Saudis Explained

Group:Saudi Arabians
Population: 20,000,000
Popplace: 18,800,000[1]
Region2: Egypt
Pop2:1,771,894
Ref2:[2]
Region3: United States
Pop3:667,511
Region4: Kuwait
Pop4:540,773
Region5: United Arab Emirates
Pop5:150,247
Region6: Lebanon
Pop6:108,842
Region7: United Kingdom
Pop7:102,604
Region8: Australia
Pop8:91,900
Region9: Turkey
Pop9:90,878
Region10: Jordan
Pop10:86,622
Region11: Qatar
Pop11:83,560
Pop12:82,314
Region13: Canada
Pop13:80,000
Region14: Malaysia
Pop14:72,000
Region15: Brazil
Pop15:45,000
Languages:Arabic (Modern Standard, Hejazi, Najdi, Gulf, Bahrani)
Religions:Islam
Related Groups:other Arabs, Semites and North-Afroasiates

Saudis (Arabic: سعوديون|Suʿūdiyyūn) 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 (which includes Bareqi), as a mother tongue.

Culture

See main article: Culture of Saudi Arabia. The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is Arab and Islam, and is often religious, conservative, traditional, and family oriented. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, for example, however things are slowly changing now.[3]

Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance and ruling. Regardless of whether the inhabitants of that city are non Muslim, this is still observed. Although they are not required to fulfil religious rituals or obligations, clothing must meet a certain standard. 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-Saturday.[4] In accordance with Salafi doctrine, only two religious holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, were publicly recognized, until 2006 when a non-religious holiday, the 23 September national holiday (which commemorates the unification of the kingdom) was reintroduced.[5]

Indigenous Bedouins

See main article: Bedouins. A tiny portion of the original inhabitants of the area that is now Saudi were nomads known as Bedouin (Arabic: بَدُو|badu). 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 and settled ."[6] 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.[6]

Minority ethnic group

Afro-Saudi

See main article: Afro-Saudis. Afro-Saudis, who have Black African heritage, are the largest minority in Saudi Arabia and make up 10% of its population. They have lived in Saudi Arabia for thousands of years, even before Islam.

However, many or most members of the Afro-Saudi minority are descendants of former slaves, in particular descendants of the slaves who had been freed in 1962.[7]

Afro-Saudi activists complain that they are not given media representation and are unable to find opportunities to improve their social condition.[8]

Many suffer from racial discrimination in employment and education. Many Saudis view them as inferior.[9] [10]

In 2018, "the Egyptian comedy series “Azmi we Ashgan” (Azmi and Ashgan) created by controversial Egyptian producer Ahmed el-Sobki, featured the lead actors donning blackface repeatedly throughout the series, as well as the use of racist language (including the use of the n-word) and the portrayal of black people as servants who speak in broken Arabic and practise sorcery."[11]

Social life and customs

Urban

See main article: Ancient towns in Saudi Arabia.

The original inhabitants of cities are known as (Arabic: حَضَر|ḥaḍar) sedentary people, they were the settled in villages, towns and cities across Saudi Arabia, Some of the famous cities in the past were: Jeddah, Tabuk, Al-Ula, Jubbah, Madain Saleh, Riyadh, Tayma, Dumat al-Jandal, Al-Ahsa, Thaj, Tarout Island, Qaryat al-Faw, Al-Ukhdud, Ha'il, Qatif, Al-Yamamah, Mecca, Medina, Taif, Aflaj, Manfouha, Tirmidah, Al-Qassim Region, etc.

There are Saudis (mostly Hejazis) of various origins including; Bosniak (Deputy Minister of Tourism Human Capabilities Development - Mohamed Bushnaq), Egyptian, Hadremi (e.g. Bin Laden family), Jawi (e.g. former minister of Hajj and Umrah - Muhammad Saleh Benten), Turkish (e.g. Dr. Muhammad Khashoggi), Bukhari (e.g. footballer Amin Bukhari) and South Asian (e.g. footballer Abdulbasit Hindi). They are mostly from the cities of Mecca, Medina and Jeddah.

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."[12] [13]

Dress

See main article: Abaya, Bisht (clothing) and thawb. 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 West Asia.[14] 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).[15]

In Saudi Arabia, women were required to cover in public.[16] However, in March 2018, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman claimed that women could choose what to wear in public, provided it met certain standards, when he stated, "The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear".[17] [18] Until late 2019, all women were required to wear an abaya, a long cloak that covers all but the hands, hair, and face in public. 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.[19] Foreign women were required to wear an abaya, but did not need to cover their hair. Many Saudi women also normally wear a full face veil, such as a niqāb. Women's clothes are often decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques.

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.[20] Authors Harvey Tripp and Peter North encourage women to wear an abaya in "more conservative" areas of the kingdom, i.e. in the interior.[21])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".[22] 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 over the thobe. These are long white, brown or black cloaks trimmed in gold. A man's headdress consists of three things: the , 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.

More recently, Western dress, particularly T-shirts and jeans have become quite common leisure wear, particularly in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province.[23] Traditional footwear is leather sandals but most footwear is now imported.[15]

Religion

See main article: Religion in Saudi Arabia. Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia and its law requires that all citizens be Muslims. The government does not legally protect the freedom of religion.[24] Any overseas national attempting to acquire Saudi nationality must convert to Islam.[25] Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its implementation of Islamic law and its poor human rights record.[26] [27]

Islam

See main article: Islam in Saudi Arabia. The official form of Islam is Sunni of the Hanbali school, in its Salafi version. According to official statistics, 90% of Saudi citizens are Sunni Muslims, 10% are Shia. (More than 30% of the population is made up of foreign workers[28] who are predominantly but not entirely Muslim.) It is unknown how many Ahmadi there are in the country.[29] The two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, are in Saudi Arabia. For many reasons, non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the holy cities although some Western non-Muslims have been able to enter, disguised as Muslims.[30] [31]

Non-Muslims

The large number of foreign workers living in Saudi Arabia (7.5 million expatriates in 2013 A.D.[32]) includes non-Muslims. For Saudis, you cannot be a Saudi citizen without being Muslim.[33]

Policy of exclusion

According to scholar Bernard Lewis, the Saudi Arabian policy of excluding non-Muslims from permanent residence in the country is a continuation of an old and widely accepted Muslim policy.

The classical Arabic historians tell us that in the year 20 after the hijra (Muhammad's move from Mecca to Medina), corresponding to 641 of the Christian calendar, the Caliph Umar decreed that Jews and Christians should be removed from Arabia to fulfill an injunction the Prophet uttered on his deathbed: "Let there not be two religions in Arabia." The people in question were the Jews of the oasis of Khaybar in the north and the Christians of Najran in the south.

[The hadith] was generally accepted as authentic, and Umar put it into effect. ... Compared with European expulsions, Umar's decree was both limited and compassionate. It did not include southern and southeastern Arabia, which were not seen as part of Islam's holy land. ... the Jews and Christians of Arabia were resettled on lands assigned to them  - the Jews in Syria, the Christians in Iraq. The process was also gradual rather than sudden, and there are reports of Jews and Christians remaining in Khaybar and Najran for some time after Umar's edict.

But the decree was final and irreversible, and from then until now the holy land of the Hijaz has been forbidden territory for non-Muslims. According to the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence, accepted by both the Saudis and the declaration's signatories, for a non-Muslim even to set foot on the sacred soil is a major offense. In the rest of the kingdom, non-Muslims, while admitted as temporary visitors, were not permitted to establish residence or practice their religion.[34]

While Saudi Arabia does allow non-Muslims to live in Saudi Arabia to work or do business, they may not practice religion publicly. According to the government of the United Kingdom:

The public practice of any form of religion other than Islam is illegal; as is an intention to convert others. However, the Saudi authorities accept the private practice of religions other than Islam, and you can bring a Bible into the country as long as it is for your personal use. Importing larger quantities than this can carry severe penalties.[35]

Saudi Arabia still gives citizenship to people from other countries.[36]

Census

The first official population census of Saudi Arabia was in 1974. It had 6,218,361 Saudi nationals and 791,105 non-nationals for a total of 7,009,466. Of those, 5,147,056 people were settled and the number of nomads recorded were 1.86 million.[37]

Until the 1960s, much of the population was nomadic or seminomadic; due to rapid economic and urban growth, more than 95% of the population now is settled. 80% of Saudis live in three major urban centers—Riyadh, Jeddah, or Dammam.[38] Some cities and oases have densities of more than 1000/km2. Despite the rapid growth in Saudi Arabia over the past decades, it is experiencing a rapid decline not only in mortality, but followed by fertility rates, which fell from about seven children on average per woman in the last century to 2.4 in 2016, based on the latest population survey conducted by the Saudi Authority for Statistics.[39] Saudi Arabia has lagged far behind in increasing its population compared to its neighbors such as Iraq and Syria.

According to the 2022 census, Saudi nationals represented approximately 18,800,000 making up 58.4% of the total population of Saudi Arabia.https://portal.saudicensus.sa/portal

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GASTAT Portal .
  2. Web site: World Migration. International Organization for Migration. en. 2016-01-24. 2019-05-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20190501120652/https://www.iom.int/world-migration. dead.
  3. Web site: Saudi Arabia's first cinema in over 35 years opens with Black Panther. TheGuardian.com. 20 April 2018. 19 February 2019. 17 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210117200823/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/20/saudi-arabias-first-cinema-in-over-35-years-opens-with-black-panther. live.
  4. "Weekend shift: A welcome change", SaudiGazette.com.sa, 24 June 2013 Web site: Weekend shift: A welcome change | Front Page | Saudi Gazette . 2014-10-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141029175552/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130624171030 . 2014-10-29 .
  5. Book: Lacey, Robert. Inside the Kingdom : Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia. registration. 2009. Viking . 267 . 9780670021185. "... for decades the sheikhs successfully resisted attempts to add September 23 to the short list of official conges. But with the accession of 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 A.D. 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..
  6. [#HT2009|Long, ''Culture and Customs'', 2009]
  7. Web site: Graveyard of Clerics: Everyday Activism in Saudi Arabia 9781503612471 .
  8. Web site: Afro-Saudis .
  9. Web site: Middle East Racism . 4 January 2024 .
  10. Web site: Saudi Arabia: Treatment of racial minorities, particularly black African Saudi nationals, by society and authorities (2012-2013).
  11. Web site: The outrageous racism that 'graced' Arab TV screens in Ramadan .
  12. Web site: McLaughlin. Elle. Saudi Arabia Culture & Protocol. USA Today. 20 February 2015. 20 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150220213147/http://traveltips.usatoday.com/saudi-arabia-culture-protocol-16306.html. live.
  13. [#HT2009|Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2009]
  14. Web site: Sharp. Arthur G.. What's a Wahhabi?. net places. 20 March 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140321022500/http://www.netplaces.com/middle-east-guide/saudi-arabia-crossroads-of-islam/whats-a-wahhabi.htm. 21 March 2014.
  15. [#DEL2005|Long, ''Culture and Customs'', 2005]
  16. Sanders, Eli. Interpreting veils: Meanings have changed with politics, history. The Seattle Times. 27 May 2003. Web. 30 Oct. 2009.
  17. Kalin, S. Saudi women should be able to choose whether to wear head cover or black abaya in public, says Crown Prince. Retrieved 19.03.2018
  18. News: Saudi women should have choice whether to wear abaya robe: crown.... Reuters Editorial. U.S.. 2018-03-22. en-US.
  19. [#HT2009|Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2009]
  20. News: SHARKEY. JOE. On a Visit to Saudi Arabia, Doing What the Saudis Do. The New York Times . 10 February 2015. New York Times. March 14, 2011. [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.". 1 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150501122317/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/business/15road.html?_r=0. live.
  21. [#HT2003|Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2003]
  22. Book: Bradley. John R.. Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis. 2005. macmillan. 5. 20 August 2014. 9781403970770.
  23. [#DEL2005|Long, ''Culture and Customs'', 2005]
  24. Web site: International Religious Freedom Report 2004. US Department of State. 22 September 2012. 1 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200101123218/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35507.htm. live.
  25. Web site: Saudi Arabian Citizenship System . . . 31 May 2022 . 22 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220922022045/https://www.moi.gov.sa/wps/wcm/connect/121c03004d4bb7c98e2cdfbed7ca8368/EN_saudi_nationality_system.pdf?MOD=AJPERES . live .
  26. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/saudi-arabia?page=2 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2013
  27. https://www.amnesty.org/en/region/saudi-arabia/report-2013#section-125-5 Amnesty International, Annual Report 2013, Saudi Arabia
  28. Web site: The World Factbook. 2012. Central Intelligence Agency. 22 April 2014. 19 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210319180722/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saudi-arabia. live.
  29. Web site: Saudi Arabia: 2 Years Behind Bars on Apostasy Accusation . Human Rights Watch . May 15, 2014 . June 2, 2014 . June 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210604063944/http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/15/saudi-arabia-2-years-behind-bars-apostasy-accusation . live .
  30. (Sir Richard Burton in 1853) The Highly Civilized Man: Richard Burton and the Victorian world| By Dane KENNEDY, Dane Keith Kennedy| Harvard University Press|
  31. (Ludovico di Barthema in 1503) The Arabian Nights: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (1001 Nights ...) edited by Richard F. Burton
  32. News: New plan to nab illegals revealed. Arab News. 16 April 2013. 30 April 2013. 22 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180622114447/http://www.arabnews.com/news/448234. live.
  33. Web site: Saudi Arabia . 2024-08-11 . United States Department of State . en-US.
  34. Lewis. Bernard. License to Kill: Usama bin Ladin's Declaration of Jihad. Foreign Affairs. November–December 1998. 77. 6. 14–19. 10.2307/20049126. 20049126. 17 March 2014. 28 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150428061916/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/54594/bernard-lewis/license-to-kill-usama-bin-ladins-declaration-of-jihad. live.
  35. Web site: Foreign travel advice. Saudi Arabia. Local laws and customs. Gov.UK. 23 March 2014. 14 June 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140614032838/https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/saudi-arabia/local-laws-and-customs. live.
  36. Web site: Expatriates Can Apply for Citizenship from May 23. 24 April 2005.
  37. Web site: The first census, 1974 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200408031413/https://saudicensus.sa/en/content/first-census-1974 . 8 April 2020 . 8 April 2020 . Saudicensus.sa.
  38. Book: House, Karen Elliott . On Saudi Arabia: Its People, past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future . On Saudi Arabia . Knopf . 2012 . 69.
  39. Web site: General Authority for Statistics . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190810091603/https://www.stats.gov.sa/en/node . 2019-08-10 . 2019-08-24.