Saudi Arabia

Identification
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (in Arabic, al-Mamlaka al-Arabiya as-Saudiya ) occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, the original homeland of the Arab people and of Islam. The cultural identities Saudi Arabian citizens express are principally those of Muslim and Arab, linking them to millions of people beyond the nation's borders. They also identify with the contemporary state and its national culture; the country's name links the ruling dynasty, Al Saud, with the state's cultural and geographic setting. Identities connected to the traditional ways of life of the Bedouin and of oasis-dwelling farmers, fishers, craftspeople and artisans, and merchants, caravaneers, and long-distance traders remain in force even as economic changes have transformed or ended those ways of life. Regional and kinbased tribal and clan identities are shared among Saudi Arabian citizens.

Geography
Saudi Arabia occupies 868,730 square miles (2,250,000 square kilometers). It is bounded on the east by the Arabian (Persian) Gulf; on the west by the Red Sea; to the south and southeast by Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar; and to the north and northeast by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia has a hot desert climate with high humidity on the coastal fringes. Rainfall is scarce except in the area of Asir, where it is sufficient for agriculture on terraced farms and upper slopes and alluvial planes. Saudi Arabia has four main regions. Najd, the geographic center and political and cultural core, is a vast plateau that combines rocky and sandy areas with isolated mountains and wadi systems. Agricultural oasis are the sites of villages, towns, and cities. This area's rangelands have long sustained nomadic pastoral production and are the homelands of the main Bedouin communities. Najd is bordered to the west by the regions of Hijaz and Asir along the Red Sea. A narrow coastal plane known as Tihama is predominant in the south, while a mountain chain with a steep western escarpment runs through these areas.

Geography
The largest oasis, al-Ahsa (al-Hasa), is watered by artesian wells and springs in the interior of the Eastern Province and provides dates and other crops. The Eastern Province is also the main source Saudi Arabia of oil wealth. Oil and gas wells, refineries and other processing and distribution plants, and the headquarters of the national oil industry are located there. Trade and urban centers have long existed in this area, but the tricity complex of Dammam, al-Khubar, and Dhahran has been predominant since the 1960s, while Jubail is becoming a large industrial city.

Geography
Each geographic region has diverse local customs and histories. However, all the regions share traditional ways of life in a harsh desert environment and from a long history that includes the creation of the contemporary state and its culture in the last three centuries. They also share a common history of development since the 1950s, including a vast oil-revenue-induced boom between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, military events that led to the presence of foreign troops on Saudi Arabian soil in the 1990s, and the process of "globalization" at the end of the twentieth century.

Geography
Linguistic Affiliation. Arabic is the language of all Saudi Arabian citizens and about half the immigrants. Classical Arabic ( fusha ) in its Koranic, high literary, and modern standard forms is used for prayers and religious rituals, poetry, lectures, speeches, broadcasts, written communications, and other formal purposes. Conversationally, people use colloquial Arabic ( amiya ). There are many sub dialects and internal variants. English is the main second language. Symbolism. The national flag is green, the color of Islam, and bears a white inscription that translates as, "There is No God but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God." A white saber, the sword of Islam, was added in 1906 and symbolizes the military successes of Islam and of Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, the founder of the contemporary state. The national logo depicts two crossed swords and a date palm tree. The national day is 23 September, marking the unification in 1932 of the regions of Najd and its dependencies, Hijaz, and Asir to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Geography
The state and people engage in the creation of a national cultural heritage through the preservation or reconstruction of elements from the past that are seen as embodying the traditional culture. Examples are the preservation of old houses and mosques, the use of traditional motifs in new buildings, the holding of camel races, and the setting up in museums and hotels of tents with rugs and paraphernalia typical of traditional Bedouin tented households. The national culture also embraces the new and the modern: a national airline (Saudia), oil industry and petrochemical installations, wheat growing in the irrigated desert, skyscrapers, shopping malls with artificial waterfalls and ice-skating rinks, and super modern highways, ports, and airports. The contemporary consumer culture includes automobiles, pickup trucks, videocassette recorders, multi-channel televisions, and telephones as well as computers and mobile phones.

Geography
Other dimensions of the national culture and its symbolism include performances such as the ardah , where men dance waving swords in the air; the recitation of epic poems about historical events related to tribal affairs; and national sports competitions. The distinctive clothing worn by both men and women conforms with Muslim dress codes that prescribe modesty for both sexes but especially women. Saudi Arabia's most powerful cultural symbols are those linked to Islam. The ritual celebrations that have the strongest hold on people's imaginations are the holy month of Ramadan, the holy pilgrimage ( haj ) to Mecca, and the Muslim feasts of Id al-Fitr and Id al-Adha , which occur after the end of Ramadan and in conjunction with the pilgrimage, respectively. Other important rituals are the more private social celebrations of weddings, visits (especially among women) for joyous and sad occasions, extended family and clan reunions and other kin-based socializing, and the expression of condolences and participation in funerals.

Urbanism, Architecture, And The Use Of Space

In 1950, roughly 40 percent of the population was nomadic and resided in tents in highly dispersed patterns on vast rangelands, where they migrated with herds of camels, sheep, and goats to seasonal pastures and for access to water. Another 40 percent lived in villages in the rural areas of oases or the Asir highlands and worked mainly in agriculture. The remaining 20 percent were urbanites in the old cities of Mecca, Medina, Jiddah, Taif, Abha, Buraydah, Unayzah, Ha'il, Hufuf, and Riyadh. In 1992, three-quarters of the population was classified as urban. Major changes accompanied the growth of the oil industry in the 1950s. New cities developed rapidly, while older ones increased in size. Nomadic Bedouin settled in villages and in and around cities, and villagers left their communities for rapidly growing urban areas. This geographic mobility was accompanied by occupational mobility as Bedouin and villagers worked as wage laborers or small-scale traders and taxi drivers and then became government and private sector employees, professionals, and businesspeople. People from old cities also moved to newly developing cities and experienced occupational change.

Urbanism, Architecture, And The Use Of Space

.The new cities and the transformed areas of old ones depend on the use of automobiles. They sprawl over large areas, have neighborhoods separated by open spaces, and are linked by wide thoroughfares, freeways, and ring roads. The new urban fabric contrasts sharply with urban scenes that lingered into the 1970s. The old cities were walled and had compact residential areas with mazes of narrow paths, parts of which were covered by the upper stories of houses. Most houses had inward-looking courtyards, and some used wind catches to circulate air. The old cities also had date palm gardens with wells and other greenery between and among neighborhoods. Mosques were within easy walking distance from residences, and there was always a main central mosque, a major market area, and a principal seat of government that was usually part of a fort.

Urbanism, Architecture, And The Use Of Space

. Similarities in the social use of domestic space transcended the categories of nomad, villager, and urbanite and continue today. The tents of nomads and the permanent houses of others were divided into sections for men and women, which also served as the family living quarters. Among the nomads, men sat on kilims and carpets around a hearth outside the front of the tent to visit, drink coffee and tea, and eat. Boys past puberty and male visitors slept there. Women made similar use of the space set aside for their visiting in the tents.

Urbanism, Architecture, And The Use Of Space

The same pattern of gender-segregated space continues to exist in the homes of sedentary people. Modern housing often has separate entrances and separate reception areas or living rooms for each gender. In many houses, people sit on carpets or cushions alongside the walls of the room, and most of those houses have areas with chairs and sofas around the walls. The central space of the room is left open. People in both cities and smaller communities now live mainly in individual dwellings with exterior surrounding walls. Although apartment buildings exist, they usually are inhabited by immigrants. The tents and old houses usually housed extended families of three or more generations. Although nuclear family households are increasingly the norm, relatives continue to cluster together, and it is not uncommon for brothers to locate their dwellings on adjacent lots or inside a common compound. Many immigrants live in camps specifically created for them or in abandoned housing in the older parts of towns; some guest workers live on farms.

Food & Economy

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. The arrival of a guest at one's home is an event that leads to a special meal in honor of the visitor. Traditional etiquette required that sheep, goat, or camel be sacrificially slaughtered, and this is still often done. However, chicken may be substituted, and in many urban households meat dishes have replaced eating the whole animal. Major ritual occasions associated with Islamic feasts, weddings, reunions of family and kin, and other social events still require the sacrificial slaughter of sheep or, less commonly, goats or young camels. For these events, meat is boiled in huge pots, and part of the soup is passed among the guests, with the rest poured over large trays of rice on top of which the cooked meat is placed. Traditionally, male guests and older men gather around the tray and eat first, using the right hand; they are followed by younger men and finally boys. Women and girls eat separately, often food prepared specially for them but sometimes eating what the men and boys have not consumed. Multiple rounds of coffee and tea are served before and after the meal, and incense is burned.

Social Stratification
Classes and Castes. A major social division is that between guest workers and local citizens. The working class is largely composed of temporary immigrants, who also occupy middle-class positions and a few positions in the upper class. Major variations in income and accumulated wealth exist, with the major categories including the super-rich, the very rich, and the rich alongside a large middle-income group and some with limited incomes. Only small pockets of poverty persist. A strong ideology of egalitarianism is traditional among Saudi Arabians, whose social and verbal patterns of interaction stress equality and siblinghood rather than status differentiation. However, degrees of luxury vary greatly. Differences in lifestyle are increasing as wealthy elites interact less commonly with middle-class people. Common attitudes, beliefs, and practices are shared across economic divides, which also are bridged by ties of kinship and religion.

Social Stratification
Social Problems and Control. Adherence to Islamic values and maintenance of social stability in the context of rapid economic change have been consistent goals of Saudi Arabia's development plans. Religion and society combine to foster significant social control. A powerful deterrent to deviant behavior is that such behavior brings shame to one's family and kin and is considered sinful. Crimes related to alcohol and drugs and to sexual misconduct sometimes are linked to rapid modernization. Theft is rare, and other economic crimes are relatively uncommon, with the exception of smuggling. Assault and murder are limited mainly to segments of tribal communities and usually involve issues of honor and revenge.

Social Stratification
The justice system is based on the Sharia , which defines many crimes and specifies punishments. Crimes not specifically identified in the Sharia are defined on the basis of analogy and often are punished by prison sentences. Sharia-prescribed punishments usually have a physical component. An individual arrested on a criminal charge is detained in a police station until a judgment is rendered by a court of first instance presided over by one or more qadis. A court of cassation, or appeals court, also exists, and the king functions as a final court of appeal. A person found not guilty is released. If a physical punishment is prescribed, it is carried out in a public place, usually outside a main mosque on Friday, where the criminal's name and ancestral names are called out loudly for all to hear and where the shame is said to be more painful than the physical blow. Prison sentences, typical for cases involving drugs, are less public. Foreigners convicted of crimes are punished and then deported.

Social Stratification
Islam is strict about issues of law and order and rigorous in the use of witnesses. For a man to be convicted of theft, four Muslims must swear a religious oath that they saw the theft take place. Alternatively, an individual may confess. Physical punishment usually is applied only to serious repeat offenders. The state employs the police, supports the qadis and the court system, provides the prisons, and assures that maximum media attention is given to punishments. Military Activity. Saudi Arabia maintains an army, navy, air force, coast guard, national guard, and frontier guard with a combined total of about two hundred thousand men. These all-volunteer forces have state-of-the-art equipment and a reputation for professionalism.

Religion
Religious Beliefs. All Saudi Arabian citizens are Muslims. Except for a small minority of Shia, Saudi Arabians are Sunni and mainly follow the Handbali school of Islamic law ( madhab ). Half or more of the immigrants are also Muslims. Non-Muslim faiths are not allowed to practice in Saudi Arabia. Religious Practitioners. Islam does not have ordained clergy or priests. The person most learned in Islam is the one who leads the prayers. The learned ( ulama ) include judges, preachers, teachers, prayer leaders, and others who have studied Islam. Rituals and Holy Places. The major everyday rituals are related to the five daily prayers that constitute one of the five pillars of Islam. Those who pray face Mecca, ideally in a mosque or as a group. The haj (pilgrimage) is another of the five pillars and should be performed at least once in one's life. Visits also take place to the mosque and tomb of Muhammad in Medina. The other three pillars of Islam are witnessing that there is no God but God and Muhammad is His Messenger, fasting during the day throughout the month of Ramadan, and the giving of alms.

Religion
Religious Beliefs. All Saudi Arabian citizens are Muslims. Except for a small minority of Shia, Saudi Arabians are Sunni and mainly follow the Handbali school of Islamic law ( madhab ). Half or more of the immigrants are also Muslims. Non-Muslim faiths are not allowed to practice in Saudi Arabia. Religious Practitioners. Islam does not have ordained clergy or priests. The person most learned in Islam is the one who leads the prayers. The learned ( ulama ) include judges, preachers, teachers, prayer leaders, and others who have studied Islam. Rituals and Holy Places. The major everyday rituals are related to the five daily prayers that constitute one of the five pillars of Islam. Those who pray face Mecca, ideally in a mosque or as a group. The haj (pilgrimage) is another of the five pillars and should be performed at least once in one's life. Visits also take place to the mosque and tomb of Muhammad in Medina. The other three pillars of Islam are witnessing that there is no God but God and Muhammad is His Messenger, fasting during the day throughout the month of Ramadan, and the giving of alms.

Religion
Death and the Afterlife. The dead are washed, wrapped in seamless shrouds, and buried in graves facing Mecca without coffins or markers. Burial takes place before sunset on the day of death. The dead go to heaven or hell.

Traditional Arabic Dress For the Arab Man Inside Saudi

The Saudi Arabic dress code is white in the summer, and muted colored thobes may be worn in the winter months. During the season of Ramadan, some Saudi Arab men will wear tans, browns, yellows, grays, navy blues but most men stay with the traditional white thobes. Some may wear black, but it is discouraged because the Prophet Mohammad frowned on black, and reserved that color for women. The Thobes can have mandarin-type stand up collars, or pointed collars. There are even some with buttoned down collars on designer thobes. The Thobe is fastened with little buttons down the center front, or in less expensive Thobes, they buttons are replaced with snaps. The more expensive Thobes have covered buttons, pockets at the hips and sometimes a breast pocket. Some have buttoned sleeves and others have French cuffs. The Arab men often use 18 karat gold cuff links, or cuff links with gem stones to hold the sleeves together. As long as the adornments applied to the Arabic dress garment are not made of pure gold or silver, then the Arab man is in compliance of Sahria Law. One of the most important aspects of Arabic dress for the Arab man is what is worn underneath the thobe. The Prophet Mohammad decreed that a man, like a woman, must be modest. He must protect his "awrah" at all costs.

Traditional Arabic Dress For the Arab Man Inside Saudi

The Saudi Arabic dress code is white in the summer, and muted colored thobes may be worn in the winter months. During the season of Ramadan, some Saudi Arab men will wear tans, browns, yellows, grays, navy blues but most men stay with the traditional white thobes. Some may wear black, but it is discouraged because the Prophet Mohammad frowned on black, and reserved that color for women. The Thobes can have mandarin-type stand up collars, or pointed collars. There are even some with buttoned down collars on designer thobes. The Thobe is fastened with little buttons down the center front, or in less expensive Thobes, they buttons are replaced with snaps. The more expensive Thobes have covered buttons, pockets at the hips and sometimes a breast pocket. Some have buttoned sleeves and others have French cuffs. The Arab men often use 18 karat gold cuff links, or cuff links with gem stones to hold the sleeves together. As long as the adornments applied to the Arabic dress garment are not made of pure gold or silver, then the Arab man is in compliance of Sahria Law. One of the most important aspects of Arabic dress for the Arab man is what is worn underneath the thobe. The Prophet Mohammad decreed that a man, like a woman, must be modest. He must protect his "awrah" at all costs.

Traditional Arabic Dress For the Arab Man Inside Saudi

"Awrah" is the area between a man's navel and his knee. In the Koran, it states: "O Children of Adam, take your adornment (by wearing proper clothing) for every mosque", and religious scholars have further defined the meaning of this statement in terms of male modesty, namely, protecting the "awrah". Arabic dress code for the Arab man is obligatory according to Islamic law. Wearing shorts that disclose the thighs or show the shape of the buttocks, does not cover the "awrah". Neither does Arabic dress that is transparent and displays skin complexion, nor a tight clothes that show the size, shape or bends of the "awrah". All of this is forbidden, especially showing off in front of other people. It doesn't matter if women are embarrassed by seeing something they shouldn't. They won't be punished in this case. This is the one time it is the man's fault for not being modest, as he is called to be. If an Arab man's pants are wide enough and not tight, then he may tuck his shirt in his pants, as long as he does not display his "awrah". Covering the "awrah" is most important and obligatory during the prayer time. What many people do is cover their "awrah" while going to prayer but are negligent of it outside the prayer. This is a clear mistake and a wrongful act. The Matawa will reprimand an Arab man for improper Arabic dress, but not as severely as he would for a woman.

Traditional Arabic Dress For the Arab Man Inside Saudi

The differing countries in the Middle Eastern region will have their own variations of the thobe style as well as the way the head gear may be worn, but the principals are universal in Islam. Arabic under garments are also prescribed for the Arab man. Older men wear boxer-like shorts that go from the navel to the knee, then wear loose fitting long white pants over them. These long white pants extend to the midthigh. These boxers and longer white pants do not have a slit in the front of them like North American underwear. Many Muslims believe that urinals are offensive, and some refuse to use them at all. When nature calls, the proper and correct code of behavior, is to squat or sit. To stand to urinate is not in accord with the purest translation of Sharia Law. Younger, less traditional men don't wear the boxer-type shorts--they just wear the loose-loose fitting white pants, that extend from the navel to the mid-calf. Sometimes a young Arab man will simply wear the boxer-type shorts that extend to the knee instead of mid-calf. According to the Islamic traditionalists, this is improper Arabic dress, but rarely is a young man punished for this. Arabic dress dictates a man wear a tee shirt under his thobe, because sometimes the thobe is sheer, and another person should not look at the nakedness of another. The tee shirt can be either short or long sleeved, and is made out of cotton or a cotton blend.

Traditional Arabic Dress For the Arab Man Inside Saudi

Ghutra: A square scarf, made of cotton or silk blend, folded in a triangle and worn over the Tagiyah. In Saudi Arabia, it is either all white or red and white checked. There is no significance placed on what color the man wears, but most Arab men wear the red and white checked in winter months, and the pure white on in the summer. Igal: A thick, double, black cord that is worn on the top of the Ghutra to hold it in place. It can be made for camel's or cow leather, or it can be a cord fashioned from wool or cotton. It is NEVER made from pig skin. The Arabic dress style varies for a mutawa, or religious policeman. He has to prescribe to the same requirements for the undergarments, but his thobe is much shorter than the average man. The matawa's thobe is just past mid thigh--just long enough to cover the longer pants of his undergarment. He also differs in appearance. Matawa grow their beards to their mid chest, and most are scraggly and unkempt. The matawa's appearance and dress make him standout in the crowds, and the average person knows to behave or escape the scrutiny of the feared religious police. The faces of the ordinary Saudi Arab man are clean shaven.

Saudi Women; Traditional Dress

The abaya, the name for the traditional Arabic dress, hides a womans figure from the eyes of a man, and therefore, she cannot lead him to sin if she is properly covered. The Abaya is made from cotton, polyester, nylon, wool or silk. There are varying cuts from a sack-like tent robe, to a flowing a-line, glamorous gown-like covering. Some of the Abayas have embroidery, tassels, beading, sequins, ribbons, lace and other decorative accessories. They can be buttoned, zipped or snapped together, and as long as the neck, wrists and ankles are covered, the abaya is doing its job. The styles and cuts of Arabic dress are as individual as the woman who wears them, and prices range from approximately $20.00 US dollars, to several hundred dollars. The Saudi woman wears the abaya in adherence to her religious practices. The rules for Arabic dress are derived from the Koran, and hadith, or traditions of the Prophet Mohammad. In the Koran, it is written: " say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, sons and uncles (the Koran goes on to list exceptions)

Saudi Women; Traditional Dress

Saudi women pride themselves on their tradition, and most will wear plain black. Saudi women of influence will pay large sums of money to have customized abayas cut from the finest of fabrics. They detail the garments with real gem stones, in modest proportions, and Saudi women will compare the flow, style and designer abayas amongst themselves. The religious police dont care about material or design. As long as a woman is covered, he will leave her alone. Saudi women, like their other Arab counterparts, wear a traditional covering, called an abaya. It is a large, loose-fitting cloak-like garment worn over their clothes. The purpose of this Arabic dress is to protect the women, and help them to remain modest A Saudi woman has to cover not only her body, but her head. In Saudi, I came across Saudi women who covered their heads and faces completely, and some who even wore gloves. No matter how long I was in the country, I couldnt help but giggle when a woman passed, veiled from head to toe, in a very traditional Arabic dress style, with netting over her face, wearing her glasses on the exterior of her covering. I often wondered how the glasses stayed in place. The women looked like black mummies wandering the streets in glasses. How much of a womans body she has to cover is at the discretion of the man she belongs to, normally her husband. If a Saudi woman is too young to wed, then her father, brothers and/or uncles dictate how modest she should be.

Saudi Women; Traditional Dress

Hijab is a general word that indicates not just the headscarf, but clothing in its entirety. A proper Arabic woman has to meet the following conditions : 1. Clothing must cover the entire body, only the hands and face may remain visible (depending on the Islamic school of thought and what her husband or protective male dictates) 2. The material must not be so thin that one can see through it. 3. The clothing must hang loose so that the shape or form of the body is not apparent. 4. The female clothing must not resemble the man's clothing. 5. The design of the clothing must not resemble the clothing of the non-believing women. 6. The design must not consist of bold designs which attract attention. 7. Clothing should not be worn for the sole purpose of gaining reputation or increasing one's status in society. The reason for this strictness is so that the woman is protected from the lustful gaze of men. She should not attract attention to herself in any way. It is permissible for a man to catch the eye of a woman , however it is forbidden for a man to look twice as this encourages lustful thoughts. If he does, then the woman is to blame for his sin. She did not cover properly.

Shukran..........