Saudi and the First Nation - Essay Example

Saudi and the first nation Sur s Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. It shares borders with Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to the north, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. It is washed by the Persian Gulf in the northeast and the Red Sea - in the west. This richest Arab state in Western Asia makes a great interest for investigation since first tribes settled its territory thousands years ago. Some authors believe that Arabia was the homeland of the ancient Semites, one of the branches of which were Arabs. Others believe that the Semites in the V BC migrated from the African region of Sahara. In any case, in the beginning of the III thousand BC they have already settled in Arabia. Ancient nomadic Arabs worshiped the goddess Allat, honored the stars and believe in lucky charms. The current territory of Saudi Arabia is the historic homeland of the Arab tribes who originally lived in the northeast, and in the II millennium BC occupied the whole Arabian Peninsula. While that the population of Arabs assimilated the population of Negroid in southern part of the peninsula. Decomposition of primitive relations, the desire of tribal rulers to consolidate the right to own land and significant revenue from the caravan trade was an essential prerequisite of political association Arabia. To the decline of slave states in the south of Arabia contributed also the need to resist external conquests. The origin of the Saudi state began in 1744 in the central region of the Arabian Peninsula. Local ruler Muhammad bin Saud and founder of Wahhabism, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab united against the Ottoman Empire to create a single powerful state. This alliance was made in the XVIII century and laid the foundation for todays ruling dynasty of Saud. After a while, the young state came under the pressure of the Ottoman Empire, which was deeply concerned about the increase of the Arabs from their southern borders. In 1817, the Ottoman Sultan sent to the Arabian Peninsula troops under the command of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who defeated the relatively weak army of Imam Abdullah. Thus, the first Saudi state existed for 73 years. Despite the victory of the Ottoman Empire, just in 7 years (in 1824) was established the second Saudi state with its capital in Riyadh. This state lasted for 67 years and was destroyed by long-time rivals of Saudi - by Al Rashid clan hails from Hailya. Thus, Saud family was forced to refuge to Kuwait. Future founder of the Saudi Arabian Empire, Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud of Saudi family was in exile in Kuwait since 1893. In 1902, 22-year-old Abd al-Aziz began his numerous wars with the capture of Riyadh, disposing of the Governor Rashidi and his family. After years of struggle was created United Kingdom Najd and Hijaz. After the capture of Saudis Asher, El Hasa Katif and 23 September 1932 the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz was renamed in Saudi Arabia. Abd al-Aziz became king of the state. Saudi Arabia is often called "The Land of the Two Mosques", meaning Mecca and Medina - the two main holy cities of Islam. The Arabs were mostly pagans. In various regions of Arabia believed in different gods. Especially revered was the god of the Morning Star, the god of the moon. Also were honored female astral deities. At the same time, in many pagan tribes existed a certain idea of the supreme deity, who was called Allah. Thus, the Quraish tribe to which belonged the Prophet Muhammad, believed that their supreme deity, Allah, is embodied in the sacred black stone, which is embedded in the wall of the temple of the Kaaba. Now official and only religion in Saudi Arabia is Sunni Islam. Most of the population professes the Salaf. Shiites account for about 8% of the population and live mainly in the eastern provinces of the country. Saudi authorities allow people of other religion to enter the country, but they are forbidden to worship. Non-Muslim travelers to Saudi Arabia are banned to visits to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Thus Saudi visa contains a graph of an alien religion that allows the religious police to prevent entering of non-Muslim foreigners to the Holy City. Every day, five times a day the muezzin calls on faithful Muslims to prayer (namaz). Serving the cult of other religion and spreading the religious literature, as well as the construction of churches, Buddhist temples and synagogues is prohibited. The country has a religious police (muttava). Soldiers of Islamic religious police constantly patrol the streets and public places in order to prevent attempts to breach the canons of Islam. In case of violation of the law the offender bears the appropriate punishment (from a fine to cut off the head). In the initial period of its existence, the Saudi Arabia could not give a guarantee of education to all its citizens. Thus educated were only servants of mosques and Islamic schools. In these schools, people learn to read and write, and studied Islamic law. The Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1954. It was headed by the son of the first king Fahd. In 1957, in Riyadh was founded the first university in the Kingdom, which was named after King Saud. By the end of the XX century in Saudi Arabia was established a system that gives to all citizens free education - from pre-school to higher education. Today, there are eight universities in the system of education in the Kingdom. In addition, there are more than 24,000 schools and a large number of colleges and other educational institutions. More than a quarter of the states annual budget is spent on education. In addition to free education, the government provides students with everything they need to study: literature and even medical care. The State also sponsors the training of its citizens in foreign universities - mainly in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Malaysia. Culture of Saudi Arabia is strongly associated with Islam. Above-mentioned is mixed with very apparent desire for the preservation of national identity, and that desire is completely independent, by the way, from the will of the government. The most important cultural heritage of the country is the Arabic language, born in the territory of the Arabian Peninsula and subsequently spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa (now it is spoken by over 140 million people). This is one of the oldest languages in the region; it absorbed elements of various biblical peoples, and many ethnic groups who came to this earth later. In addition, it is very rich and surprisingly flexible tool that makes it easy to handle the most complex concepts - Arabic is one of the few languages on the planet, which doesnt not hurry to adopt neologisms from other languages, especially from English. Koran is also written in Arabic, and up to this day it is the only fact of using a living language for canonical religious texts. The complex of customs and traditions of the Saudis is quite complicated and many-sided for a quick description. Many local traditions are the same for the entire Arab world, while from the other side they stem from the unique historical and climatic conditions of this land, and others are the result of a fairly rigid isolationist policy of the . In any case - the local life is far enough from the clichés. The traditional dwellings of the nomads are big tents made of black wool. Sedentary Arabs mostly live in houses of traditional architecture of adobe, whitewashed or painted with ocher - in such structures it is cool even in the heat. In recent years, of course, home of more modern materials are becoming more common, but in their construction still are necessarily used local architectural techniques. Most of the houses surrounded by impressive walls that are designed rather not to protect the house as to prevent the sights of the strangers. The concept of the inviolability of the home and its territory is quite inviolable. Despite the fact that it is allowed and even encouraged to demonstrate the level of wealth openly, the inner territory of the house and the lives of its inhabitants are carefully hidden, thus even for a man standing in the doorway it is unlikely to see anything inside the gate or doors. That is why local architecture carefully takes into account this generally accepted custom. The country has no literary tradition, comparable with the traditions of the Arab countries of the Mediterranean. Perhaps the only known Saudi writers are historians of the late 19th century, among which the best known is Uthman ibn Bishr. The lack of literary traditions in Saudi Arabia partly offsets by deep-rooted tradition of oral poetry and prose, originating since pre-Islamic times. Music is not a traditional form of art in Saudi Arabia. Its development in the past decade as a mean of artistic expression was nullified by the ban imposed by the Council of Ulema on the performances in entertainment purposes. There are no theaters and public cinemas in the country; spectacles and performances are also forbidden. There are a little of performers of folk music and songs and they are all men. Among the most famous music artists may be mentioned the first pop star of Saudi Arabia Abdul Majid-and-Abdallah and virtuoso of oud al-Abadi Johar. Egyptian pop music is also popular in the country. A strict ban is also provided on images of human faces and figures in painting and sculpture, even though it does not apply to photos. Art search is limited with the creation of architectural ornaments, such as friezes and mosaics, including traditional forms of Islamic art. Wahhabism does not approve the construction of exquisitely decorated mosques, thus modern religious architecture is inexpressive, unlike the old, more aesthetically interesting (for instance, sanctuary Kaaba in Mecca). The most important religious architectural works of recent years are the restoration and decoration of the mosque at the burial place of the Prophet in Medina, and also a significant renovation of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The strictness of religious architecture is compensated by the flowering of civil architecture. In the cities are widely being built palaces, public buildings and private homes; most of them harmoniously combine modern and traditional design ideas. Thus You could see how the Saudi Arabia was developing during the centuries, how it was originated and what cultural attainment it gained during these centuries. References David E. Long. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. University Press of Florida, 1997 Foster L.M. Saudi Arabia (Enchantment of the World). School & Library Binding, 1993 Mulloy M. Saudi Arabia (Major World Nations). Library Binding, 1998 Read More