Word: wahhabi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...back down rather than confront the conservatives. "He will never fight them," says a Saudi intellectual. But failure to institute reforms now will only serve to encourage the extremists. Fahd's father, King Abdul Aziz, founder of the kingdom, did not hesitate to sever his alliance with the puritanical Wahhabi warriors when they defied his rule. As the struggle over Saudi Arabia's future intensifies, Fahd could do worse than recall his father's choice when challenged by his kingdom's zealots...
...force," says Khalida Messaoudi, president of an Algerian women's organization. "They start by attacking women because women are the weakest link in these societies." Particularly strict is the Wahhabiyah, a movement founded in the 18th century that counts among its adherents many Afghans and the Saudi ruling family. Wahhabi women live behind the veil, are forbidden to drive, and may travel only if accompanied by a husband or a male blood relative. The demands of the gulf crisis prompted the Saudis to loosen some constraints on women, but it is not clear that such liberalizations will endure...
...keeping with the Wahhabi tradition, liquor, pornography and gambling are forbidden. Movies and dancing are also not permitted. Videos, books and publications are heavily censored; copies of this issue of TIME, for example, are certain to be banned from the kingdom. The Saudis enforce Islamic laws of justice to the letter. In the city squares, the hands of thieves are chopped off, adulterers are stoned to death, murderers and rapists are beheaded, and lesser offenders are flogged...
...ites of Arabia's east coast have for decades met with cultural and religious intolerance from the dominant Wahhabi (Sunni fundamentalist) authorities. Among young Shi'ite men, the unemployment rate is 30%, and would be far higher but for Aramco...
...Qatif defied local authorities during the holy period of Ashura. The ritual led to demonstrations that according to the Saudis ended only after the National Guard intervened, leaving 10 Shi'ites dead. According to U.S. sources, the denouement was even bloodier. "The National Guard is the core of the Wahhabi spirit," says a government analyst. "They take a certain pride in going down to the Eastern province and beating up Shi'a." Militants in Qatif responded by shooting 12 or 13 guardsmen; the guard sealed the area and killed more than 120 Shi'ites. Thousands more were arrested, some held...