Word: wahhabi
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...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...
While embracing modernity, the government has assiduously eschewed its usual counterpart, Westernization. The House of Saud has clung tenaciously to Wahhabism, the puritanical strain of Sunni Islam that was the driving force of Abdul Aziz's victorious Ikhwan (brethren) movement. The royal family, as well as most Saudis, believe Wahhabi fervor unifies the kingdom's diverse tribes. Though King Fahd is known not to relish meeting his subjects, he devotes an entire day each week, Monday, to conferring with the ulama, the country's religious scholars...
...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...