Word: wahhabi
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Saudi Arabia. The birthplace of Muhammad is the most strictly orthodox Muslim society on earth; rulers and ruled profess adherence to the austere, fundamentalist Wahhabi sect, noted for its zealous enforcement of the Shari'a. But there is a widening gap between the very rich and very poor, a heavy influx of foreign workers, and a pace of development that may be too rapid for an underpopulated country to handle. Although the Wahhabi leaders have close links to the royal family, there is a small Islamic movement that is critical of the debauchery of spoiled princelings on their sojourns outside...
Another important difference between Iran and Saudi Arabia is that Saudi rulers maintain tight links with the country's religious leaders. Since the early 19th century the House of Saud has had close contacts with the puritanical Wahhabi sect of Sunni Muslims who dominate the country's religious life. Opinions of the ulema, the leading religious authorities, are sought on major issues. Their power was demonstrated last year when they successfully demanded the razing of an entire modern city that had been built for pilgrims near Mecca on the sacred Hill of Arafat. The ulema ordered it destroyed...
...ruling family dates back to the 18th century, when the head of the tiny emirate of Dariyah (near Riyadh), Mohammed ibn Saud, formed an alliance with Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab, the fiery leader of a puritanical Islamic movement; his Wahhabi sect still holds sway in Saudi Arabia. This combination of tribal military skill and religious fanaticism did dominate central Arabia for 75 years, until it was crushed by an invading Egyptian army acting at the behest of the Ottoman rulers in Constantinople...
Outside the Cabinet building, where Faisal had spent so many long workdays dealing with affairs of state and receiving his subjects, white tents were set up to shelter the dignitaries who had come to attend the funeral. The rules of Islam's strict Wahhabi sect, to which King Faisal be longed, stipulate that a man's body should be buried as soon as possible after his death; Faisal's funeral, however, was delayed 36 hours in order to await the arrival of foreign delegations...
...accordance with Wahhabi tradition, Faisal's body was washed with soap and hot water, wrapped in a seamless white sheet, and covered by a dark brown shroud. The corpse lay in state briefly at the al Id al Kabir Mosque, which was sur rounded by more than 100,000 mourning Saudis. "Where goes our knight?" some cried. "Where goes our protector against confusion and poverty?" During the fatiha, the introductory in vocation, and again during the prayer for the dead, Arab dignitaries prostrated themselves on the ground. At length, the King's body was transported, with...