1.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
2.
Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
3.
Mecca
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Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
4.
Saudi Arabian National Guard
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The Saudi Arabian National Guard is one of the three major branches of the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The national guard is under the control of the Ministry of the National Guard. The current Minister is Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who was appointed to this position by King Abdullah on 27 May 2013. It differs from the regular Saudi army in being forged out of tribal elements loyal to the House of Saud, the Saudi Arabian National Guard has a standing force of 200,000 troops and a tribal militia of some 25,000 troops. It serves both as a force against external attack and as an Internal security force. Its duties include protecting the House of Saud, guarding against military coups, guarding strategic facilities and resources, and providing security for the cities of Mecca and Medina. It reports directly to the king through the Minister of the National Guard and, unlike the army, navy, the Guards command structure and communication network are entirely separate from those of the Ministries of Defense and the Interior. Its personnel are drawn from tribes loyal to the king and the royal family and it has been described as an institution that ties the tribes to the House of Saud. It also draws recruits from official Wahhabi religious establishment, according to journalist John R. Bradley, it is one of the best-trained and well-equipped armies in the world. The force was reorganised and retrained by the Vinnell Corporation in the 1980s. The United States support for the SANG has been delivered both through private contractors and the U. S. armys Office of the Program Manager, the SANG was founded as the successor to the Ikhwan, the tribal army of King Abdulaziz. The Ikhwan had helped King Abdulaziz conquer the Arabian Peninsula and take it from Ottoman Turkey in World War I, however, the Ikhwan committed many excesses and atrocities not just on Turks but on other Arabs as well. The various tribal groups of the Ikhwan also had a tendency to go off and do their own things, the SANG acquired its moniker of the White Army during this period due to its wearing of traditional Arab dress instead of Western-style military uniforms. In 1954, the office of Jihad and Mujahidin was transformed into the modern National Guard, training of the National Guard became the responsibility of the US Vinnell corporation in 1975. These contractors were supervised by a United States military group with the designation Office of the Program Manager—Saudi Arabian National Guard, extensive military infrastructure facilities have been built to ensure the comfort and well-being of national guard units. Other National Guard military cities were located at At-Taif, Dammam, during the 1950s and early 1960s, the regular army and the national guard were both small and of roughly equal strength. The guards mobility over desert terrain was assured by 1,100 Commando V-150 armoured cars, firepower came from 105 mm and 155 mm towed howitzers,106 mm recoilless rifles, and various wheeled BGM-71 TOW platforms. The second component of the guard, made up of tribal battalions under the command of local sheikhs, was organised into four infantry brigades
5.
Ikhwan
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The Ikhwan later became the Saudi Arabian National Guard. The Ikhwan first appeared around 1902, the newly Islamicized Bedouin would be converted from nomad raiders to soldiers for Islam. After the conquest of the Hejaz in 1924 brought all of the current Saudi state under Ibn Sauds control and he crushed their power at the Battle of Sabilla in 1929, following which the militia was reorganised into the Saudi Arabian National Guard. According to scholar David Cummins, around 1913, the time that Ibn Saud regained al-Hasa. Sunni ulama went out to domesticate nomadic tribesmen, to them from idolatry to Islam. The Ikhwan became zealous religious warriors united and motivated by more than allegiance to Ibn Saud. The result was a rebellion by some of the Ikhwan against their creator, the arid, remote region of Najd had been ruled by the House of Saud and religiously dominated by the Islamic revival movement known as since the mid-18th century. Ikhwant-men-tah-allah was a movement of townspeople, and traditionally thought of the nomadic herders as bearers of religious ignorance, jahiliyyah. To remedy this situation, the beduin were gathered in agricultural settlements known as hijra, there were 52 hujar by 1920 and 120 by 1929. Ikhwan were known for wearing white rather than the traditional Arab Kufiya. The pacification of the tribesmen was not entirely a success, and the nomads continued their raids. Unlike nomadic raiders, the Ikhwan earned notoriety for routinely killing male captives, from 1914 to 1926 Ibn Saud and Ikhwan-men-tah-allah leadership allied with him urged the Ikhwan to not attack or harass other nomads and townspeople of the Najd. From 1926 and 1930, the conflict was more serious, and effectively a rebellion, some Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Ikhwan realm into these states, and launched raids into them. This left Ibn Saud responsible for military attacks originating in his country, ik, while Ibn Saud was willing to tolerate their practices. In 1926 meeting of Ikhwan leaders at al-Artawiya, found Ibn Saud at fault for not upholding the separation of belief. The Ikhwan, being irregular tribesmen, relied mainly on traditional weapons such as lances and swords, usually, they attacked in the forms of raids which is a style Bedouins had always used in the deserts of Arabia. Those raiders travelled mainly on camels and some horses, typically, every male captured was killed by cutting his throat. Two notable raids on Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in August 1922, some 1,500 Ikhwan camel mounted fighters led by Eqab bin Mohaya, attacked Transjordan
6.
Grand Mosque seizure
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The Grand Mosque seizure occurred during November and December 1979 when extremist insurgents calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud took over Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The insurgents declared that the Mahdi had arrived in the form of one of their leaders – Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani –, for nearly two weeks, Saudi Special Forces assisted by Pakistani and French commandos fought pitched battles to reclaim the compound. The siege ended two weeks after the takeover began and the mosque was cleared, following the attack, the Saudi state implemented a stricter enforcement of Islamic code. The seizure was led by Juhayman al-Otaybi, a member of a family in Najd. He declared his brother-in-law Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani to be the Mahdi, or redeemer, who arrives on earth several years before Judgement Day. The date of the attack,20 November 1979, was the first day of the year 1400 according to the Islamic calendar, al-Otaybi was from one of the foremost families of Najd. His grandfather had ridden with Ibn Saud in the decades of the century. He was a preacher, a corporal in the Saudi National Guard. Juhayman had turned against al-Baaz, and began advocating a return to the ways of Islam, among other things. He proclaimed that the ruling Al-Saud dynasty had lost its legitimacy because it was corrupt, al-Otaybi and Qahtani had met while being imprisoned together for sedition, when al-Otaybi claimed to have a vision sent by God telling him that Qahtani was the Mahdi. Their declared goal was to institute a theocracy in preparation for the imminent apocalypse and they differed from the original Ikhwan and other earlier Wahhabi purists in that they were millenarians, they rejected the monarchy and they condemned the Wahhabi ulama. Many of their followers were drawn from students at the Islamic University in Medina. The followers preached their radical message in different mosques in Saudi Arabia without being arrested, the government was reluctant to confront religious extremists. Even after the seizure of the Grand Mosque, a level of forbearance by ulama for the rebels remained. When the government asked for a fatwa allowing armed force in the Grand Mosque, the scholars did not declare al-Otaibi and his followers non-Muslims, despite their violation of the sanctity of the Grand Mosque, but only termed them al-jamaah al-musallahah. The senior scholars also insisted that security forces attack them. Because of donations from followers, the group was well-armed and trained. Some members, like al-Otaybi, were military officials of the National Guard
7.
Great Mosque of Mecca
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The Great Mosque of Mecca, also called the Grand Mosque, is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds Islams holiest place, the Kaaba, in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslims face in the Qibla while performing Salat, the Quran states that Abraham, together with his son Ishmael, raised the foundations of a house that is identified by most commentators as the Kaaba. Allah had shown Abraham the exact site, very near to the Well of Zamzam, after Abraham had built the Kaaba, an angel brought to him the Black Stone, a celestial stone that, according to tradition, had fallen from Heaven on the nearby hill Abu Qubays. According to a saying attributed to Muhammad, the Black Stone had descended from Paradise whiter than milk, the Black Stone is believed to be the only remnant of the original structure made by Abraham. Quran 22,27 Going by the dates attributed to the patriarchs, Ishmael is believed to have been born around 2150 BCE, therefore, Islamic scholars have generally assumed that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham around 2130 BC. The Kaaba is, therefore, believed by Muslims to be more than an older than Solomons Temple in Jerusalem. These dates remain consistent with the Muslim belief that the Kaaba is the first, in Samaritan literature, the Samaritan Book of the Secrets of Moses claims that Ishmael and his eldest son Nebaioth built the Kaaba as well as the city of Mecca. Upon Muhammads victorious return to Mecca in 630, he and his son-in-law, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, broke the idols in and around the Kaaba, similar to what Ibrahim did as stated in and ended its pagan use. This began the Islamic rule over the Kaaba and the building of the Masjid al-Haram around it, the first major renovation to the mosque took place in 692. Before this renovation, which included the outer walls being raised and decoration added to the ceiling. The spread of Islam in the Middle East and the influx of pilgrims required an almost complete rebuilding of the site which included adding more marble, in 1570, Sultan Selim II commissioned the chief architect Mimar Sinan to renovate the mosque. These features are the oldest surviving parts of the building, during heavy rains and flash floods in 1621 and 1629, the walls of the Kaaba and the mosque suffered extensive damage. In 1629, during the reign of Sultan Murad IV, the Kaaba was rebuilt with stones from Mecca, in the renovation of the mosque, a new stone arcade was added, three more minarets were built, and the marble flooring was retiled. This was the state of the mosque for nearly three centuries. The first major renovation under the Saudi kings was done between 1955 and 1973, in this renovation, four more minarets were added, the ceiling was refurnished, and the floor was replaced with artificial stone and marble. The Masa gallery is included in the Masjid via roofing and enclosements, during this renovation many of the historical features built by the Ottomans, particularly the support columns, were demolished. The second Saudi renovations under King Fahd, added a new wing, the new wing, which is also for prayers, is accessed through the King Fahd Gate. This extension was performed between 1982 and 1988, the third Saudi extension saw the building of more minarets, the erecting of a Kings residence overlooking the mosque and more prayer area in and around the mosque itself
8.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
9.
House of Saud
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The House of Saud is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. The family has thousands of members, the most influential member of the Royal family is the King of Saudi Arabia, currently King Salman. The succession to the Saudi Arabian throne was designed to pass from one son of the first king, Ibn Saud, to another. The next in line, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef is also from the ruling House of Saud, while the monarchy is hereditary now, future Saudi kings will be chosen by a committee of Saudi princes, in line with a 2006 royal decree. The family is estimated to comprise 15,000 members, but the majority of the power, House of Saud is a translation of Al Saud. The latter is an Arabic dynastic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin, the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. Today, the surname Al Saud is carried by any descendant of Muhammad bin Saud or his three brothers Farhan, Thunayyan, and Mishari. Al Sauds other family branches like Saud al-Kabir, the Al Jiluwi, the Al Thunayan, the Al Mishari, members of the cadet branches hold high and influential positions in government though they are not in line of succession to Saudi throne. Many cadet members intermarry within the Al Saud to reestablish their lineage, the earliest recorded ancestor of the Al Saud was Mani ibn Rabiah Al-Muraydi who settled in Diriyah in 1446–1447 with his clan, the Mrudah. Although the Mrudah are believed to be descended from the Rabiah tribal confederation, Mani was invited by a relative named Ibn Dir. Ibn Dir was the ruler of a set of villages and estates that make up modern-day Riyadh, manis clan had been on a sojourn in east Arabia, near al-Qatif, from an unknown point in time. Ibn Dir handed Mani two estates called al-Mulaybeed and Ghusayba, Mani and his family settled and renamed the region al-Diriyah, after their benefactor Ibn Dir. The Mrudah became rulers of al-Diriyah, which prospered along the banks of Wadi Hanifa, as the clan grew larger, power struggles ensued, with one branch leaving for nearby Dhruma, while another branch left for the town of az-Zubayr in southern Iraq. The Al Migrin became the family among the Mrudah in Diriyah. The name of the clan comes from Sheikh Saud ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin who died in 1725, the First Saudi State was founded in 1744. This period was marked by conquest of neighboring areas and by religious zeal, at its height, the First Saudi State included most of the territory of modern-day Saudi Arabia, and raids by Al Sauds allies and followers reached into Yemen, Oman, Syria, and Iraq. Islamic Scholars, particularly Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and his descendants, are believed to have played a significant role in Saudi rule during this period, the Saudis and their allies referred to themselves during this period as the Muwahhidun or Ahl al-Tawhid. Later they were referred to as the Wahhabis, a group of particularly strict Sunni, leadership of the Al Saud during the time of their first state passed from father to son without incident
10.
Ibn Saud
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He reconquered his familys ancestral home city of Riyadh in 1902, starting three decades of conquests that made him the ruler of nearly all of central Arabia. He consolidated his control over the Najd in 1922, then conquered the Hejaz in 1925 and he extended his dominions into, what later became, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. As King, he presided over the discovery of petroleum in Saudi Arabia in 1938 and he fathered many children, including 45 sons, and all of the subsequent kings of Saudi Arabia. Ibn Saud was born on 15 January 1875 in Riyadh in the region of Najd in central Arabia and he was the son of Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, last ruler of the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, a tribal sheikhdom centered on Riyadh. His family, the House of Saud, had been a power in central Arabia for the previous 130 years, Ibn Sauds mother was a member of the Sudairi family, Sarah Al Sudairi. In 1890, the House of Sauds long-term regional rivals, the Rashidis, Ibn Saud was 15 at the time. He and his family took refuge with the Al Murrah. Later, the Al Sauds moved to Qatar and stayed there for two months and their next stop was Bahrain, where they stayed briefly. Their final destination was Kuwait, where lived for nearly a decade. As the raid proved profitable, it attracted more participants, the raiders numbers peaked at over 200, but numbers dwindled over the ensuing months. In the autumn, the made camp in the Yabrin oasis. While observing Ramadan, he decided to attack Riyadh and retake it from the Al Rashid, on the night of 15 January 1902, he led 40 men over the walls of the city on tilted palm trees and took the city. The Rashidi governor of the city, Ajlan, was killed in front of his own fortress, the Saudi recapture of the city marked the beginning of the Third Saudi State. Following the capture of Riyadh, many supporters of the House of Saud rallied to Ibn Sauds call to arms. He was a leader and kept his men supplied with arms. Over the next two years, he and his forces recaptured almost half of the Najd from the Rashidis, in 1904, Abdulaziz of Al Rashid appealed to the Ottoman Empire for military protection and assistance. The Ottomans responded by sending troops into Arabia, on 15 June 1904, Ibn Sauds forces suffered a major defeat at the hands of the combined Ottoman and Rashidi forces. His forces regrouped and began to wage guerrilla warfare against the Ottomans, over the next two years, he was able to disrupt their supply routes, forcing them to retreat
Saudi Arabia 
National Guard 
