Islam in Saudi Arabia
.jpg)
Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is called the "home of Islam" as it was the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who united and ruled the Arabian Peninsula.<ref name="Bradley Exposed p145">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name="NYROB only">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In the 18th century, a pact between Islamic preacher Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and a regional emir, Muhammad bin Saud, brought a revival of Islam (Salafism - that is, following the Quran and Sunnah in light of the interpretation of ‘As Salaf As Salih’) of Sunni Islam first to the Najd region and then to the Arabian Peninsula. Referred to by supporters as "Salafism" and by others as "Wahhabism", this interpretation of Islam became the state religion and interpretation of Islam espoused by Muhammad bin Saud and his successors (the Al Saud family), who eventually created the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. The Saudi government has spent tens of billions of dollars of its petroleum export revenue throughout the Islamic world and elsewhere on building mosques, publishing books, giving scholarships and fellowships,<ref>Kepel, Gilles (2002). Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam. trans. Anthony F. Roberts, p. 72</ref> hosting international Islamic organisations, and promoting its form of Islam, sometimes referred to as "petro-Islam".<ref>Kepel (2002), pp. 69–75</ref>
The mission to call to Islam the way the Salaf practiced it has been dominant in Najd for two hundred years, but in most other parts of the country—Hejaz, the Eastern Province, Najran—it has dominated only since 1913–1925.<ref name="Commins p77">Template:Cite book</ref> Most of the 15 to 20 million Saudi citizens are Sunni Muslims,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while the eastern regions are populated mostly by Twelver Shia, and there are Zaydi Shia in the southern regions.<ref name="shrefs" /> According to a number of sources, only a minority of Saudis consider themselves Wahhabis, although according to other sources, the Wahhabi affiliation is up to 40%, making it a very dominant minority, at the very least using a native population of 17 million based on "2008–09 estimates".<ref name="al-ahmed-2002" /><ref name="Schwartz" /><ref name="IMW" /> In addition, the next largest affiliation is with Salafism, which encompasses all of the central principles of Islam, with a number of minor additional accepted principles differentiating the two.Template:Citation needed In a 2014 survey, conducted for the Boston Consultancy Group report on Saudi youth, it was found that 97% of the young Saudis consider Islam "as the main influence that shapes their identity."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Public worship and proselytising by non-Muslims, including the distribution of non-Muslim religious materials (such as the Bible), is illegal in Saudi Arabia.<ref name="HRW WR2015 SA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>World Report 2018: Saudi Arabia Template:Webarchive. Retrieved February 3, 2018.</ref> Non-Muslim foreigners attempting to acquire Saudi Arabian nationality must convert to Islam.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Starting in late 2017, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dramatic changes have been made in religious policy, including the elimination of the power of the religious police, the lifting of bans on amusement parks, cinemas, concert venues, and driving of motor vehicles by women.<ref name="Boghani-1-10-2019">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Hubbard-NYT-21-March-2020">Template:Cite news</ref>
History
Template:See also The Islamic prophet, Muhammad, was born in Mecca in about 570. From the early 7th century, Muhammad united the various tribes of the peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity under his rule. Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia and conquered many parts of Asia, Africa and Europe conquering huge swathes of territory. Although Arabia soon became a politically peripheral region as the focus shifted to the more developed conquered lands,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Mecca and Medina remained the spiritually most important places in the Muslim world. The Qur'an requires every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, as one of the five pillars of Islam, to make a pilgrimage, or Hajj, to Mecca during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah at least once in his or her lifetime.<ref>Farah, Caesar (1994). Islam: Beliefs and Observances (5th ed.), pp. 145–147 Template:ISBN</ref>
From the 9th century, a number of Shia sects developed particularly in the eastern part of Arabia. These included the Qarmatians, a millenarian Ismaili sect led by Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī who attacked and sacked Mecca in 930.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Al Saud and ibn Abd al-Wahhab
In 1744, in the desert region of Nejd, Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Al Saud dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was the founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This alliance formed in the 18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The first "Saudi state" established in 1744 in the area around Riyadh, rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia,<ref>"Reining in Riyadh" Template:Webarchive by D. Gold, 6 April 2003, NYpost (JCPA)</ref> but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali Pasha.<ref>"The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam Template:Webarchive". Library of Congress Country Studies.</ref> In 1824, a much smaller second "Saudi state", located mainly in Nejd, was established in 1824, but by 1891 its Al Saud rulers were driven into exile in Kuwait.<ref name="Britannica history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
At the beginning of the 20th century, a third attempt was made to conquer this territory by another Al-Saud, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. He gained the support of the Ikhwan, a tribal army inspired by Wahhabism and led by Sultan ibn Bijad and Faisal Al-Dawish, which had grown quickly after its foundation in 1912.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> With the aid of the Ikhwan, Ibn Saud captured al-Hasa from the Ottoman Empire in 1913.
Ibn Saud defeated a rival ruling family and took the title Sultan of Nejd in 1921. By this time the Ottomans had been defeated in World War I, and Ottoman suzerainty and control in Arabia was no more.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> With the help of the Ikhwan, the Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25.<ref name="Britannica history" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Following this victory however the Ikhwan clashed with Ibn Saud. He opposed their raiding the British protectorates of Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait, to expand of the Wahhabist realm, and they opposed his policies of allowing some modernization and some non-Muslim foreigners in the country. The Ikhwan were defeated and their leaders executed in 1930 after a two-year struggle.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1932 the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.<ref name="Britannica history" />
Era of oil exports
Commercial quantities of oil were discovered in the Persian Gulf region of Saudi Arabia in 1938, and the kingdom's oil wells eventually revealed the largest source of crude oil in the world.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> For the king, oil revenues became a crucial source of wealth since he no longer had to rely on receipts from pilgrimages to Mecca. This discovery would alter Middle Eastern political relations forever.
During the 1960s and '70s, religious authorities allowed some practices that had previously been forbidden (haram). At the urging of the government and after vigorous debate, religious authorities allowed the use of paper money in 1951, abolished slavery in 1962, permitted the education of females in 1964, and use of television in 1965.<ref name="Rodenbeck">Template:Cite journal</ref>
By the 1970s, as a result of oil wealth and government modernization policies, economic and social development progressed at an extremely rapid rate, transforming the infrastructure and educational system of the country;<ref name="Britannica history" /> in foreign policy, close ties with the US were developed.<ref name="Al-Rasheed 136-137">Template:Cite book</ref>
By 1976, Saudi Arabia had become the largest oil producer in the world.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The power of the ulema was in decline.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
However, in the 1980s and 1990s, this trend was reversed. In 1979, the modernizing monarch of Iran, despite his oil revenues and apparently formidable security apparatus, was overthrown by an Islamic revolution.<ref name="Lacey Islamism">Template:Cite book</ref> The new revolutionary Islamic Republic was across the Persian Gulf from Saudi oil fields and across from where most of Saudi Arabia's minority Shiites—co-religionists of Iran who also often worked in the oil industry—lived. There were several anti-government uprisings in the region in 1979 and 1980.
Also alarming to the government was the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by Islamist extremists.<ref name="Abir p21">Template:Cite book</ref> The militants involved were in part angered by what they considered to be the corruption and un-Islamic nature of the Saudi government, proclaimed the return of the Mahdi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The takeover and siege of the mosque lasted for nearly two weeks, during which the mosque was severely damaged and several hundred militants, soldiers, and hostages were killed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In response, the royal family enforced much stricter observances of traditional religious and social norms in the country and gave the Ulema a greater role in government.<ref name="Hegghammer p24">Template:Cite book</ref> At first, photographs of women in newspapers were banned, then women on television. Cinemas and music shops were shut down. School curriculum was changed to provide many more hours of religious studies, eliminating classes on subjects like non-Islamic history.<ref name="Abir p21" /> Gender segregation was extended "to the humblest coffee shop". The religious police became more assertive.<ref name="Hegghammer p24" /><ref name="Lacey p49-52">Template:Cite book</ref>
Greater emphasis was put on religion in the media (increased religious programming on television and radio, and an increase in articles about religion in newspapers), in individual behavior, in government policies, and in mosque sermons. In 1986 King Fahd replaced his title "His Majesty" with "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques".<ref name="Embassy jp">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="BBC 2011-04-06">Template:Cite news</ref> The ulema's powers and financial support were strengthened<ref name="Hegghammer p24" /> in particular, they were given greater control over the education system<ref name="Abir p21" /> and allowed to enforce stricter observance of Wahhabi rules of moral and social behaviour.<ref name="Hegghammer p24" /> These policies did not succeed in dampening the growth and strength of religious conservatives dissatisfied with the royal family.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Saudi Islamism gained momentum following 1991 Gulf War.<ref name="FRD 306">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The presence of U.S. troops on Saudi soil from 1991 onwards was deeply unpopular with conservative Saudis<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and one of the major issues that has led to an increase in Islamist terrorism by Saudis inside and out of Saudi Arabia, (the 9/11 attacks in New York being the most prominent example).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Islamist terrorist activity increased dramatically in 2003, with the Riyadh compound bombings and other attacks, which prompted the government to take much more stringent action against terrorism.<ref name="Cordesman 2009">Template:Cite book</ref> The king (Abdullah) has also taken steps to rein back the powers of the ulema, for instance transferring their control over girls' education to the Ministry of Education.<ref name="NYT Abdullah">Template:Cite news</ref> Some have complained that the king's dominance over the ulema has weakened the traditional Islamic legitimacy of Saudi throne.<ref name="Okruhlik">Template:Cite book</ref>
Pre-MbS era
Role in the state and society
Islam plays a central role in Saudi society. It has been said that Islam is more than a religion, it is a way of life in Saudi Arabia, and, as a result, the influence of the ulema, the religious establishment, is all-pervasive.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Article one of the 1992 Saudi "Basic Law of Governance" states,
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic State. Its religion is Islam. Its constitution is Almighty God's Book, The Holy Qur'an, and the Sunna (Traditions) of the Prophet (PBUH). Arabic is the language of the Kingdom.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web
}}</ref>
Unlike most Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia gives the ulema direct involvement in government, and fields a specifically "religious" police force, called the Haia. (Iran gives the ulema much more influence and also has a religious police.<ref name="FRD p232-233">Template:Cite book</ref>) According to Robert Baer, this power is only over certain sectors of governance. The founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud, established a division of power (according to Baer) with the Wahhabi religious establishment in 1932. In "return for allowing it control of the mosques, culture, and education", the ulema or religious establishment "would never go near core political issues, such as royal succession, foreign policy, and the armed forces." This agreement has "been more or less respected" since 1932.<ref name="Baer">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Historians note that in his alliance with the House of Saud, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab called for the state to have an "imam" (religious leader, himself) and an "emir" (military leader, Ibn Saud).<ref name="DeL ong-Bas p35">Template:Cite book</ref> However, the third head of the House of Saud used the title "Imam", and Saudi kings have served in this role since.<ref name="Lindholm 2002 p115">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Vogel p207">Template:Cite book</ref>
A Council of Senior Scholars, appointed and paid by the government advises the king on religious matters. The ulema have also been a key influence in major government decisions,<ref name="meforum.org">Template:Cite journal</ref> have a significant role in the judicial and education systems<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and a monopoly of authority in the sphere of religious and social morals.<ref name="Hassner p143">Template:Cite book</ref> Not only is the succession to the throne subject to the approval of the ulema,<ref name="Cavendish p78">Template:Cite book</ref> but so are all new laws (royal decrees).<ref name="Goldstein 118">Template:Cite book</ref>
The religious police or Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice numbers 3,500-4,000. Members patrol the streets enforcing dress codes, strict separation of men and women, salat prayer by Muslims during prayer times, investigating reports of witchcraft, and other behavior it believes to be commanded or forbidden by Islam.
Daily life in Saudi Arabia 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 begins on Thursday.<ref name="Britannica" /><ref>Sulaiman, Tosin. Bahrain changes the weekend in efficiency drive Template:Webarchive, The Times, 2 August 2006. Retrieved 25 June 2008. Turkey has a weekend on Saturday and Sunday</ref> In accordance with Salafi doctrine, only two religious holidays are publicly recognized, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Celebration of other Islamic holidays, such as the Prophet's birthday and Day of Ashura are tolerated only when celebrated locally and on a small scale.Template:Citation needed Public observance of non-Islamic religious holidays is prohibited, with the exception of 23 September, which commemorates the unification of the kingdom.<ref name="Britannica">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} no mention of holidays</ref> Conformity of behavior is highly valued as part of religion, apparent in sameness of dress. Almost all women wear a loose-fitting black abaya cloak covering all but their eyes and hands, almost all men wear a white thawb with a red and white checkered headdress.<ref name="net places">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sharia, or Islamic law, is the basis of the legal system in Saudi Arabia. It is unique not only compared to Western systems, but also compared to other Muslim countries, as (according to its supporters) the Saudi model is closest to the form of law originally developed when Islam became established in the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Saudi courts impose a number of severe physical punishments.<ref name="Sharia Inc p175">Template:Cite book</ref> The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy,<ref name="BBCexecutioner">Template:Cite news</ref> adultery,<ref name="FRD 306" />Template:Rp witchcraft and sorcery<ref name="Miethe p63">Template:Cite book</ref> and can be carried out by beheading with a sword,<ref name="BBCexecutioner" /> stoning or firing squad,<ref name="FRD 306" /> followed by crucifixion.<ref name="Miethe p63" />
Wahhabism
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also Many of the strict and unique practices in Saudi Arabia mentioned above come from Wahhabism,salafi (formerly) the official and dominant form of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia, named after the preacher and scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. (Proponents consider the name derogatory, preferring the term Salafiyya, after the early Muslims known as the Salaf.)<ref>The Daily Star Template:Webarchive Lamine Chikhi. 27 11 2010.</ref> This interpretation is often described as 'puritanical', 'intolerant' or 'ultra-conservative', however proponents believe its teachings seek to purify the practise of Islam of any innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions.<ref>'The Islamic Traditions of Wahhabism and Salafiyya' Template:Webarchive, US Congressional Research Service Report, 2008, by Christopher M. Blanchard available from the Federation of American Scientists website.</ref> According to one anti-Wahhabi source (Stephen Schwartz), "no more than" 40% of Saudi nationals consider themselves Wahhabis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The message of the school was the essential oneness of God (tawhid). The movement is therefore known by its adherents as ad dawa lil tawhid (the call to unity), and those who follow the call are known as ahl at tawhid (the people of unity) or muwahhidun (unitarians).<ref name="L of C Country Studies">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The school puts an emphasis on following of the Athari school of thought.<ref name="Esposito p333">Template:Cite book </ref> Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab, was influenced by the writings of Ibn Taymiyya and questioned the philosophical interpretations of Islam within the Ash'ari and Maturidi schools, claiming to rely on the Qur'an and the Hadith without speculative philosophy so as to not transgress beyond the limits of the early Muslims known as the Salaf.<ref name="Esposito p333" /> Ibn Abd-al-Wahhab attacked a "perceived moral decline and political weakness" in the Arabian Peninsula and condemned what he perceived as idolatry, the popular cult of saints, and shrine and tomb visitation.<ref name="Esposito p333" />
In the 1990s, Saudi leadership did not emphasize its identity as inheritor of the Wahhabi legacy as such, nor did the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab, the Al ash Shaykh, continue to hold the highest posts in the religious bureaucracy. Wahhabi influence in Saudi Arabia, however, remained tangible in the physical conformity in dress, in public deportment, and in public prayer. Most significantly, the Wahhabi legacy was manifest in the social ethos that presumed government responsibility for the collective moral ordering of society, from the behavior of individuals, to institutions, to businesses, to the government itself.<ref name="L of C Country Studies" />
New MbS era (2017–present)
Under the rule of Muhammad bin Salman (MbS), (who became Crown Prince in June 2017 and is the de facto ruler of the Kingdom), dramatic changes have been made whereby activities once allowed are now forbidden and others forbidden in the name of religion (i.e. Wahhabism) are allowed.Template:Citation needed
Secular policy changes
The formerly powerful religious police, who busied themselves enforcing strict rules on everything from hijab (which in Saudi Arabia meant covering all of the body except the hands and eyes), segregation of the sexes, and daily prayer attendance;<ref name="Encyl Islam 3rd ed">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> to preventing the sale of dogs and cats,<ref name="Cats and dogs">"Cats and dogs banned by Saudi religious police", NBC News, 18 December 2006.</ref> Barbie dolls,<ref name="barbie">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pokémon,<ref name="North 2009">Template:Cite book</ref> and Valentine's Day gifts,<ref name="red">Template:Cite news</ref> are now banned "from pursuing, questioning, asking for identification, arresting and detaining anyone suspected of a crime".<ref name="Bashraheel 2019-09">Template:Cite news</ref> The punishments of flogging<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the death penalty for crimes committed by minors are no longer allowed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Among the bans lifted are on women driving motor vehicles (June 2018), (some) activities by women without the permission of male-guardians (August 2019), cinemas,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> musical performances—including public concerts by female singers, admission of women to sports stadiums,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> employment of women in many parts of the workforce, and international tourism.
Theology
MbS has stated, "in Islamic law, the head of the Islamic establishment is wali al-amr,<ref name="Brown-2019">Template:Cite journal</ref> (Arabic:ولي الأمر) the ruler."<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022" /> While the ruling kings (and Crown Princes) of Saudi Arabia "have historically stayed away from religion", and "outsourced" issues of theology and religious law to "the big beards", (traditionally conservative and orthodox religious scholars), MbS has "a law degree from King Saud University". He is "probably the only leader in the Arab world who knows anything about Islamic epistemology and jurisprudence", according to (secular) scholar of Islamic law, Bernard Haykel. In an interview televised in Saudi Arabia on April 25, 2021, MbS criticized the devotion of Saudi religious leaders to Wahhabism (i.e. to the doctrines based on 18th century preacher Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab) "in language never before used by a Saudi monarch", saying, "there are no fixed schools of thought and there is no infallible person."<ref name="Ottaway-wilson-2021" />
But MbS has gone beyond criticism of Wahhabism to question the basis of orthodox Islamic law. Fatwas (legal rulings on points of Islamic law), he says "should be based on the time, place and mindset in which they are issued", rather than regarded as immutable.<ref name="Ottaway-wilson-2021" /> In interviews with Wood, MbS
explained that Islamic law is based on two textual sources: the Quran and the Sunnah, or the example of the Prophet Muhammad, gathered in many tens of thousands of fragments from the Prophet's life and sayings. Certain rules—not many—come from the unambiguous legislative content of the Quran, he said, and he cannot do anything about them even if he wants to. But those sayings of the Prophet (called Hadith), he explained, do not all have equal value as sources of law,<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022" />
According to Chiara Pellegrino,
MBS specified that in the Kingdom "a punishment must be applied only in the presence of a clear Qur'anic stipulation or a mutawātir hadīth," i.e., a saying of the Prophet of Islam, transmitted over the centuries through an uninterrupted and numerically significant chain of transmitters. As the prince explains, these hadīths are binding, unlike ahādī hadīth (i.e., transmitted by single narrators), which become binding only when they are corroborated by Qur'anic verse, and khabar hadīth (stories whose core is identical across different versions but that vary in their details and formulation), whose authenticity is doubtful and which therefore cannot be invoked as sources of law, even if they can be useful for personal edification.<ref name="Pellegrino-2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web
}}</ref>
Wood estimates that this will mean "about 95 percent" of traditional Islamic law is "chuck[ed] into the sandpit of Saudi history", and leave MbS free to use his discretion "to determine what is in the interest of the Muslim community." According to Haykel this short-circuits centuries of Islamic legal tradition, but is done "in an Islamic way."<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022" />
One part of the fallout is in legal code. Unlike most countries, Saudi "does not have any penal and civil code" and "judges rule on the basis of Islamic jurisprudence with a high level of discretion in some contexts".<ref name="Pellegrino-2021" /> But as of early 2021, MbS has "ordered a codification of Saudi laws" that would take this power away from judges.<ref name="Ottaway-wilson-2021" />
Reactions
The policies of MbS have been called a "sidelining of Islamic law" that will "drastically" change the Kingdom.<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
According to David Ottaway of the Wilson Center, MbS has sidelined Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi scholars and preachers "who still command millions of followers in the country and beyond", and this presents a "particularly risky" move.<ref name="Ottaway-wilson-2021">Template:Cite journal</ref> Journalist Graeme Wood who traveled in Saudi Arabia and interviewed MbS, noted that Salman al-Ouda, "a preacher with a massive following", appears to have originally been imprisoned for expressing the relatively benign hope that MbS and the ruler of Qatar (Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani), reconcile—"May God harmonize between their hearts, for the good of their people." al-Ouda remains in prison facing execution despite the fact that MbS and Al Thani did reconcile.<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022" />
Many conservative clerics strongly appear to have taken heed, succumbing to "good old-fashioned intimidation", reversing their religious positions and supporting the government line on issues such as "the opening of cinemas and mass layoffs of Wahhabi imams".<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022" /> Islamic legal scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl reported in 2019 that Saudi Islamic scholars Salman al-Ouda, Saleh Al-Fawzan, Safar al-Hawali, and Awad al-Qarni, were all incarcerated.<ref name=KAEF-Reforms-4-2019>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Khaled Abou El Fadl laments the pressure MbS has placed on senior Islamic scholars such as Abdelaziz Al-Shaykh, and the capitulation of the scholars. <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
|}}{{#if:|
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}
But it also "isn't clear how quickly" the modernization of MbS "is catching on", and that in some instances ordinary police "have stood up" to take the place of religious police, while in at least the very conservative parts of the country, genders still spontaneously segregate themselves in large gatherings.<ref name="Wood-power-Atlantic-3-2022" />
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic
Template:FurtherTemplate:See also As a result of mass shutdowns on in-person business triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, merchants and buyers of Islamic animal sacrifice livestock in the Kingdom shifted much of their business to new emerging online e-commerce platforms, in preparation for Eid al-Adha in July 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Non-Salafi Islam
The Wahhabi mission has been dominant in most of the central region of Najd—its "heartland"—for two hundred years, but in most other parts of the country it has dominated only since 1913–1925. The eastern region has many Twelver Shias, the southern regions of Saudi Arabia has many Zaydi Shias.<ref name="shrefs" /> The hijaz region has long had a more pluralistic tradition.<ref name="Commins p77" /> The southwest region of Asir is known for its followers of a local leader, Idris, revered by many as a Sufi saint, a concept which Wahhbism opposes.<ref name="Bradley Exposed p58">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Two critics of Wahhabism (Ali Al-Ahmed and Stephen Schwartz), also give a relatively high estimate of the non-Wahhabi population of Saudi Arabia—over 60%.<ref name="al-ahmed-2002">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Schwartz">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="IMW">Template:Cite book</ref>
Sunni Islam
Although Wahhabism is a strand of Sunni Islam, the promotion of non-Wahhabi Sunnism is somewhat restricted but not by the law.<ref>Robert Murray Thomas Religion in Schools: Controversies Around the World Greenwood Publishing Group 2006 Template:ISBN p. 180</ref>
Shi'ism
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} An estimated 5–10%<ref>Saudi Arabia's Shia press for rights Template:Webarchive| bbc|by Anees al-Qudaihi | 24 March 2009</ref><ref>Council on Foreign Relations Template:Webarchive| Author: Lionel Beehner| June 16, 2006</ref><ref name="Nasr2006 p. 236" /> of citizens in Saudi Arabia are Shia Muslims, most of whom are adherents to Twelver Shia Islam. Twelvers are predominantly represented by the Baharna community living in the Eastern Province, with the largest concentrations in Qatif, and half the population in al-Hasa. In addition there is a small Twelver Shia minority in Medina (called the Nakhawila). Sizable and Isma'ili communities also live in Najran along the border with Yemen.
Shia, human rights groups and other observers have complained of "systematic discrimination" of Shia in Saudi Arabia "in religion, education, justice, and employment".<ref>Saudi Arabia: Treat Shia Equally Template:Webarchive|hrw.org| 2009/09/02</ref> Unlike other countries with sizable Shia populations (such as Iraq and Lebanon), Saudi Arabia has no Shia cabinet ministers, mayors or police chiefs. Shia are kept out of "critical jobs" in the armed forces and the security services, and not one of the three hundred Shia girls schools in the Eastern Province has a Shia principal.<ref name="Nasr2006 p. 236">Nasr, Vali, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future, W.W. Norton & Company; 2006, p. 236</ref><ref name="Lacey Shia">see also: (Template:Cite book</ref> In the Eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia there are Shia courts who deal with cases such as marriage, divorce and inheritance.<ref>"Saudi Arabia, Precarious Justice": Volume 20, p. 133, Human Rights Watch – 2008</ref> Shia demonstrations in Qatif have sometimes led to conflict with Sunni Saudi religious authorities who disapprove of Shia commemorations marking the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali by Yazid I. There also Shias living in Southern Saudi Arabia, who are mostly from the Zaydi branch.<ref name="shrefs">Template:Cite book</ref>
Islamic pilgrimage
Template:See also Saudi Arabia, and specifically Mecca and Medina, in Hejaz<ref>Arabia: the Cradle of Islam Template:Webarchive, 1900, S.M. Zwemmer</ref> are the cradle of Islam, and the pilgrimage destinations for large numbers of Muslims from across the Islamic world.<ref>Goldschmidt, Jr., Arthur; Lawrence Davidson (2005). A Concise History of the Middle East (8th ed.), p. 48 Template:ISBN</ref> One of the King's titles is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the two mosques being Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, which contains Islam's most sacred place (the Kaaba) and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina which contains Muhammad's tomb.<ref>Saudi Embassy (US) website – Islam Template:Webarchive Retrieved 20 January 2011</ref><ref>Saudi Embassy (US) website – Guardian of the Holy Places Template:Webarchive Retrieved 20 January 2011</ref>
The Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, occurs annually between the first and tenth days of the last month of the Muslim year, Dhul Hajj. The Hajj represents the culmination of the Muslim's spiritual life. For many, it is a lifelong ambition. From the time of embarking on the journey to make the Hajj, pilgrims often experience a spirit of exaltation and excitement; the meeting of so many Muslims of all races, cultures, and stations in life in harmony and equality moves many people deeply. Certain rites of pilgrimage may be performed any time, and although meritorious, these constitute a lesser pilgrimage, known as umrah.
The Ministry of Pilgrimage Affairs and Religious Trusts handles the immense logistical and administrative problems generated by such a huge international gathering. The government issues special pilgrimage visas that permit the pilgrim to visit Mecca and to make the customary excursion to Medina to visit the Prophet's tomb. Care is taken to assure that pilgrims do not remain in the kingdom after the Hajj to search for work.
An elaborate guild of specialists assists the Hajjis. Guides (mutawwifs) who speak the pilgrim's language make the necessary arrangements in Mecca and instruct the pilgrim in the proper performance of rituals; assistants (wakils) provide subsidiary services. Separate groups of specialists take care of pilgrims in Medina and Jiddah. Water drawers (zamzamis) provide water drawn from the sacred well.
Since the late 1980s, the Saudis have been particularly energetic in catering to the needs of pilgrims. In 1988, a US$15 billion traffic improvement scheme for the holy sites was launched. The improvement initiative resulted partly from Iranian charges that the Saudi government was incompetent to guard the holy sites after a 1987 clash between demonstrating Iranian pilgrims and Saudi police left 400 people dead. A further disaster occurred in 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims suffocated or were crushed to death in one of the new air-conditioned pedestrian tunnels built to shield pilgrims from the heat. The incident resulted from the panic that erupted in the overcrowded and inadequately ventilated tunnel, and further fueled Iranian claims that the Saudis did not deserve to be in sole charge of the holy places. In 1992, however, 114,000 Iranian pilgrims, close to the usual level, participated in the Hajj.
Islam and politics
Islamic legitimacy
The religious establishment in Saudi Arabia, led by the Al ash-Sheikh, which influences almost every aspect of social life, is deeply involved in politics. It has long been fractured into at least two distinct groups, with the senior ulema closely tied to the political agenda of the House of Saud. A younger generation of ulema, who are less firmly established and more radical in tone, have openly criticized the senior ulema and the government in the past.<ref name="stratfor.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web
}}</ref>
Fractures between the government and this younger generation deepened in May 2003, when Riyadh fired or suspended thousands of them.<ref>http://www.stratfor.com/dissident_saudi_clerics_weaken_riyadh Template:Webarchive dead link</ref> Many were to be "re-educated," while others were simply ousted from the religious establishment. The move did little to endear the government to an already frustrated and religiously radical cadre of clerics.
The Islamic legitimacy of the modern Saudi state has been questioned by many radical Islamist groups and individuals including Al-Qaeda.<ref>Video: As-Sahab media, "Knowledge is for acting upon"</ref>
Saudi Arabia's late grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, has defended the religious establishment's legitimacy in a public forum, while responding to mounting criticism of the religious leadership's close political alliance with the ruling House of Saud.<ref name="stratfor.com" /> During a question-and-answer session with members of the public and the media, Al Al-Sheikh denied that the government influenced fatwas (religious rulings) and said accusations to the contrary within the media were false:
Both the criticism and the public response to it indicate a deepening level of dissent, not only within the kingdom's religious establishment, but also among the public. It is significant that the question was asked and answered in a public forum, and then reprinted in the media—including the Arabic and English language newspapers. Similar questions of legitimacy will arise in coming months, with the kingdom's religious, political and perhaps military leaderships becoming the focal points for increasingly intense criticism. That Al Al-Sheikh answered the question about government influence over fatwas so openly is a clear indicator that the public has growing concerns about the legitimacy of religious leaders. Also, that the statements were reprinted in the press signals that the Saudi government—which wields enormous influence over the local press—is moving to respond to the charges of undue influence and corruption and illegitimacy.
See also
- International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism
- Islam by country
- List of mosques in Saudi Arabia
- Religion in Saudi Arabia
- Salafism
- Wahhabism
References
External links
- Islam in Saudi Arabia in Oxford Islamic Studies Online
- The Ideology of Terrorism and Violence in Saudi Arabia: Origins, Reasons and Solution
- Saudi Rehab in Practice
- Datarabia: Islamic Community Directory
Template:Demographics of Saudi Arabia Template:Saudi Arabia topics Template:Asia in topic