage among Saudi females being 25 years old. [132] [133] [134] However, in 2019 Members of the Saudi Shoura Council in 2019 approved fresh regulations for minor marriages that will see to outlaw marrying off 15-year-old children and force the need for court approval for those under 18. Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Shoura Council, Dr. Hadi Al-Yami, said that introduced controls were based on in-depth studies presented to the body. He pointed out that the regulation, vetted by the Islamic Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council, has raised the age of marriage to 18 and prohibited it for those under 15. [135] Female literacy (81%) is lower than that of males, [136] [137] but the percentage of university graduates who are women (60%) is higher. [138]

While the kingdom states that the status of women is "a very noble and lofty one", according to leading Islamic scholars, women in Saudi do not have equal rights with men. [139] Outside of Saudi, foreign sources have shown that discrimination of women is a significant problem and that there is an absence of laws criminalizing violence against women. [140] The World Economic Forum 2010 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 129th out of 134 countries for gender parity. [141]

Saudi woman wearing a niqab in Riyadh. Many women commonly wear a niqab or a burqa in Saudi Arabia. Saudi in niqap.jpg
Saudi woman wearing a niqāb in Riyadh. Many women commonly wear a niqab or a burqa in Saudi Arabia.

Under Saudi law, every adult female must have a male relative as her "guardian", [140] whose permission she is required to have in order to travel, study, or work. [142] The guardian is legally entitled to make a number of critical decisions on a woman's behalf. [140] [142] [143] However, women above 18 will soon be allowed to travel abroad without taking their guardians permission as a new law is going to be enacted in this regard in 2019. [144] In August 2019, the law has been already enacted and women above 21 are allowed to travel without a prior permission. [145] The law came into effect at the end of August 2019. [146]

In the courts, the testimony of a woman equals half of a man's and the testimony of one man equals that of two women in family and inheritance law. [140] Men are permitted up to four wives, but women are permitted no more than one husband. [147] Men need no legal justification to unilaterally divorce their wives (talaq), [148] while a woman can only obtain a divorce with the consent of her husband or judicially if her husband has harmed her. [149] With regard to the law of inheritance, the Quran specifies that fixed portions of the deceased's estate must be left to the "Qu'ranic heirs" [150] and so daughters of the deceased will receive half of their brothers. [150]

Saudi women's lives are also shaped by Wahhabi religious policy of strict gender segregation. In health, obesity is a problem among middle and upper class Saudi women, who have domestic servants to do traditional work and have limited ability to leave their house. [151] School sports for girls is forbidden, but as of April 2014, Saudi authorities in the education ministry have been asked by the Shoura Council to consider lifting that ban (with the proviso that any sports conform to Sharia rules on dress and gender segregation, according to the official SPA news agency). [61]

In the public sphere restaurants have specially designated family sections women are required to use. They are also required to wear an abaya and at the very least cover their hair. [140] Women, until June 2018 were forbidden to drive (though exception prior to 2018 were usually made in rural areas). [152] [153] (These restrictions are usually enforced by the "religious police", known as the mutaween . [140] [154] ) Women have been promised the vote in 2015 municipal elections. [155] [156]

Youth

Like many Muslim countries of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has a high population growth rate and high percentage of its population under 30 years of age. Estimates of the young population of Saudi Arabia vary:

Factors such as the decline in per capita income from the failure of oil revenue to keep up with population growth, exposure to youth lifestyles of the outside world, lack of access to quality education and employment opportunity, change in child rearing practices and attitudes towards the ruling royal family—indicate their lives and level of satisfaction will be different than the generation before them.

In recent decades, child rearing in Saudi Arabia has increasingly been handled by hired servants. [160] Since foreign labour is cheap and common, even families of modest means usually have servants. [161] In richer families, each child may have an individual servant. [162]

However, unlike parents, servants can be fired/sacked and are often neither Muslims nor Arabs. Consequently, according to John R. Bradley, they both "lack the authority... to discipline those in their care", and the ability and knowledge to "pass down by example the core Islamic values and traditions that have always formed the bedrock of Saudi society." [163] [164]

Unlike their parents, who grew up during the oil boom of the 1970s and saw their standard of living rise from poverty to affluence, Saudis born "in the 1980s and 1990s have no memory of the impoverished Arabia prior to the oil boom and thus express almost no sense of appreciation." [165]

Instead, they have experienced a kingdom of poor schools, overcrowded universities, and declining job opportunities.. Moreover, their royal rulers' profligate and often non-Islamic lifestyles are increasingly transparent to Saudis and stand in sharp contrast both to Al Saud religious pretensions and to their own declining living standards." [166]

Saudi youth are exposed to youth lifestyles of the outside world via the internet, as dating, and concerts are banned in their country. However, in 2017 concerts were no longer banned in Saudi Arabia. [167] Public fields for soccer are scarce. Even shopping malls do not allow young men unless they are accompanied by a female relative. [168] As of 2014, men are no longer required to have a female relative to be able to enter shopping malls. [169] Insofar as young people have a tendency to "resent authority, reject rules, and seek to exert their independence," youth rebellion is more problematic because the number of "restrictions and conventions against which youth can rebel" in the kingdom is far larger than in most societies. [170] The average age of the king and crown prince is 74, [171] while 50–60% of Saudis are under twenty, creating a significant generation gap between rulers and ruled. [157] [158] [172]

In a 2011 survey, 31% of Saudi youth agreed with the statement `traditional values are outdated and ... I am keen to embrace modern values and beliefs`—the highest percentage in the ten Arab countries surveyed. [173] [174] [175] The number who had confidence about the direction of their country dropped from 98% (in 2010) to 62%. [165] [174] While in most societies these numbers might seem unremarkable, in Saudi Arabia any rebellion stands out against "the unquestioning acceptance ... of previous generations". [170]

Nearly two-thirds of university graduates earn degrees in Islamic subjects, [176] where job prospects are in the public sector, dependent on government revenues. However, funding for public sector may decline not expand in coming years. At least some experts expect the kingdom's expenditures to "exceed its oil revenues as soon as 2014." [177]

Unemployment among 20- to 24-year-olds is 39% – 45% for women and 30.3% for men—compared to an official unemployment rate of 10% circa 2012. [178]

Tafheet

The sport of Tafheet also called "drifting" or joyriding—illegal street racing-like phenomenon of generally non-modified factory-setup rental cars at very high speeds, around 160–260 km/h (100–160 mph), across wide highways throwing the car left and right that is especially popular in the margins of society—has been noted by observers. [179] A 2004 school survey carried out in the kingdom's three biggest cities found that 45% of teenage boys were involved to some degree in joyriding. [180] The sport has been described as "tyre-burning acrobatics often in stolen or 'borrowed' cars before a flash-mob of youthful admirers." As a dangerous, illegal, and unregulated activity, crashes and fatalities sometimes occur. [180]

Foreigners

Pakistani workers at Al Masjid Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina Al Masjid Nabavi Madina pakistani labor - panoramio.jpg
Pakistani workers at Al Masjid Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) in Medina

Since the 1960s there has been a significant number of guest workers/foreign expatriates allowed into Saudi on work visas, and these now make up around 20–30% of the population of the country. Guest workers range in occupation from high skilled workers (employed to do jobs Saudis cannot do), to manual service workers (doing jobs Saudis "will not do"). [181] A number of sources describe a "pecking order" among workers established by factors such as the importance of your employer, [182] and country of origin. One source places workers from Gulf oil producing countries at the top, [182] another places Americans there, [183] but all agree that Nationals from places like Bangladesh, Yemen and Philippines are at the bottom. [182] [183] While foreign workers from Western countries are now a small minority, numbering only approximately 100,000, [184] most of whom live in compounds or gated communities.

With a large number of unemployed Saudis, a growing population and need for government spending but stagnating oil revenues with which to pay foreign workers, the large number of expats has come to be seen as "an enormous problem" that "distorts" the Saudi economy and "keeps young people out of the labour market." [185]

In October 2011, the Saudi Labour Ministry put a "ceiling" on the number of guest workers at 20% of the Saudi population, requiring a reduction of foreign population by up to three million over several years. [186] In March 2013, a campaign was initiated to "get rid of its illegal foreign workers, control the legal ones", and lower native-born Saudi unemployment. [185] Approximately one million Bangladeshis, Indians, Filipinos, Nepalis, Pakistanis and Yemenis left between the campaign's beginning and the deadline (November 4, 2013), with authorities planning to expel another one million illegal foreigners in 2014. [185] Ethiopians were a particular target of the campaign, with thousands expelled. [185] Various human rights entities have criticised Saudi Arabia's handling of the issue. [187] Prior to this workers were sometimes not hired or expelled as a way of registering Saudi disapproval of the workers' country. Saudi Arabia expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991 during the Gulf War due to Yemen's support for Saddam Hussein against Saudi Arabia, [188] and cut the number of Bangladeshis allowed to enter Saudi in 2013 after the Bangladeshi government cracked down on the Islamist Jamaat-e Islami party there. [189]

Serenata, a Filipino children's choir in Jeddah SERENATA December Performance.JPG
Serenata, a Filipino children's choir in Jeddah

The Saudi–Yemen barrier was constructed by Saudi Arabia against an influx of illegal immigrants and against the smuggling of drugs and weapons. [190] A 2004 law passed by Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers, entitles Muslim [191] expatriates of all nationalities (except Palestinian) who have resided in the kingdom for ten years to apply for citizenship with priority being given to holders of degrees in various scientific fields. [192] (The estimated 240,000 Palestinians living in Saudi Arabia are excluded, because of Arab League agreement instructions barring the Arab states from granting them citizenship of another Arab state.)

Treatment of foreign workers is also an issue. According to Human Rights Watch, as of 2014, there was a "worrying trend" of expatriate domestic workers filing "complaints of exploitation and abuse" only to face counter-allegations by their employers of "theft, witchcraft or adultery." 41 expat workers from just one country, Indonesia, faced "possible death sentences" in Saudi Arabia on charges "ranging from black magic to stealing, adultery and murder". [193]

In 2014 Saudi men were banned from marrying women from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Chad. [194]

Legacy of slavery

The history of slavery in the Arabian Peninsula goes back hundreds of years, but with time the racism of slavery in the Arabian Peninsula disappeared. Slavery was banned in 1962 and was succeeded by the kafala system.

Food and drink

Today, Saudis follow many of their traditional habits, especially in food and drinks. As many Saudis are originally descended from tribes of sheep and goat herders, many Saudi dishes are mainly made of sheep meat. [195]

Saudi Arabian cuisine is similar to that of the surrounding countries in the Arabian Peninsula, and has been heavily influenced by Turkish, Persian, and African food. Animals are slaughtered in accordance with halal Islamic dietary laws, which consider pork forbidden ( haram ) and alcohol forbidden ( haram ). As a general rule, Saudis (like other Muslims) consider impure pork to be disgusting, but forbidden alcohol a temptation. Consequently, dietary laws regarding the former are more strictly observed than those regarding the latter. [196]

Religious limitations

People of Saudi Arabia are restricted by the religious norms related to food and drink. Thus, alcohol is prohibited in Islam and, accordingly, it is prevented in the country. [197] Furthermore, pork is also prohibited and Saudis do not eat it. Nevertheless, cows, sheep, chicken and other types of animals can't be eaten unless they are slaughtered according to the Islamic law. [198]

Cuisine

A dish consisting of a stuffed lamb, known as khūzī, is the traditional national dish. Kebabs are popular, as is shāwarmā, a marinated grilled meat dish of lamb, mutton, or chicken, sometimes wrapped in flat bread. As in other Arab countries of the Arabian Peninsula, machbūs (kabsa), a rice dish with fish or shrimp, is popular. Flat, unleavened bread is a staple of virtually every meal, as are dates and fresh fruit. Coffee, served in the Arabic style, is the traditional beverage. [5]

The appearance of modern supermarkets and commercial restaurants starting in the 1970s has changed Saudi culinary habits. International cuisine, particularly fast food, has become popular in all Saudi urban areas (i.e. in 80% of the country). [199] While traditionally Saudis ate sitting on the floor using the right hand or flat bread to take food from a roasted lamb, goat or camel carcass, [200] the practice of eating while sitting on a chair at a table has become more standard practice, if not the use of knives and forks. [201]

Table manners

Coffee is often served "with great ceremony", and it is customary for a person to drink two or three cups to indicate their approval of the coffee. Cups are refilled unless a gesture—shaking the cup—is made to indicate the coffee-drinker has had enough. [202] It is considered good manners for a guest to eat heartily. [201]

Food sources

Saudi Arabia is a deserted country where many oases can be found. Accordingly, over 18 million date palms are planted in the country and 600 million pounds of dates are produced every year. Thus, dates are considered one of the main and permanent fruits in Saudi Arabia, particularly in Ramadan when dates are eaten in sunset by fasters to break their fast. Additionally, dates are eaten as a snack and many Saudi desserts are made of dates. [203] Besides dates, numerous kinds of foodstuffs are planted in Saudi Arabia, including wheat, rice, beans, watermelon and others. Animals, such as goats, sheep, cows and camels are also nurtured in the country. [204]

News media

Educated Saudis are well-informed of issues of the Arab world, the Islamic world, and the world at large, but freedom of the press and public expression of opinion are not recognized by the government. [5] The Basic Law of Saudi Arabia states that the media's role is to educate and inspire national unity, and are prohibited from acts that lead "to disorder and division". [205] News stories, public speeches and other acts of personal expression cannot conflict with traditional Islamic values, or dissent from government policy, insult government officials, especially the royal family, and cannot delve too deeply into certain sensitive and taboo subject matters that might embarrass the government or spread dissent, i.e. the role of women in Saudi society, the treatment of Shiite Muslims, damage caused by natural disasters, or social problems such as the AIDS-HIV pandemic and human trafficking. [5]

Most Saudi Arabian newspapers are privately-owned but subsidized and regulated by the government. [206] As of 2013, BBC News reported that criticism of the government and royal family and the questioning of Islamic tenets "are not generally tolerated. Self-censorship is pervasive." [207] As of 2014, Freedom House [208] rates the kingdom's press and internet "Not Free".

Civil society

Labor unions and political parties are prohibited in the kingdom, although a few underground political parties do exist. The government has created a national "Consultative Council" (which is appointed not elected, and does not pass laws), and has given permission for certain "societies" to exist (though they have little ability to influence government policy). [209] Informal public discussion of public policy is not actively encouraged, although it is not expressly illegal per se, unless it is deemed to be promoting immorality, dissent or disloyalty. Limited non-partisan municipal elections were held in 2005.

Sport

Saudi football fans cheering for their national football team at the FIFA World Cup Saudi fans in Russia.jpg
Saudi football fans cheering for their national football team at the FIFA World Cup

Football, commonly known as soccer, stands as the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia, captivating the nation with its fervor and widespread appeal. Embraced by millions of Saudis across all age groups, football serves as a unifying force within the kingdom, fostering a deep sense of camaraderie and national pride. The Saudi Pro League, featuring top-tier clubs such as Al Hilal, Al Nassr, and Al Ittihad, garners immense attention, drawing fervent support from devoted fans who pack stadiums in a display of unwavering loyalty. Moreover, the Saudi Arabia national football team's participation in international competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, serves as a source of immense national pride, galvanizing the populace and igniting celebrations across the kingdom. Beyond its role as a mere pastime, football in Saudi Arabia transcends cultural and societal boundaries, embodying a shared passion that resonates deeply within the fabric of Saudi society. [210]

60 football clubs are participating in three main professional football league levels; the Saudi Professional League involving 16 football clubs, Prince Mohammad bin Salman League with 20 clubs and Second Division with 24 clubs. The demotics competitions also include some cups such as King club, Crown Prince Cup and Saudi Super Cup. [211]

The Saudi Arabia national football team has qualified five times for FIFA World Cup competitions, in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, and most recently, in 2018. [212] Moreover, it qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 10 times and had won three of them. [213]

Recently, some Saudi players have become skilled enough to play in Europe. The players were sent to Spain to play in the La Liga aiming to improve their skills better. [214]

Basketball is also popular. The Saudi Arabia national team won the bronze medal at the 1999 Asian Championship.

Horse racing is also another diversion in Saudi Arabia which has a historical and cultural legacy where Friday afternoon is the traditional time of horse racing in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. [215] [216] The establishment of the Equestrian Club of Riyadh in 1965 was a result of the importance of horse racing. [217] Moreover, now Saudis are the dominant player in some international horse racing such as Royal Ascot to Longchamp and Melbourne. [216]

King Abdullah practicing falconry, a traditional pursuit in Saudi Arabia King Abdullah in his youth.jpg
King Abdullah practicing falconry, a traditional pursuit in Saudi Arabia

Falconry is another sport with long traditions rooted in Bedouin culture. [218] It mainly consists of raising falcons, training them and using them for hunting. [219] Despite the inscription of Falconry by the UNESCO as a living human heritage, [220] [221] it is also emerging as a sport. [219]

Camel racing is a uniquely Arabian sport practiced in the kingdom (and the UAE) that still has some mass popularity. There are camel racetracks in most of the kingdom's major centres, and races for prize money on many weekends throughout the winter months. Like racehorses, camels with breeding pedigrees may be very valuable. [222]

Women's sport

In 2012, Saudi Arabia included women in its Olympic team for the first time. Two female athletes—a runner and judoka—participated. The inclusion followed international criticism for years of exclusion, [223] but was controversial in the kingdom, and "prompted some to abuse the morals" of the athletes on social media. [224]

As of April 2014, Saudi authorities in the education ministry have been asked by the Shoura Council to consider lifting a state school ban on sports for girls with the proviso that any sports conform to Sharia rules on dress and gender segregation, according to the official SPA news agency. [61]

Women participation have then increased as four athletes were sent to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. They were two runner Sarah Attar, and Cariman Abu al-Jadail joined by judo athlete Wujud Fahmi and fencing competitor Lubna al-Omair. [225]

In 2018, more than 1300 girls participated in a 3 km marathon, al-Ahsa Runs, for the first time in the country. [226]

Arts and entertainment

Visual arts tend to be dominated by geometric, floral, and abstract designs and by calligraphy. Sunni Islam traditionally prohibits creating representations of people. With the advent of oil wealth in the 20th century came exposure to outside influences, such as Western housing styles, furnishings, and clothes. [227]

Calligraphy is the art of forming arranging beautiful letters and symbols, and it is among the dominant art forms in Saudi Arabia. This art has been emerging in different themes such as metalwork, ceramics, glass textiles, painting, and sculpture. [228]

Apart from the dominant art forms, there were some portrait paintings and sculptures produced by some artists in the 1960s like Artist Dia Aziz Dia from Jeddah. [229]

Wall painted with Al-Qatt Al-Asiri Al-Qatt Al-Asiri Wall Art.jpg
Wall painted with Al-Qatt Al-Asiri

Al-Qatt Al-Asiri is another essential art form represents the identity of the Asir region. It is the art of interior wall decoration usually carried out by women. The base of this art is white gypsum with colorful patterns of geometric shapes and symbol painted on it. [230] This art form is now inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The ten-day-long Jenadriyah National Festival celebrates the founding of the kingdom and showcases Saudi culture and heritage, traditional crafts such as pottery and woodcutting, folk dance and traditional songs. [231]

Music and dance

Music and dance have always been part of Saudi life. Bedouin poetry, known as nabaṭī, is still very popular. [5] Traditional music is generally associated with poetry and is sung collectively. Instruments include the rabābah, an instrument not unlike a three-string fiddle, and various types of percussion instruments, such as the ṭabl (drum) and the ṭār (tambourine). Al-sihba folk music has its origins in al-Andalus. In Mecca, Medina and Jeddah, dance and song incorporate the sound of the mizmar , an oboe-like woodwind instrument, in the performance of the mizmar dance. The drum is also an important instrument according to traditional and tribal customs. Samri is a popular traditional form of music and dance in which poetry is sung. Of the native dances, the most popular is a martial line dance known as the Al Ardha, which includes lines of men, frequently armed with swords or rifles, dancing to the beat of drums and tambourines. As one non-Saudi described it, the performance consists of: "barefooted males clad in their normal street clothes of thobe and gutra jumping up and down mostly in one spot while wielding swords". [232]

Dahha is another popular dance in Northern Saudi performed by one line of men or two lines facing each other while a man in between sings a poem which can be a satirical, eulogy or a descriptive poem. [233]

Literature

Bedouin poetry is a cultural tradition in Saudi Arabia. According to Sandra Mackey, author of The Saudis: Inside the Desert Kingdom, "the role that formal poetry, prose, and oratory play in Saudi culture is totally alien to Western culture." [234] Mackey explained that the Bedouin poet was the origin of Saudi society's traditionally strong attachment to the concept of language. [234] She said that poetry "can arise in the most curious of situations" due to the role of poetry in Saudi culture. [234]

The literary renaissance began during the first quarter of the 20th century where the literary genre of poetry was improved in language and number of poets. The pioneer poets during that era include Mohammed Faqi (1914-2004), Tahir Zamakhshri (1914-1987), and Hasan Alqurashi (1926-2004). [235]

Novel writing is another literary genre in Saudi literature where the first Saudi novel was The Twins (1930) by Abdul Alquddus Alansari. [236] In the modern era of Saudi novel, some novel writer becomes popular like Turki Alhamad, Abdu Khal Raja Alim. [236]

Theatre in Saudi Arabia back to 1928 where their origins were schools. The earliest attempts were in Qassim and Makkah, and subsequently, universities contributed to the theatre activities. [237] [235]

Contemporary Saudi novelists and artists include:

Entertainment

VOX Cinemas movie theater (center) at Riyadh Front in 2023 Riyadh Front, 2023.jpg
VOX Cinemas movie theater (center) at Riyadh Front in 2023

During the 1970s, cinemas were numerous in the kingdom although they were seen as contrary to tribal norms. [239] All cinemas and theaters were closed in 1980 as a political response to the Islamic revival and the increase in Islamist activism, most particularly the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. As of 2018, cinemas opened in multiple cities including Riyadh and Jeddah.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 should bring cinemas back to the country in early 2018. [240] [241] The establishment of the General Authority for Entertainment in 2016 has pushed for entertainment options of the including cinemas, public concerts, international conferences, competitions, singing show and other cultural activities. [242] [243]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2003: p.28
  2. ↑ Khelaif, Fahad (1996). Islamic law and the judiciary : development in Saudi Arabia in the 20th century (Ph.D. thesis). School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London). Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  3. ↑ Shafi, Aadil (September 21, 2021). "The Changing Contours of Saudi Arabia: Mohammed bin Salman and the Paradox of Saudi Reforms". Insight Turkey (in Turkish). 23: 253–261. doi:10.25253/99.2021233.13. S2CID   244248052.
  4. ↑ "Weekend shift: A welcome change", SaudiGazette.com.sa, June 24, 2013 "Weekend shift: A welcome change | Front Page | Saudi Gazette". Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Encyclopædia Britannica Online: Saudi Arabia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  6. ↑ Lacey, Robert (2009). Inside the Kingdom : Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia . Viking. p.  267. ISBN   9780670021185. "... for decades the sheikhs successfully resisted attempts to add September 23 to the shortlist of official holidays. But with the accession of [King] Abdullah, the battlefield changed. If the king wanted a holiday, the king could grant it, and whatever the clerics might mutter, the people approved. Since 2006 the night of September 23 has become an occasion for national mayhem in Saudi Arabia, the streets blocked with green-flag-waving cars, many of them sprayed with green foam for the night.
  7. ↑ Govender, Veloshnee, and Loveday Penn-Kekana. "Gender biases and discrimination: a review of health care interpersonal interactions." Global public health 3.S1 (2008): 90–103
  8. ↑ "Saudi Arabia – Religion". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Islam | The Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". www.saudiembassy.net. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Saudi Arabia 2017 International Religious Freedom Report" (PDF). International Religious Freedom Report for 2017. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 29, 2018.
  11. ↑ Ezzi, Shaza; Teal, Elizabith; Ezzo, G. Martine (December 2014). "The influence of Islamic values on connected generation students in Saudi Arabia". Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies. 9.
  12. ↑ "Sorry! Closed for prayer". Arab News. December 1, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  13. ↑ Crown Prince on women, abaya and moderate islam, March 20, 2018, retrieved October 29, 2019
  14. ↑ AFP (April 5, 2018). "Saudi Arabia's first cinema to open on April 18". Arabian Business. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2009: p. 154–155
  16. ↑ "Saudi Arabia has switched to a 'Western' calendar to save money". The Independent. October 3, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  17. ↑ the time varying according to sunrise and sunset times
  18. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2009: p.214
  19. 1 2 "Saudi Arabia changes weekend start". June 24, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  20. ↑ "دليل الشركات السعودية الدليل السعودي 2021 و المصدر السعودي". دليل الشركات السعودية الدليل السعودي 2021 و المصدر السعودي (in Arabic). Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  21. ↑ Stacey, Aisha (2013). "Friday – The Best Day of the Week". IslamReligion.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Ramadan: A time of spiritual transformation for Muslims". Arab News. May 13, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  23. ↑ Satt, Harit (June 1, 2017). "Eid Mawlid al-Nabi, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha; optimism and impact on analysts' recommendations: Evidence From MENA region". Arab Economic and Business Journal. 12 (1): 57–67. doi: 10.1016/j.aebj.2017.04.001 . hdl: 10419/187537 . ISSN   2214-4625. S2CID   158515315.
  24. ↑ Review. "Unloved in Arabia" By Max Rodenbeck. The New York Review of Books, Volume 51, Number 16 · October 21, 2004
  25. ↑ "Saudi Arabia, a kingdom divided" Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine The Nation, May 22, 2006. Retrieved February 6, 2011,
  26. ↑ from p.195 of a review by Joshua Teitelbum, Middle East Studies, Vol. 38, No. 4, October 2002, of Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia by anthropologist Mai Yamani, quoting p.116 |quote=Saudis of all stripes interviewed expressed a desire for the kingdom to remain a Muslim society ruled by an overtly Muslim state. Secularist are simply not to be found. [Both traditional and somewhat westernized Saudis she talked to mediate their concerns] though the certainties of religion.
  27. ↑ Saudi Arabia: International Religious Freedom Report 2008
  28. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: International Religious Freedom Report 2013". U.S. State Department. November 17, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  29. ↑ Human Rights Watch (2009). Denied dignity: systematic discrimination and hostility toward Saudi Shia citizens. Human Rights Watch. pp. 2, 8–10. ISBN   978-1564325358.
  30. ↑ Islamic Political Culture, Democracy, and Human Rights: A Comparative Study, p 93 Daniel E. Price – 1999
  31. ↑ Saudi Arabia's Shia press for rights| bbc|by Anees al-Qudaihi | March 24, 2009
  32. ↑ Council on Foreign Relations Archived April 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine | Author: Lionel Beehner| June 16, 2006
  33. ↑ Nasr, Shia Revival (2006) p. 236
  34. ↑ "Saudi Arabia – Culture". Country Stats. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  35. ↑ Human Rights Watch (2009). Denied dignity: systematic discrimination and hostility toward Saudi Shia citizens. Human Rights Watch. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-56432-535-8.
  36. 1 2 3 4 Owen, Richard (March 17, 2008). "Saudi Arabia extends hand of friendship to Pope". The Times. London. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  37. 1 2 "Saudi Arabia: International Religious Freedom Report 2010". U.S. State Department. November 17, 2010. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  38. ↑ "Saudi Arabia: 2 Years Behind Bars on Apostasy Accusation". Human Rights Watch. May 15, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  39. ↑ Samuel Smith (December 18, 2014) "Saudi Arabia's New Law Imposes Death Sentence for Bible Smugglers?". The Christian Post.
  40. ↑ "SAUDI ARABIA IMPOSES DEATH SENTENCE FOR BIBLE SMUGGLING" Archived April 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . handsoffcain.info. November 28, 2014
  41. ↑ Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents, The Independent, March 4, 2014
  42. ↑ Rodrigo Basco; Andrea Calabrò; Albert E. James; Jeremy Cheng; Luis Díaz Matajira; Nupur Pavan Bang; Georges Samara, eds. (May 13, 2022). Family Business Case Studies Across the World. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN   9781800884250.
  43. ↑ Blog, Gurfati (2017-04-28). "العادات والتقاليد السعودية". Gurfati Blog (باللغة الإنجليزية). مؤرشف من الأصل في 14 أكتوبر 2018. اطلع عليه بتاريخ 11 مارس 2019.
  44. ↑ Jambi, Rahaf (October 3, 2023). "Maintaining family traditions and ties plays an important role in Riyadh social life". Arab News . Riyadh . Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  45. 1 2 Long, Culture and Customs, 2009: p.79-80
  46. ↑ McLaughlin, Elle. "Saudi Arabia Culture & Protocol". USA Today. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  47. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2009: p.89
  48. ↑ Long, David E. (2005). Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp.  58–9. ISBN   9780313320217.
  49. ↑ Sharp, Arthur G. "What's a Wahhabi?". net places. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
  50. 1 2 Long, Culture and Customs, 2005: pp. 57–9
  51. ↑ "Women in Saudi Arabia do not need to wear head cover, says crown prince". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  52. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2009: pp.92–4
  53. ↑ "Saudi Arabia to offer new visas, relax dress code for foreign tourists". September 27, 2019.
  54. ↑ "Saudi Arabia relaxes dress code for women tourists". September 30, 2019.
  55. ↑ "Saudi crown prince's bid to scale-up tourism, already eased abaya rule for women". www.timesnownews.com. February 20, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  56. ↑ SHARKEY, JOE (March 14, 2011). "On a Visit to Saudi Arabia, Doing What the Saudis Do". The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2015. [U.S.] State Department guidelines note, for example, that the religious police can "pressure women to wear" the full-length black covering known as an abaya, "and to cover their heads."
  57. ↑ Tripp, Culture Shock, 2003: p.108
  58. ↑ Bradley, John R. (2005). Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis . macmillan. p.  5. ISBN   9781403970770 . Retrieved August 20, 2014. thobe wahhabism.
  59. ↑ Sekka (October 1, 2017). "Abayas: Were they originally black or colored?". Sekka. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  60. ↑ Long, Culture and Customs, 2005: pp.60–1
  61. 1 2 3 4 McDowall, Angus (January 19, 2014). "Saudi Arabia doubles private sector jobs in 30-month period". Reuters. Retrieved May 12, 2014. Although the official employment rate is around 12 percent, economists estimate only 30–40 percent of working-age Saudis hold jobs or actively seek work. Most Saudis in jobs are employed by the government
  62. ↑ McDowall, Angus (January 19, 2014). "Saudi Arabia doubles private sector jobs in 30-month period". Reuters. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  63. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia: Its People, past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 159.
  64. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 157.
  65. ↑ Tripp, Harvey; North, Peter (2009). CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Saudi Arabia (3rd ed.). Marshall Cavendish. pp. 208–11.
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  80. 1 2 Zuhur, Sherifa (October 31, 2011). Saudi Arabia. ABC-CLIO. p. 226. ISBN   9781598845716. In Saudi Arabia, the rate of consanguineous marriage (to a close relative, a second cousin or closer, usually a first cousin) is very high, at 57.7% nationally (El-Hamzi et al. 1995); and other studies indicate it is 51.2% in Riyadh (Al Hussain and Al Bunyan 1997) and 52% in Damman (al-Abdulkareem and Ballal 1998).
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  105. ↑ Bradley, John R. (2005). Saudi Arabia Exposed : Inside a Kingdom in Crisis . Palgrave. p.  93. ISBN   9781403964335. To an outsider, the ability to hold manifestly inconsistent views to cover the picture of a woman but ogle real women sunbathing .... may seem like outright hypocrisy. But Saudi's thinking patterns revolve around a series of rituals, obsessions, and categories that are self-contained. On the one hand devoutly religious and strictly so; on the other, prone to folk beliefs akin to magic and superstition, including which foot to step first into the bathroom with, or urinating on the wheel of a new car to ward off the evil eye. Their behavior does not reach the self-conscious level of hypocrisy, of believing one thing and doing another, for it is a set of dissonant beliefs that they do not even recognize coexist at the same time.
  106. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 132. [conservative Prince Abdul Aziz bin Sattam] recounts how a cousin a few days older than he encouraged Prince Abdul Aziz to enter the room first. Abdul Aziz's father, witnessing this break with tradition, quickly corrected the younger men. `I am only fifteen days older than my brother Ahmed, and I enter in front of him,` Prince Sattam told his son. In other words stick with tradition. Abdul Aziz says his father Prince Sattam, governor of Riyadh since 2011, kissed the hand of his older half-brother, Prince Salman, who preceded him in that post, each times the two met during the 40 years Prince Sattam served as Prince Salman's deputy governor. Similarly, at formal occasions, Prince Sattam understands that his nephew, Prince Saud al Faisal, the kingdom's foreign minister, sits above him because Saud is older. Tradition means predictability, and predictability means that everyone royal or otherwise knows his or her place in society.
  107. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 63. "Something as simple as a wife accompanying her husband on a brief trip abroad is laden with rules and norms that trap her into largely self-induced inaction. A young Saudi mother, ... describes with dismay how tradition prevented her mother from accompanying her father on a short trip ... If a Saudi woman is traveling, Ranan explains, she is expected to visit senior relatives and even close neighbors to bid them goodbye. Upon her return, she is obliged to make another round of visits to the same individuals to pay her respects and dispense small gifts. To simply pack her bag and fly off for a few days with her husband would break society's conventions and thus disrupt social harmony, exposing her to negative gossip and bringing shame upon her family. So confronted with that heavy load of tradition, the wife simply stayed home. (p.63).
  108. ↑ House, Karen Elliott (2012). On Saudi Arabia : Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future. Knopf. p. 64. [the daughter, Rana, however, was much to up to date for that] she recounts flying to neighboring Dubai with her two children for a four-day holiday after `only` two weeks of planning with her extended family. `It was as satisfying as if I had gone to the moon, to travel with so little planning,` she ways, explaining that normally Saudis require four to six months to check their plans with extended family before finalizing them.
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  110. ↑ "Wasta: How personal connections are denying citizens opportunities…". Transparency.org. December 11, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  111. ↑ Bradley, John R. (2005). Saudi Arabia Exposed : Inside a Kingdom in Crisis . Palgrave. p. xiii. ISBN   9781403964335. Jeddah ... at first glance, nothing more inspiring than a bland Chicago suburb: so Westernized and modern with its flashing neon lights, its massive shopping malls.
  112. ↑ Tripp, Harvey; North, Peter (2009). CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Saudi Arabia (3rd ed.). Marshall Cavendish. p. 78. On the surface, the culture of Western consumerism seems alive and well in Saudi Arabia as in most places. People strive to build enormous houses for themselves and their extended families. Young Saudi men drive souped-up cars, patronize fast food outlets and wear designer jeans. Shopping malls offer a global selection of merchandise and trade long into the night. But at a deeper level, Saudi Arabia and the West are poles apart ...
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The history of Saudi Arabia as a nation state began with the emergence of the Al Saud dynasty in central Arabia in 1727 and the subsequent establishment of the Emirate of Diriyah. Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia</span>

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy in which Sunni Islam is the official state religion based on firm Sharia law. Non-Muslims must practice their religion in private and are vulnerable to discrimination and arrest. While no law requires all citizens to be Muslim, non-Muslim foreigners attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam. Children born to Muslim fathers are by law deemed Muslim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saudi Arabia</span> Country in Western Asia

Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia and the largest in the Middle East. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of almost 32.2 million, Saudi Arabia is the fourth most populous country in the Arab world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Saudi Arabia</span>

The music of Saudi Arabia includes both Western and traditional music. The most distinguished musician in recent Saudi history is Tariq Abdulhakeem, who composed hundreds of famous Saudi songs for himself as well as for other singers; Saraj Omar has become a very prominent composer after writing the music for the Saudi national anthem; Mohammed Abdu, dubbed the artist of the Arab world; Talal Maddah who died in August 2000 while singing in the summer festival on the stage of Al-Muftaha Theatre in the southern region of Saudi Arabia. The 1st Arab Pioneers Festival, which was held in Cairo under the patronage of the Arab League, honored four of the lead composers in Saudi Arabia: Tariq Abdulhakeem, Ghazi Ali, Mohamed Alsenan, and Mohammed Shafiq. Of the same generation are the oud virtuoso Abadi al Johar, Rabeh Saqer and Abdul-Majeed Abdullah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abaya</span> Simple, loose over-garment wore by women, especially Muslim women

The abaya, sometimes also called an aba, is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in the Muslim world including most of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of the Horn of Africa. Traditional abayas are usually black and may either be a large square of fabric draped from the shoulders or head or a long kaftan. The abaya covers the whole body except the head (sometimes), feet, and hands. It can be worn with the niqāb, a face veil covering all but the eyes. Some women also wear long black gloves, so their hands are covered as well. It is common that the abaya be worn on special occasions, such as mosque visits, Islamic holiday celebrations for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, and also during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Saudi Arabia</span>

Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is called the "home of Islam"; it was the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who united and ruled the Arabian Peninsula. It is the location of the cities of Mecca and Medina, where Prophet Muhammad lived and died, and are now the two holiest cities of Islam. The kingdom attracts millions of Muslim Hajj pilgrims annually, and thousands of clerics and students who come from across the Muslim world to study. The official title of the King of Saudi Arabia is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques"—the two being Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina—which are considered the holiest in Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)</span> Government agency in Saudi Arabia

The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is a government religious authority in Saudi Arabia that is charged with implementing the Islamic doctrine of hisbah in the country. Established in 1940, the body gained extensive powers in the 1980s and continued to function as a semi-independent civilian law enforcement agency for almost 35 years until 2016, when societal reforms driven by then-deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman led to limiting some of its authority through a royal decree by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, including the rights of pursuing, questioning, detaining, and interrogating suspects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people in Saudi Arabia face repression and discrimination. The government of Saudi Arabia provides no legal protections for LGBT rights. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal within the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Saudi Arabia</span>

Public education in Saudi Arabia—from primary education through college—is open to every Saudi citizen. Education is the second-largest sector of government spending in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia spends 8.8% of its gross domestic product on education, which is nearly double the global average of 4.6%. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country and therefore Islam is interwoven in every part of society, also in education. Islamic studies are part of the education system alongside scientific and social studies that vary from educational institution to another. Important goals of education in Saudi Arabia are to teach the students the economic, religious and social norms of the country. They also want to reduce the high illiteracy. The education system consists of 3 levels: primary education, intermediate education and secondary education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the Arab world</span> Attitude and role of women in the Arab world

Women in the Arab world have been subject to changing cultural and social norms over the centuries with a clear difference between Urban areas, Rural areas and age groups. These differences can be attributed to local traditions, culture and religion, women's social or legal status, their level of education, health or self-awareness. Since the 19th century, and notably through the influence of the colonization in North Africa, the Arab Renaissance in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, and the end of the Ottoman Empire, the social and economic changes in the Arab world have become greatly accelerated and diversified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's rights in Saudi Arabia</span>

Women's rights in Saudi Arabia is a topic of international concern and controversy. Women in Saudi Arabia experience widespread discrimination in Saudi politics, economy and society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Saudi Arabia</span>

Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia.

Islamic religious police are official Islamic vice squad police agencies, often in Muslim-majority countries, which enforce religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regional authorities based on its interpretation of sharīʿah. Modern Islamic religious police forces were first established in the late-1970s amidst the Iranian Revolution (1979) and the Islamic revival that the event brought to the Muslim world; prior, the administration of public morality in most Muslim-majority countries was considered a socio-religious matter, and was enforced through application of civil laws and/or through more informal means.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal system of Saudi Arabia</span>

The legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on Sharia, Islamic law derived from the Quran and the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The sources of Sharia also include Islamic scholarly consensus developed after Muhammad's death. Its interpretation by judges in Saudi Arabia is influenced by the medieval texts of the literalist Hanbali school of Fiqh. Uniquely in the Muslim world, Sharia has been adopted by Saudi Arabia in an uncodified form. This, and the lack of judicial precedent, has resulted in considerable uncertainty in the scope and content of the country's laws. The government therefore announced its intention to codify Sharia in 2010, and, in 2018, a sourcebook of legal principles and precedents was published by the Saudi government. Sharia has also been supplemented by regulations issued by royal decree covering modern issues such as intellectual property and corporate law. Nevertheless, Sharia remains the primary source of law, especially in areas such as criminal, family, commercial and contract law, and the Qur'an and the Sunnah are declared to be the country's constitution. In the areas of land and energy law the extensive proprietorial rights of the Saudi state constitute a significant feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saudis</span> Citizens and nationals of Saudi Arabia

Saudis or Saudi Arabians are an ethnic group and nation native to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who speak the Arabic language, a Central Semitic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. They are mainly composed of Arabs and live in the five historical Regions: Najd, Hejaz, Asir, Tihamah and Al-Ahsa; the regions which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded on or what was formerly known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd in the Arabian Peninsula. Saudis speak one of the dialects of Peninsular Arabic, including the Hejazi, Najdi, Gulf and Southern Arabic dialects, as a mother tongue.

The modern history of Saudi Arabia begins with the declaration of the unification of Saudi Arabia in a single kingdom in 1932. This period of time in Saudi Arabia's history includes the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and many events. It goes on to encompass Saudi Arabia's brief involvement in World War II in 1945. Afterwards, it includes Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Western Bloc and the Cold War. It also includes Saudi Arabia's proxy conflict with Iran, the Arab Spring, and the ongoing Arab Winter.

Saudi Arabia is a theocracy organized according to the principles of Islam, which puts emphasis on the importance of knowledge and education. In Islamic belief, obtaining knowledge is the only way to gain true understanding of life, and as such, both men and women are encouraged to study. Saudi Arabia is one of the G20 Economies and has a $1 Trillion GDP. In 2016, it launched one of the most significant programs globally - Vision 2030. In 2021, women's college graduation rates exceeded those of men's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International propagation of Salafism</span>

Starting in the mid-1970s and 1980s, Salafism and Wahhabism — along with other Sunni interpretations of Islam favored by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies — achieved a "preeminent position of strength in the global expression of Islam."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex segregation in Saudi Arabia</span>

Sexual segregation in Saudi Arabia is a cultural practice and government policy which keeps Saudi wives, sisters and daughters away from contact with male strangers (non-mahram) and vice versa. However, since Mohammed bin Salman was appointed Crown Prince in 2017, a series of social reforms have been witnessed that created cultural changes, which included putting an end to the gender segregation enforcement. The Saudi gender segregation originated from an extreme concern for female purity and family honour. Social events used to be largely predicated on the separation of men and women; the mixing of non-related men and women at parties and other social gatherings were extremely rare and limited to some of the modern Western-educated families.

The Riyadh International Book Fair (RIBF) is an annual book fair in Saudi Arabia. It lasts 11 days and regularly attracts over a half million visitors. The fair is used to showcase Saudi government policy, and it has been a locus of political power struggles with the government. Hundreds of publishers sell pre-approved books, and some black-market books. Writers take part in literary events. Invited speakers and the public discuss intellectual and social issues. Disagreements sometimes go beyond the bounds of debate, with speakers being shouted down and surrounded by protestors, and arrests of speakers and protestors; physical assaults are rare but not unknown.

References

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