1.
Oil reserves in Saudi Arabia
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The proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia are the second largest in the world, estimated to be 268 billion barrels, including 2.5 Gbbl in the Saudi–Kuwaiti neutral zone. They are predominantly found in the Eastern Province and these reserves were the largest in the world until Venezuela announced they had increased their proven reserves to 297 Gbbl in January 2011. In 2000, the US Geological Survey estimated that remaining undiscovered oil reserves in Saudi Arabia had an average of 90 Gbbl. Saudi Arabia has traditionally been regarded as the world’s most important swing producer of oil, when acting as such, the Saudi government would increase or decrease oil production to maintain a more stable price. Saudi Arabia produced 10.3 million barrels per day in 1980,10.6 Mbbl/d in 2006, Saudi Arabia maintains the world’s largest crude oil production capacity, estimated to be approx. 11 Mbbl/d at mid-year 2008 and announced plans to increase capacity to 12.5 Mbbl/d by 2009 Cumulative production through the end of 2009 was 119.4 billion bbl. Using the stated number of 267 Gbbl, past production amounts to 40% of the stated remaining proved reserves, in the summer of 2008, Saudi Arabia announced an increase in planned production of 500,000 barrels per day. However, in 2008, some believed that Saudi oil production had already peaked or would do so in the near future. In April 2015, the Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi said that Saudi Arabia produced 10.3 million barrels per day in March that year, the previous peak was in August 2013 at 10.2 million barrels per day. This has caused some to question the current state of their oil fields.10 million barrels per day. Overall, in the nine years since his 2004 prediction, Saudi crude oil and lease condensate production has averaged 9.20 million barrels per day, history of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia Energy in Saudi Arabia Map of oil and gas infrastructure in Saudi Arabia
2.
Economy of Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia has an oil-based economy with strong government control over major economic activities. The Saudi economy is the largest in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia possesses 18% of the worlds proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and played a leading role in OPEC for many years. The petroleum sector accounts for almost all of Saudi government revenues, most workers, particularly in the private sector, are foreigners. Saudi oil reserves are the second largest in the world, and Saudi Arabia is the leading oil exporter. Proven reserves, according to figures provided by the Saudi government, are estimated to be 260 billion barrels, Petroleum in Saudi Arabia is not only plentiful but under pressure and close to the earths surface. This makes it far cheaper and thus far more profitable to extract petroleum in Saudi Arabia than in other places. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 92. 5% of Saudi budget revenues, 97% of export earnings, another 40% of GDP comes from the private sector. An estimated 7.5 million foreigners work legally in Saudi Arabia, playing a role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil. The government has encouraged private sector growth for years to lessen the kingdoms dependence on oil. In recent decades the government has begun to permit private sector and foreign investor participation in such as power generation and telecom. During much of the 2000s, high oil prices enabled the government to post budget surpluses, boost spending on job training and education, infrastructure development, and government salaries. More than 95% of all Saudi oil is produced on behalf of the Saudi Government by the parastatal giant Saudi Aramco, at every level in every sphere of activity, Saudis maneuver through life manipulating individual privileges, favors, obligations, and connections. The gross domestic product of Saudi Arabia fluctuates dramatically according to the price of oil, Market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund and other sources, with figures in millions of Saudi Arabian Riyals. For purchasing power parity comparisons, the U. S. dollar is exchanged at 3.75 Saudi Arabian Riyals only, mean wages were $14.74 per man-hour in 2009. Population from FAO aqaustat, UN World Population Prospects, The 2010 Revision As of August 2009 it was reported that Saudi Arabia is the strongest Arab economy, Saudi Arabia was a subsistence economy until the 1930s. During the 1973 oil crisis Saudi began to rapidly and peaked around 1980. In the mid 1980s the oil dropped from a high of US$40 per barrel to around US$5. From 2002 to mid-2008 oil prices recovered, allowing the government to post budget surpluses, Saudi Arabia was an economy based on subsistence agriculture by a population that was largely nomadic and very poor until the discovery of oil in the 1930s
3.
Education in Saudi Arabia
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When Saudi Arabia formally became a nation in 1932, education was largely limited to instruction for a select few in Islamic schools. Today, public primary education through college—is open to every Saudi citizen. Saudi education is noted for its religious content, at the university level, nearly two-thirds of graduates earn degrees in Islamic subjects. The highest authority that supervises education in Saudi Arabia is the Supreme Committee for Educational Policy, established in 1963. According to the World Bank database, public spending on education is 6.8 percent of GDP, Education spending as a percentage of overall spending tripled from 1970 to 2000, and neither economic growth nor the price of oil had much impact on this trend. However, attendance of kindergartens is not a prerequisite for enrollment of first grade of primary education, some private nurseries have been established with technical and financial aid from the government. According to government data,100,714 children are in education in 2007. The gross enrollment percentage was 10. 8%, for boys 11.1 percent, primary education in Saudi Arabia lasts six years, and children at the age of 6 enter the first grade of primary education. All national primary schools are day schools and are not co-educational, in order to move on to intermediate education, children must pass the examination at the end of Grade 6 of primary school and obtain the Elementary Education Certificate. According to government data,2,442,482 students are in education in 2007. According to UNESCO, the gross enrollment ratio for boys is 99.9 percent, gross enrollment ratio for girls is 96.3 percent, Intermediate education in Saudi Arabia lasts three years. According to government data,1,144,548 students are in education in 2007. According to gross enrollment the total rate is 95.9 percent in 2007, secondary education in Saudi Arabia lasts three years and this is the final stage of general education. After the intermediate education, students have the opportunity for both general and specialized secondary education, technical secondary institute which provide technical and vocational education and training programs lasts three years in the fields of industry, commerce and agriculture. According to government data,1,013,074 students are in education in 2007. The establishment of the King Saud University in 1957 is a point of the modern higher education system in Saudi Arabia. This was also the first university in all the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, there are 24 government universities in Saudi Arabia, established in a short span of time. Among them, Taibah University, Qassim University and Taif University were established under the Seventh Development Plan, the universities consists of colleges and departments that offer diplomas, and bachelors, masters and PhD degrees in various scientific and humanities specializations
4.
Tourism in Saudi Arabia
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Although most tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages, there is growth in the leisure tourism sector. According to the World Bank, approximately 14.3 million people visited Saudi Arabia in 2012, potential tourist areas include the Hijaz and Sarawat Mountains, Red Sea diving and a number of ancient ruins. In December 2013, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to begin issuing tourist visas for the first time in its history, council of Ministers entrusted the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities with visa issuing on the basis of certain regulations approved by the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs. A must for visitors to the region, the focuses on the countrys history, culture. Al Ahsa Museum Diriyah is a town in Saudi Arabia located on the outskirts of Riyadh. Diriyah was the home of the Saudi royal family and served as the capital of the first Saudi dynasty from 1744 to 1818. Today, the town is the seat of the Diriyah Governorate, which includes the villages of Uyayna, Jubayla, and Al-Ammariyyah, among others. Madain Saleh is a archaeological site located in the Al-Ula sector. A majority of the date from the Nabatean kingdom. The site constitutes the kingdoms southernmost and largest settlement after Petra, Tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages. Mecca receives over three million pilgrims a year during the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in Hajj, and around two million during the month of Ramadan in Umrah, during the rest of the year, Mecca receives around four million for Umrah. The Hajj, or pilgrimage to the city, is one of the five pillars of Islam, however, non-Muslims are not allowed to enter. All visitors to Saudi Arabia require a sponsor, which is usually arranged months in advance, visas are only issued for business, relatives of Saudis, transit to a third country, and Muslim pilgrims, general tourism is not allowed. Women may not travel alone, and women and children require permission of the head of household to enter. Though crime is lower than many countries around the world, the U. S. State Department warns travelers of a risk of attacks on Westerners. Hajj and Umrah permits only allow visitors access to areas near. Passports are confiscated upon arrival, and visitors are issued ID cards and wristbands, visa policy of Saudi Arabia Official tourism website Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities Travelers Information by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D. C. Official restaurant directory and dining guide of Saudi Arabia
5.
Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia
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The Royal Saudi Arabian Armed Forces consists of the Saudi Arabian Army, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Defense, and the Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force. In addition the Saudi Arabian National Guard, which is one of the three branches of the Joint Forces of the Kingdom. The national guard is under the control of the Ministry of National Guard, instead of the Ministry of Defence, the Saudi Arabian Royal Guard. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has one of the defence forces in the Middle East. The kingdom spends 25% of its budget, or about $88 billion, on its military, in terms of manpower, Saudi Arabia has about 688,000 active personnel in its military, with 300,000 army troops. Saudi Arabia also has more than 200,000 men in its national guard and 25,000 tribal levies, the navy has about 60,000 members, air defense forces and strategic rocket forces about 40,000 soldiers. In addition to the air forces with more than 63,000 active employees, also there is an intelligence service. The Saudi Arabian National Guard is not a reserve but a fully operational force, and originated out of Abdul Azizs tribal military-religious force. Its modern existence, however, is attributable to it being effectively Abdullahs private army since the 1960s and, crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz was Saudi Arabias Minister of Defence and Aviation from 1962 to 2011. The vice minister, Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, was his full brother and his oldest son, Khalid bin Sultan, was appointed assistant minister in 2001 and was in office until April 2013. In 1987, members of the air force, army, and navy are mainly recruits from groups of people without a strong identity from the Nejd tribal system, spending on defense and security has increased significantly since the mid-1990s and was about US$67 billion in 2013. Saudi Arabia ranks among the top five nations in the world in government spending for its military and its modern, high-technology arsenal makes Saudi Arabia among the worlds most densely armed nations, with its military equipment being supplied primarily by the United States, France, and Britain. According to SIPRI, in 2010–14 Saudi Arabia became the second largest arms importer. Major imports in 2010–14 included 45 combat aircraft from the UK,38 combat helicopters from the USA,4 tanker aircraft from Spain and over 600 armoured vehicles from Canada. Saudi Arabia has a long list of outstanding orders for arms, including 27 more combat aircraft from the UK,154 combat aircraft from the USA, the United States sold more than $80 billion in military hardware between 1951 and 2006 to the Saudi military. In comparison, the Israel Defense Forces received $53.6 billion in U. S. military grants between 1949 and 2007. On 20 October 2010, U. S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history—an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The package represented an improvement in the offensive capability of the Saudi armed forces
6.
Mohammad bin Salman
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Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud is the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia and the youngest minister of defense in the world. Mohammad is also chief of the House of Saud royal court and he has been described as the power behind the throne of his father, King Salman. Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud was born on 31 August 1985 in Jeddah and he is the son of King Salman from his third spouse, Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hithalayn. He is their eldest son and is brother of Turki bin Salman, former chairman of the Saudi Research. Prince Mohammad holds a degree in law from King Saud University. After graduating college, Mohammad bin Salman spent several years in the sector before becoming the personal aide of his father. He worked as a consultant for the Experts Commission, working for the Saudi Cabinet, on 15 December 2009, Mohammad bin Salman entered politics as a special advisor to his father when the latter was the governor of Riyadh Province. In June 2012, the Crown Prince, Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, died and he soon began remaking the court in his own image. On 2 March 2013, the chief of the Crown Prince court Prince Saud bin Nayef was appointed governor of the Eastern Province and Prince Mohammad succeeded him in the post and he was also given the rank of minister. On 25 April 2014 Prince Mohammad was appointed state minister, on 23 January 2015, King Abdullah died, Salman took the throne and Prince Mohammad was appointed minister of defense. He was also named as the general of the Royal Court on the same date. In addition he retained his post as the minister of the state, during the campaign Prince bin Salman went on vacation in the Maldives, where United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter had trouble reaching him for days. According to the UN and human groups, direct war crimes were committed during the conflict. In April 2015 King Salman appointed one of his nephews, Mohammed bin Nayef. At the same time King Salman appointed his son Prince Mohammed as deputy crown prince. In late 2015, Prince bin Salman attended a meeting between King Salman and United States President Barack Obama, where the prince broke protocol to deliver a monologue criticizing U. S. foreign policy. After Prince bin Salman announced an anti-terrorist military alliance of Islamic countries in December 2015, on 4 January 2016, Prince Mohammad gave his first on-the-record interview, while talking to The Economist. On 10 January 2016, The Independent reported that the BND, portrayed Saudi defence minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. as a political gambler who is destabilising the Arab world through proxy wars in Yemen and Syria
7.
Initial public offering
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Through this process, a privately held company transforms into a public company. Initial public offerings are used by companies to raise the expansion of capital, possibly to monetize the investments of early private investors. A company selling shares is never required to repay the capital to its public investors, after the IPO, when shares trade freely in the open market, money passes between public investors. The IPO process is known as going public. Details of the offering are disclosed to potential purchasers in the form of a lengthy document known as a prospectus. Most companies undertake an IPO with the assistance of an investment banking firm acting in the capacity of an underwriter, underwriters provide several services, including help with correctly assessing the value of shares and establishing a public market for shares. Alternative methods such as the dutch auction have also been explored, in terms of size and public participation, the two most notable examples of this method is the Google IPO and Snapchats parent company Snap Inc. China has recently emerged as a major IPO market, with several of the largest IPOs taking place in that country, the earliest form of a company which issued public shares was the case of the publicani during the Roman Republic. Like modern joint-stock companies, the publicani were legal bodies independent of their members whose ownership was divided into shares, there is evidence that these shares were sold to public investors and traded in a type of over-the-counter market in the Forum, near the Temple of Castor and Pollux. The shares fluctuated in value, encouraging the activity of speculators, mere evidence remains of the prices for which partes were sold, the nature of initial public offerings, or a description of stock market behavior. Publicanis lost favor with the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, the first modern IPO occurred in March 1602 when the Dutch East India Company offered shares of the company to the public in order to raise capital. All the shares were tradable, and the shareholders received receipts for the purchase, a share certificate documenting payment and ownership such as we know today was not issued but ownership was instead entered in the companys share register. In the United States, the first IPO was the offering of Bank of North America around 1783. An IPO, therefore, allows a company to tap into a pool of potential investors to provide itself with capital for future growth, repayment of debt. A company selling shares is never required to repay the capital to its public investors. Those investors must endure the unpredictable nature of the market to price. After the IPO, when shares trade freely in the open market, for early private investors who choose to sell shares as part of the IPO process, the IPO represents an opportunity to monetize their investment. This type of offering is not dilutive, since no new shares are being created, once a company is listed, it is able to issue additional common shares in a number of different ways, one of which is the follow-on offering
8.
Saudi Aramco
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Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, most popularly known just as Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. Saudi Aramcos value has been estimated at anywhere between US$1.25 trillion and US$10 trillion, making it the worlds most valuable company, Saudi Aramco has both the worlds largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 260 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production. Saudi Aramco owns, operates and develops all energy resources based in Saudi Arabia, according to a 2015 Forbes report, Aramco is said to be the worlds largest oil and gas company. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Aramco operates the worlds largest single hydrocarbon network, the Master Gas System. Its 2013 crude oil production total was 3.4 billion barrels, Saudi Aramco operates the Ghawar Field, the worlds largest onshore oil field, and the Safaniya Field, the worlds largest offshore oil field. Saudi Aramcos origins trace to the oil shortages of World War I, the US Republican administration had popular support for an Open Door policy, which Herbert Hoover, secretary of commerce, initiated in 1921. Standard Oil of California was among those US companies seeking new sources of oil from abroad, through its subsidiary company, the Bahrain Petroleum Co. SoCal struck oil in Bahrain in May 1932 and this event heightened interest in the oil prospects of the Arabian mainland. On 29 May 1933, the Saudi Arabian government granted a concession to SoCal in preference to a bid from the Iraq Petroleum Co. The concession allowed SoCal to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia, SoCal assigned this concession to a wholly owned subsidiary, California-Arabian Standard Oil. In 1936, with the company having had no success at locating oil, after four years of fruitless exploration, the first success came with the seventh drill site in Dhahran in 1938, a well referred to as Dammam No.7. This well immediately produced over 1,500 barrels per day, on 31 January 1944, the company name was changed from California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. to Arabian American Oil Co. In 1948, Standard Oil of New Jersey purchased 30% and Socony Vacuum purchased 10% of the company, with SoCal and Texaco retaining 30% each. The newcomers were also shareholders in the Iraq Petroleum Co. and had to get the restrictions of the Red Line Agreement lifted in order to be free to enter into this arrangement. In 1950, King Abdulaziz threatened to nationalize his countrys oil facilities, a similar process had taken place with American oil companies in Venezuela a few years earlier. The American government granted US Aramco member companies a tax known as the golden gimmick equivalent to the profits given to King Abdulaziz. In the wake of the new arrangement, the headquarters were moved from New York to Dhahran. In 1951, the company discovered the Safaniya Oil Field, the worlds largest offshore field, in 1957, the discovery of smaller connected oil fields confirmed the Ghawar Field as the worlds largest onshore field
9.
Red Sea
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The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait, to the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion, the sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea has an area of roughly 438,000 km2, is about 2250 km long and. It has a depth of 2211 m in the central median trench. However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life, the sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the worlds northernmost tropical sea, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Red Sea as follows, On the North. The Southern limits of the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, a line joining Husn Murad and Ras Siyyan. Red Sea is a translation of the Greek Erythra Thalassa, Latin Mare Rubrum, Arabic, البحر الأحمر. Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar, Somali Badda Cas and Tigrinya Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī, the name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the waters surface. A theory favored by modern scholars is that the name red is referring to the direction south. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions, herodotus on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably. Historically, it was known to western geographers as Mare Mecca. Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia. C, in that version, the Yam Suph is translated as Erythra Thalassa. The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms — the others being the Black Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea. The direct rendition of the Greek Erythra thalassa in Latin as Mare Erythraeum refers to the part of the Indian Ocean. The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by ancient Egyptians, one such expedition took place around 2500 BC, and another around 1500 BC. Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea, historically, scholars argued whether these trips were possible
10.
Hejaz
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The Hejaz, also Al-Hijaz, is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. The region is so called as it separates the land of the Najd in the east from the land of Tihamah in the west and it is also known as the Western Province. It is bordered on the west by the Red Sea, on the north by Jordan, on the east by the Najd and its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. As the site of Islams holiest places, the Hejaz has significance in the Arab, historically, the Hejaz has always seen itself as separate from the rest of Saudi Arabia. The Hejaz is the most populated region in Saudi Arabia,35 % of all Saudis live in Hejaz, hejazi Arabic is the most widely spoken dialect in the region. Saudi Hejazis are of diverse origins. The Hejaz is the most cosmopolitan region in the Arabian Peninsula, people of Hejaz have the most strongly articulated identity of any regional grouping in Saudi Arabia. Their place of origin alienates them from the Saudi state, which invokes different narratives of the history of the Arabian Peninsula, thus, Hejazis experienced tensions with people of Najd. One or possibly two megalithic dolmen have been found in Al-Hijaz, the Hejaz includes both the Mahd adh-Dhahab and a water source, now dried out, that used to flow 600 miles north east to the Persian Gulf via the Wadi Al-Rummah and Wadi Al-Batin system. Archaeological research led by of Boston University and the University of Qassim indicates that the system was active in 8000 BCE. The northern part of the Hejaz was part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, Saudi Arabias first World Heritage Site that was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is that of Al-Hjir. The name Al-Hijr occurs in the Qur’an, and the site is known for having structures carved into rocks, construction of the structures is credited to the people of Thamud. Despite their rather Polytheistic nature, a member of folk was a Monotheistic preacher called Salih. After the disappearance of Thamud from Mada’in Saleh, it came under the influence of people, such as the Nabataeans. Later, it would lie in a used by Muslim Pilgrims going to Mecca. According to Islamic sources, the civilization of Mecca started after Ibrahim brought his son Isma‘il and wife Hajar here and it was during such an occasion that Muhammad met some Medinans who would allow him to migrate to Medina, to escape persecution by his opponents in Mecca. Given that he had followers and enemies here, a number of battles or expeditions were carried out in this area. They involved both Meccan companions, such as Hamzah ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib, Ubaydah ibn al-Harith and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, the Hijaz fell under Muhammads influence as he emerged victorious over his opponents, and was thus a part of his empire
11.
Bikini
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A bikini is usually a womens abbreviated two-piece swimsuit with a bra top for the chest and underwear cut below the navel. The basic design is simple, two triangles of fabric on top cover the breasts and two triangles of fabric on the bottom cover the groin in front and the buttocks in back. The size of a bottom can range from full pelvic coverage to a revealing thong or G-string design. The name for the design was coined in 1946 by Parisian engineer Louis Réard. He named the swimsuit after Bikini Atoll, where testing on the bomb was taking place. Fashion designer Jacques Heim, also from Paris, re-released a similar design earlier that same year, due to its controversial and revealing design, the bikini was slow to be adopted. In many countries it was banned from beaches and public places, the bikini design became common in most Western countries by the mid-1960s as beachwear, swimwear and underwear. By the late 20th century it had become common as sportswear in sports such as beach volleyball, variations of the term are used to describe stylistic variations for promotional purposes and industry classifications, including monokini, microkini, tankini, trikini, pubikini, and skirtini. A mans brief swimsuit may also be referred to as a bikini, similarly, a variety of mens and womens underwear types are described as bikini underwear. The bikini has gradually grown to wide acceptance in Western society. By the early 2000s, bikinis had become a US$811 million business annually, while the two-piece swimsuit as a design existed in classical antiquity, the modern design first attracted public notice in Paris on July 5,1946. Four days earlier, the United States had initiated its first peace-time nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll as part of Operation Crossroads, Réard hoped his swimsuits revealing style would create an explosive commercial and cultural reaction similar to the explosion at Bikini Atoll. Later swimsuit designs like the tankini and trikini further cemented this false assumption, although bikini was originally a registered trademark of Réard, it has since become genericized. A mans brief swimsuit may also be referred to as a bikini, similarly, a variety of mens and womens underwear types are described as bikini underwear. The two-piece swimsuit can be traced back to the Greco-Roman world, the mosaic, found in the Sicilian Villa Romana del Casale, features ten maidens who have been anachronistically dubbed the Bikini Girls. Other Roman archaeological finds depict the goddess Venus in a similar garment, in Pompeii, depictions of Venus wearing a bikini were discovered in the Casa della Venere, in the tablinum of the House of Julia Felix, and in an atrium garden of Via DellAbbondanza. Swimming or bathing outdoors was discouraged in the Christian West, so there was little demand or need for swimming or bathing costumes until the 18th century. The bathing gown of the 18th century was a loose ankle-length full-sleeve chemise-type gown made of wool or flannel that retained coverage, in 1913, designer Carl Jantzen made the first functional two-piece swimwear
12.
Toby Keith
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Toby Keith Covel is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. The song has received three million spins since its release, according to Broadcast Music Incorporated, signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, Keith released his breakthrough single How Do You Like Me Now. that year. This song, the track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000. His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shockn Yall, produced three number ones each, and all of the albums were certified 4x Platinum. A second Greatest Hits package followed in 2004, and after that, when DreamWorks closed in 2005, Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009. Overall, Keith has released seventeen albums, two Christmas albums, and four compilation albums. He has also charted sixty-one singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including twenty number one hits and his longest-lasting number one hits are Beer for My Horses and As Good as I Once Was, at six weeks each. He has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, the son of Carolyn Joan and Hubert K. Covel, Jr. and is of English ancestry. He has a sister and a brother, the family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Keith was in grade school, but moved to Moore, Oklahoma when he was still young. Before the family moved to Moore, he visited his grandmother in Fort Smith during the summers and his grandmother owned Billie Garners Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play. He did odd jobs around the club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band. He got his first guitar at the age of eight, after the family moved to Moore, Keith attended Highland West Junior High and Moore High School, where he played defensive end on the football team. Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up to become an operation manager, at times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field. Keith played defensive end for the 1980 Oklahoma Sooners but never saw the field before dropping out to play football in OKC. In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and he fell back on his football training and played defensive end with the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers while continuing to perform with his band. He then returned to once again on music. His family and friends were doubtful he would succeed, but, in 1984, Easy Money began playing the honky tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas
13.
Rabeh Sager
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Rabeh Sager, also spelled Rabeh Saqer, is an Arabic singer from Saudi Arabia. He is also called Abu Sager, in 2007, he celebrated his 25th anniversary as a singer. One of his hit songs of all time is Sahratna Al Laila, Sager made his debut album in 1983 called Breeze of the Night. Rabeh Saqr had a start as a young man coming from the east coast and just relied on his talent which was not as polished a talent as some of his colleagues in the artistic scene. His first work in 1983 was the album night Aanasim, the album contains 6 of the classical Arabic and achieved Wow. Issued after Album Sabrin words Abdul Latif Al Bannai, which contained four acts, oldest winner to put several sessions developer and was the title of the first session Samra 1 and contains six songs, including A Cry of Pain and Arrogant. He later launched Rabeh meaning missed eclipse Moon and said that was the album bears her name, the album contained a song to speak, which was the beginning of collaborations with the poet Prince Saud bin Abdullah. The album was Ptozein east and west and was the first Arab artist is making the move in doubt] and four songs on a clip of them empty feelings
14.
Square kilometre
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Square kilometre or square kilometer, symbol km2, is a multiple of the square metre, the SI unit of area or surface area. For example,3 km2 is equal to 3×2 =3,000,000 m2, topographical map grids are worked out in metres, with the grid lines being 1,000 metres apart. 1,100,000 maps are divided into squares representing 1 km2, each square on the map being one square centimetre in area, for 1,50,000 maps, the grid lines are 2 cm apart. Each square on the map is 2 cm by 2 cm, for 1,25,000 maps, the grid lines are 4 cm apart. Each square on the map is 4 cm by 4 cm, in each case, the grid lines enclose one square kilometre. The area enclosed by the walls of many European medieval cities were about one square kilometre, the approximate area of the old walled cities can often be worked out by fitting the course of the wall to a rectangle or an oval. Examples include Delft, Netherlands 52°0′54″N 4°21′34″E The walled city of Delft was approximately rectangular, the approximate length of rectangle was about 1.30 kilometres. The approximate width of the rectangle was about 0.75 kilometres, a perfect rectangle with these measurements has an area of 1. 30×0.75 =0.9 km2 Lucca 43°50′38″N 10°30′2″E The medieval city is roughly rectangular with rounded north-east and north-west corners. The maximum distance from east to west is 1.36 kilometres, the maximum distance from north to south is 0.80 kilometres. A perfect rectangle of these dimensions would be 1. 36×0.80 =1.088 km2, Brugge 51°12′39″N 3°13′28″E The medieval city of Brugge, a major centre in Flanders, was roughly oval or elliptical in shape with the longer or semi-major axis running north and south. The maximum distance from north to south is 2.53 kilometres, the maximum distance from east to west is 1.81 kilometres. A perfect ellipse of these dimensions would be 2.53 ×1.81 × =3.597 km2. Chester United Kingdom 53°12′1″N 2°52′45″W Chester is one of the smaller English cities that has a city wall. The distance from Northgate to Watergate is about 855 metres. The distance from Eastgate to Westgate is about 589 metres, a perfect rectangle of these dimensions would be × =0.504 km2. Parks come in all sizes, a few are almost exactly one kilometre in area. Here are some examples, Riverside Country Park, UK. Brierley Forest Park, rio de Los Angeles State Park, California, USA Jones County Central Park, Iowa, USA. Using the figures published by golf course architects Crafter and Mogford, assuming a 6,000 metres 18-hole course, an area of 80 hectares needs to be allocated for the course itself
15.
Riyadh
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Riyadh is the capital and most populous city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province and belongs to the regions of Najd. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, the current mayor of Riyadh is Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Sultan. He was appointed mayor in 2015 and it has been designated a global city. During the Pre-Islamic era the city at the site was called Hajr, Hajr served as the capital of the province of Al Yamamah, whose governors were responsible for most of central and eastern Arabia during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. Al-Yamamah broke away from the Abbasid Empire in 866 and the area fell under the rule of the Ukhaydhirites, the city then went into a long period of decline. In the 14th century, North African traveller Ibn Battuta wrote of his visit to Hajr, describing it as the city of Al-Yamamah. Later on, Hajr broke up several separate settlements and estates. The most notable of these were Migrin and Mikal, though the name Hajr continued to appear in local folk poetry, the earliest known reference to the area by the name Riyadh comes from a 17th-century chronicler reporting on an event from the year 1590. In 1737, Deham ibn Dawwas, a refugee from neighboring Manfuha, Ibn Dawwas built a single wall to encircle the various quarters of Riyadh, making them effectively a single town. In 1744, Muhammad ibn Abdel Wahhab formed an alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud, Ibn Saud then set out to conquer the surrounding region with the goal of bringing it under the rule of a single Islamic state. Ibn Dawwas of Riyadh led the most determined resistance, allied forces from Al Kharj, Al Ahsa. However, Ibn Dawwas fled and Riyadh capitulated to the Saudis in 1774, ending years of wars. The First Saudi State was destroyed by forces sent by Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Ottoman forces razed the Saudi capital Diriyah in 1818. They had maintained a garrison at Najd and this marked the decline of the House of Saud for a short time. In 1823, Turki ibn Abdallah chose Riyadh as the new capital, following the assassination of Turki in 1834, his eldest son Faisal killed the assassin and took control, and refused to be controlled by the Viceroy of Egypt. Najd was then invaded and Faisal taken captive and held in Cairo, in 1889, Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, the third son of Faisal again regained control over Najd and ruled till 1891, where after the control was regained by Muhammad bin Raschid. Internecine struggles between Turkis grandsons led to the fall of the Second Saudi State in 1891 at the hand of the rival Al Rashid clan, the al-Masmak fort dates from that period
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Six Flags
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Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, or simply Six Flags, is an amusement park corporation based in the United States, with properties in the US, Canada, and Mexico. It is the largest amusement park based on the number of properties it owns. The company maintains 18 properties throughout North America consisting of parks, thrill parks, water parks. In 2009, Six Flags properties hosted 23.9 million guests, the company was founded in Texas and took its name from its first property Six Flags Over Texas. The company maintains an office in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and its headquarters are in Grand Prairie. On June 13,2009, the corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and it successfully exited the restructuring on May 3,2010. The name Six Flags refers to the flags of the six different nations that have governed Texas, Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States, and the Confederate States of America. The original park was split into regions, such as the Spain and Mexico section which featured Spanish-themed rides, attractions. The Six Flags chain originated in 1957 with the creation of The Great Southwest Corporation by Angus G. Wynne, construction of Six Flags Over Texas started in 1960, and the park was opened the next year for a short season. The first park initially featured a Native American village, a ride, a railroad, some Wild West shows, a stagecoach ride, and Skull Island. The original park, in Arlington was sold in 1966 to a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with the new owners came a more abundant supply of capital for geographic expansion and park additions. Six Flags opened Six Flags Over Georgia in 1967 and Six Flags Over Mid-America in 1971, the company continued to grow by acquiring independent parks. Six Flags purchased AstroWorld in Houston, Texas in 1975, Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey in 1977 and these purchases were followed by Penn Central selling assets to Bally Manufacturing in 1982. In 1984, the Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois was acquired from the Marriott hotel chain, also in 1984, as a result of its acquisition of Great America, Six Flags acquired the rights to Time Warner/Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated characters for use in Six Flags properties, Bally surrendered control of the chain to Wesray Capital Corporation in a 1987 leveraged buyout. Time Warner purchased the stake in Six Flags in 1993, changing the companys name from Six Flags Corp. to Six Flags Theme Parks. In 1996, Six Flags began to manage Fiesta Texas theme park in San Antonio, Texas, Premier Parks originally operated as the Tierco Group, Inc. an Oklahoma-based real estate company. The company purchased the Frontier City theme park in Oklahoma City in 1982 for $1.2 million, company officials described Frontier City as beat up and run down, they planned to demolish it, subdivide the land, and build a shopping center
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King Fahd International Stadium
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The King Fahd International Stadium also nicknamed Pearl Of Stadiums, in Arabic or simply The Pearl, in Arabic is a multi-purpose stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has athletics facilities, the stadium was built in 1987 with the capacity of 68,752 viewers. It measures 116 yards by 74 yards and it also has one of the largest stadium roofs in the world. It was a venue for matches of the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1989 including the final match, the stadium is included in the football video games FIFA13, FIFA14, FIFA15, FIFA16 and FIFA17. The cost of construction was about 650 million Saudi riyals or $510 million, the stadiums roof shades over 67,000 seats and covers an area of 47,000 square feet. The 24 columns are arranged in a circle with a 247-metre diameter, the huge umbrella keeps the sun off the seats and concourse slabs, providing shade and comfort in the hot desert climate. The first goal in a game was scored by Majed Abdullah. As a personal touch to the stadium, a balcony was constructed upon which his majesty King Fahd could observe the sport. The architect was Michael KC Cheah, World Stadium Article World Football Profile Soccerway Profile The King Fahd International Stadium at World of Stadiums
18.
WWE
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Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American professional wrestling promotion and the sanctioning body for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and later World Wrestling Federation. Founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1953, Capitol Wrestling Corporation is the precursor to todays WWE, run by Jess grandson, Jess McMahon was a successful boxing promoter who began working with Tex Rickard in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing at the third Madison Square Garden, a few years prior, professional wrestler Toots Mondt had created a new challenge of professional wrestling that he called “Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling”. He convinced wrestler Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow to implement this new solution, after much success, a disagreement over power caused the trio to dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt later formed partnerships with other promoters, including Jack Curley in New York City. Mondt eventually took over the New York wrestling scene, due to the fact Curley was dying, with the aid of several bookers, together, McMahon and Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. which later joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1953. In November 1954, Jess McMahon died and Ray Fabiani, one of Mondts associates, both men left the company in protest following the incident and formed the WWWF in the process, awarding Rogers the new WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in April of that year. He lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17,1963, after gaining a television program deal and turning preliminary wrestler Lou Albano as a manager for Sammartinos heel opponents, the WWWF was doing sell out business by 1970. Mondt left the company in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon, at the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and WWF employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization. By March 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation and that same year, Vincent J. McMahons son, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc. incorporated on February 21,1980, originally in Massachusetts. In 1982, Titan Sports Inc. acquired Capitols operations, effectively relocating its headquarters to Greenwich, in an attempt to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the world, McMahon began an expansion that fundamentally changed the industry. In the end, the elder McMahon would never live to see his company grow from a promotion to what is now a worldwide organization. He died from cancer at 69 years old on May 24,1984. By 1985, Titan moved to Stamford, Connecticut then establishing a new entity in 1987 in Delaware which later merged with the old company in 1988. Titan later changed its name to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. before finally becoming World Wrestling Entertainment, list of independent wrestling promotions in the United States
19.
King Abdullah Sports City
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King Abdullah Sports City, also nicknamed The Shining Jewel, in Arabic or simply The Jewel, in Arabic, is a new multi-use stadium and sports city located 60 kilometers north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The City was named after Abdullah, King of Saudi Arabia when the stadium opened, the main stadium is used for football, reaching a full capacity of 62,241 spectators. It is the biggest stadium in Jeddah, and the second biggest in Saudi Arabia, additionally, it is the 10th biggest stadium in the Arab world. Accompanying the innovative stadium are smaller sports venues surrounding the main stadium and it also hosts athletics and indoor sporting events in indoor arenas. The bid for the construction was won by Saudi Aramco and the contractor for this project was a joint between Al Muhaidib Contracting Company & BESIX Construct. In addition to the written plans Crowd Management UK delivered a course for key stadium operators at the Saudi Aramco training facility in Jeddah KSA. The company also provided an independent evaluation of the performance of local staff and this led to a significant number of safety and security recommendations and the appointment of a dedicated Stadium Manager. The idea of a new stadium in the city of Jeddah was put and considered in the late 90s. In 2012, the new construction began. The new stadium is considered to be one of the most major items coming out of Saudi football recently, the city opened officially on May 1,2014 hosting the final of the 2014 Kings Cup tournament between Jeddahs Al-Ahli SC and Riyadhs Al-Shabab. In a hometown upset, Al-Shabab won 3-0, and were crowned their 3rd Kings Cup championship, the match was attended by then-King Abdullah, along with then-Crown Prince Salman and then-Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin. For this Inaugural fixture safety and security plans were designed and implemented by Mr. Sol NJie and Mr. David Storr representing Sword Security, Mr. Storr was the event safety officer. Over 62,241 diverse fans filled the stadium, the tickets for the match were free, which resulted in many citizens resorting to black market, some even buying and selling tickets for as much as 2,500 Saudi Riyals. It was also reported that fans were able to enter without any tickets. There were numerous casualties as a result of disorder and flares and objects rained down on the playing surface when the opposing teams. Saudi football enthusiasts have voiced their displeasure regarding this, and many believed that the event was unorganised, after the match, a traditional Saudi Arabian festival was held on the pitch. During the ceremony, 10-year-old boy Faisal Al-Ghamdi presented a crystal ball to the King and he then received a gift from the King, a luxurious pen. In an interview following the ceremony, Al-Ghamdi told Okaz newspaper that It was the most valuable gift I have received all my life, Al-Ghamdi said he was honored to be selected for this task and to greet the King
20.
Jeddah
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Jeddah is a city in the Hijaz Tihamah region on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, with a population currently at 4.2 million people, Jeddah is an important commercial hub in Saudi Arabia. Jeddah is the gateway to Mecca, Islams holiest city. It is also a gateway to Medina, the second holiest place in Islam, economically, Jeddah is focusing on further developing capital investment in scientific and engineering leadership within Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East. Jeddah was independently ranked fourth in the Africa – Mid-East region in terms of innovation in 2009 in the Innovation Cities Index, Jeddah is one of Saudi Arabias primary resort cities and was named a Gamma world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network. Given the citys proximity to the Red Sea, fishing. The city has been labeled as different by the majority of Saudis in an effort to promote tourism in the city, historically, Jeddah has been well known for its legendary money changers. The largest of said money changers at the time eventually founded Saudi Arabias first bank, there are at least two explanations for the etymology of the name Jeddah, according to Jeddah Ibn Al-Qudaaiy, the chief of the Qudaa clan. The more common account has it that the name is derived from جدة Jaddah, according to eastern folk belief, the tomb of Eve, considered the grandmother of humanity, is located in Jeddah. The tomb was sealed with concrete by religious authorities in 1975 due to some Muslims praying at the site, Ibn Battuta, the Berber traveler, visited Jeddah during his world trip. He wrote the name of the city into his diary as Jiddah, the British Foreign Office and other branches of the British government used the older spelling of Jedda, contrary to other English-speaking usage, but in 2007, it changed to the spelling Jeddah. T. E. Lawrence felt that any transcription of Arabic names into English was arbitrary, in his book, Revolt in the Desert, Jeddah is spelled three different ways on the first page alone. On official Saudi maps and documents, the city name is transcribed Jeddah, some historians trace its founding to the tribe of Bani Qudaah, who inhabited it after the collapse of Sad Marib in 115 BC. According to some accounts, the history of Jeddah dates back to times before Alexander the Great. The city of Jeddah was an important port during Nabataeans frankincense trade. The oldest Mashrabiya was found in dates back to pre Islamic era. Jeddah first achieved prominence around AD647, when the third Muslim Caliph, Uthman Ibn Affan, in AD703 Jeddah was briefly occupied by pirates from the Kingdom of Axum. Jeddah has been established as the city of the historic Hijaz province. In the 969 AD, the Fatimids from Algeria took control in Egypt from the Ikhshidid dynasty and expanded their empire to the regions, including The Hijaz
21.
Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia
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The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia, also known as Majlis Ash-Shura or Shura Council, is the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia, which is an absolute monarchy. The Consultative Assembly has limited powers in government, including the power to propose laws to the King and cabinet, but it cannot pass or enforce laws and it has 150 members, all of whom are appointed by the King. The Consultative Assembly is headed by a Speaker, the current speaker is Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh, in line with a tradition that kept the post in that family. The Assembly is based in the Al Yamamah Palace, Riyadh, the Consultative Assembly is permitted to propose draft laws and forward them to the King, but only the King has the power to pass or enforce them. The Assembly does, however, have the power to interpret laws and it can also advise the King on policies he submits to it, along with international treaties and economic plans. The Assembly is also authorized to review the annual budget. The first Majlis al Shura was founded by King Abdulaziz on 13 January 1926 and it was chaired by his son, Prince Faisal. However, the complete institutionalization of the assembly was finalized in 1932, later, it was expanded to include twenty-five members at the beginning of King Sauds reign. However, its functions were transferred to the Ministers Cabinet due to pressures of the royal family members. On the other hand, Majlis al Shura was not officially dissolved and remained ineffective until King Fahd revived it in 2000, the first term council had a speaker and 60 members. The membership was increased by 30 in each of the following terms, thus, the number of members increased to 150 members plus the speaker in the fourth term council. Having been expanded in 1997 and 2001, the council achieved a place in the International Parliamentary Union by the end of 2003, the fourth term council held 845 sessions and issued 1174 declarations during its second year. In September 2011, just a few days before the 2011 municipal elections, in January 2013, King Abdullah issued two royal decrees, granting women thirty seats on the council, and stating that women must always hold at least a fifth of the seats on the council. According to the decrees, the council members must be committed to Islamic Shariah disciplines without any violations. The decrees also said that the council members would be entering the council building from special gates, sit in seats reserved for women. Earlier, officials said that a screen would separate genders and a communications network would allow men and women to communicate. Women first joined the council in 2013, occupying thirty seats, there are two Saudi royal women among these thirty female members of the assembly, Sara bint Faisal Al Saud and Moudi bint Khalid Al Saud. Sheikh Mohammed bin Ibrahim bin Jubair, who was a respected Hanbali jurist and former Minister of Justice, was appointed as the president of the first Council term and he remained the president until his death in 2002, and was replaced by Saleh bin Abdullah bin Homaid
22.
Ta'if
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Taif is a city in Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia at an elevation of 1,879 m on the slopes of Sarawat Mountains. It has a population of 1,200,000 people and is the summer capital. The city is the center of an area known for its grapes, pomegranate, figs, roses. The inhabitants of Taif are largely made up of Saudi Arabians who are Hanbali, there are also significant foreign populations, primarily from Asia, Turkey, and other Arab countries that are also present in Taif. In the 6th century the city of Tāif was dominated by the Banu Thaqif tribe and it has been suggested that Jewish tribes who were displaced by Ethiopian Christians in the Himyarite Kingdom wars settled near Taif. The town is about 100 km southeast of Mecca, the walled city was a religious centre as it housed the idol of the goddess Allāt, who was then known as the lady of Tāif. Its climate marked the city out from its dry and barren neighbours closer to the Red Sea, wheat, vines, and fruit were grown around Tāif and this is how the city earned its title the Garden of the Hejaz. During the Year of the Elephant, this city was involved in the events, both Taif and Mecca were resorts of pilgrimage. Taif was more pleasantly situated than Mecca itself and the people of Taif had close relations with the people of Mecca. The people of Taif carried on agriculture and fruit‑growing in addition to their trade activities, in AD630, the Battle of Hunayn took place at Hunayn, close to this city. Shortly after that, the unsuccessful Siege of Taif took place, the city was assaulted by catapults from Banu Daws, but it repelled the attacks. The Battle of Tabouk in 631 left Tāif completely isolated, so members of Thaqīf arrived in Mecca to negotiate the conversion of the city to Islam, the idol of Al-lāt was destroyed along with all of the other signs of the citys previously pagan existence. On 17 July 1517 the Sharif of Mecca capitulated to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, as a sign of this, he surrendered to him the keys of the Islamic cities of Mecca and Medina. As part of the Hejaz, Taif was also given over to Ottoman control, the city remained Ottoman for a further three centuries, until in 1802, when it was retaken by rebels in alliance with the House of Saud. These forces then proceeded to take Mecca and Medina, the loss was keenly felt by the Ottoman Empire, which viewed itself as the protector of the Holy Cities. The Ottoman sultan, Mahmud II, called upon his nominal viceroy in Egypt, Muhammad Ali, in 1813, the Swiss traveller and orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited Taif. He has left an account on the city just after its recapture by the Muhammad Ali. Burckhardt says that the wall and ditch around the city had built by Othman el Medhayfe
23.
Hajj
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It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world, the state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istitaah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, the word Hajj means to intend a journey, which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah, because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, Pilgrims can also go to Mecca to perform the rituals at other times of the year. This is sometimes called the lesser pilgrimage, or Umrah, the present pattern of Hajj was established by Muhammad. However, according to the Quran, elements of Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham, according to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca. In search of water, Hagar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah but found none, returning in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain sprang forth underneath his foot. Later, Abraham was commanded to build the Kaaba and to people to perform pilgrimage there. The Quran refers to incidents in verses 2, 124-127 and 22. It is said that the archangel Gabriel brought the Black Stone from Heaven to be attached to the Kaaba, in pre-Islamic Arabia, a time known as jahiliyyah, the Kaaba became surrounded by pagan idols. In 630 CE, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, in 632 CE, Muhammad performed his only and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and instructed them on the rites of Hajj. It was from this point that Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam. During the medieval times, pilgrims would gather in big cities of Syria, Egypt and this was done in order to protect the caravan from Bedouin robbers or natural hazards, and to ensure that the pilgrims were supplied with the necessary provisions. Muslim travelers like Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta have recorded detailed accounts of Hajj-travels of medieval time, the caravans followed well-established routes called in Arabic darb al-hajj, lit. Pilgrimage road, which usually followed ancient routes such as the Kings Highway, the date of Hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a period, starting on 8 and ending on 12 Dhu al-Hijjah
24.
Umrah
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The ʿUmrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the Hajj. In Arabic, Umrah means to visit a populated place and it is sometimes called the minor pilgrimage or lesser pilgrimage, the Hajj being the major pilgrimage and which is compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. The Umrah is not compulsory but highly recommended, the pilgrim performs a series of ritual acts symbolic of the lives of Ibrahim and his second wife Hajar, and of solidarity with Muslims worldwide. These acts of faith are, Perform a tawaf طواف, which consists of circling the Kaaba seven times in an anticlockwise direction, men are encouraged to do this three times at a hurried pace, followed by four times, more closely, at a leisurely pace. Perform a sai سعي, which means rapidly walking seven times back and this is a re-enactment of Hajars frantic search for water. The baby Ishmael cried and hit the ground with his foot and this source of water is today called the Well of Zamzam. Perform a halq or taqsir, meaning a shaving of the hair, a taqsir is a partial shortening of the hair typically reserved for women who cut a minimum of one inch or more of their hair. A halq is a complete shave of the head, usually performed on men, both of these signify the submission of will to God over glorifying physical appearances. The head shaving/cutting is reserved until the end of Umrah and these rituals complete the Umrah, and the pilgrim can choose to go out of ihram. Although not a part of the ritual, most pilgrims drink water from the Well of Zamzam, various sects of Islam perform these rituals with slightly different methods. The peak times of pilgrimage are the days before, during and after the Hajj, there are two types of Umrah, depending on whether one wishes to combine the Umrah with Hajj, al-Umrat al-mufradah al-mustaqillah an al-Hajj and al-Umrat al-mundammah ila al-Hajj. Al-Umrat al mufradah refers to Umrah that is performed independently of Hajj, umrat al-tammatu refers to Umrah that is performed in conjunction with Hajj. More precisely, the rituals of the Umrah are performed first, both are Islamic pilgrimages, the main difference is their level of importance and the method of observance. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and it is obligatory for every Muslim once in their lifetime, provided they are physically fit and financially capable. Hajj is performed during a designated Islamic month, however, Umrah can be performed at any time. Both seem similar in the start, Umrah can be performed in less than a few hours while Hajj is more time consuming, and involves more rituals. Throughout Muhammads era the Muslims wanted to establish the right to perform Umrah, during that time Mecca was occupied by Arab Pagans who used to worship idols inside Mecca. The first military campaign related to the Umrah was the Nakhla Raid ordered by Muhammad, when the Quraysh saw the shaven head of Ukkash, they thought that the group was on its way for pilgrimage and they felt relieved and began to set up camp
25.
International Monetary Fund
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The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D. C. It now plays a role in the management of balance of payments difficulties. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion, the rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing and this assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The IMF was also intended to help mend the pieces of the economy after the Great Depression. As well, to provide investments for economic growth and projects such as infrastructure. The IMFs role was altered by the floating exchange rates post-1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy, the IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates and their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements, the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs, the IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation, the responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’ policies. In 1995 the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively, the system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals, some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform, if the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision, conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment
26.
Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
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The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, established in 1952, is the central bank of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Previously, it was known as Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, prior to the establishment of the Saudi Monetary Authority, the Saudi Hollandi Bank, a branch of the Netherlands Trading Society from 1926 acted as a de facto central bank. It kept the Kingdoms gold reserves and received oil revenues on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government, in 1928 it assisted in the establishment of a new Saudi silver coin, commissioned by King Abdulaziz which became the Kingdoms first independent currency. The Saudi Hollandia Bank handed over its responsibilities to the SAMA when it was established in 1952, abdallah Sulaiman was a Najdi of humble background who worked his way up from clerk to the first Saudi minister of finance and close confidant of King Abdulaziz. In the early 1950s monetary chaos reigned in Saudi Arabia, interested in at least minimal economic stability, the U. S. embassy and Aramco successfully lobbied the king to accept U. S. consultants into the kingdom. U. S. adviser Arthur Young managed to convince Sulaiman, Young was mandated by the king to draw up a charter for what was to become SAMA within a few hours. SAMA derived its income by charging the government for its services and its first head was also an American, and accountants were hired from Lebanon. King Abdulaziz and Sulaiman had been convinced of the existential need for building in this strategic sector. SAMA’s charter and use of expatriate technocrats bolstered the relative independence of the body, at the time of its establishment, Saudi Arabia did not have a monetary system of its own. Foreign currencies were used as a medium of exchange, along with Saudi silver coins, Saudi bank notes had not yet been issued. Banking was conducted by foreign bank branches, therefore, the first task of the SAMA was to develop a Saudi currency. The SAMA also paid attention to the need for promoting the growth of a banking system. In March 1961, Saudi Arabia converted to the Saudi Riyal, in the 1970s and early 1980s, the SAMA focused on controlling inflation as the economy boomed, expanding the banking system, and managing foreign exchange reserves. From mid-1980s, SAMA’s priorities have been to introduce financial market reforms, starting 4 December 2016, the name has been changed from Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, the acronym SAMA remains. The change was merely a more accurate translation of the Arabic name which remained the same, a board of directors oversees the operations of SAMA. This comprises the governor, vice-governor and three nominated members from the private sector. The terms of appointment are 4 years for the governor and vice-governor, extendable by Royal decree, members of the board cannot be removed except by Royal decree. The SAMA senior management comprises the governor, the vice-governor and five deputy governors, the SAMA balance sheet is denominated in Saudi Riyals, which is pegged at an official rate of 3.75 against the US dollar
27.
Middle East Forum
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The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994 and it publishes a journal, the Middle East Quarterly. The Legal Project aided Geert Wilders legal defense when he faced an indictment for his views in 2009. Accordingly, we urge bold measures to protect Americans and their allies, in the Middle East, we focus on ways to defeat radical Islam, work for Palestinian acceptance of Israel, develop strategies to contain Iran, and deal with the great advances of anarchy. At home, the Forum emphasizes the danger of lawful Islamism, protects the freedoms of anti-Islamist authors, activists, and publishers, the Middle East Quarterly is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs. It was founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes and the current editor is Efraim Karsh, Research Professor and former Director of Middle East, winfield Myers is the current director of Campus Watch. Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website and it exposes the far-reaching goals of Islamists, works to reduce their power, and seeks to strengthen moderate Muslims. Islamist Watch seeks to educate the government, media, religious institutions, the academy, in 2012, Marc Fink became the director of Islamist Watch. Efforts include briefings by legal experts on how to avoid libelous statements, according to an editorial in the Washington Post, the Middle East Forum has described Islam as an imminent threat to Western civilization. New York, Oxford University Press,2004
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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
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History of Saudi Arabia
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The history of Saudi Arabia in its current form as a state began with its foundation in 1932 by Abdulaziz Al Saud, although the human history of the region extends as far as 20,000 years ago. The region has had a global impact twice in history, In the 7th century it became the cradle of Islam. From the mid-20th century the discovery of vast oil deposits propelled it into a key economic, for much of the regions history a patchwork of tribal rulers controlled most of the area. The Al Saud emerged as minor tribal rulers in Najd in central Arabia, from the mid-18th century, imbued with the religious zeal of the Wahhabi Islamic movement, they became aggressively expansionist. Over the following 150 years, the extent of the Al Saud territory fluctuated, however, between 1902 and 1927, the Al Saud leader, Abdulaziz, carried out a series of wars of conquest which resulted in his establishing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. From 1932 until his death in 1953, Abdulaziz ruled Saudi Arabia as an absolute monarchy, thereafter six of his sons in succession have reigned over the kingdom, Saud, the immediate successor of Abdulaziz, faced opposition from most in the royal family and was eventually deposed. Until his murder by a nephew in 1975, Faisal presided over a period of growth, Saudi Arabias role in the 1973 oil crisis and, the subsequent rise in the price of oil, dramatically increased the countrys political significance and wealth. Khalid, Faisals successor, reigned during the first major signs of dissent, Fahd became king in 1982 - during his reign Saudi Arabia became the largest oil producer in the world. However, internal tensions increased when the country allied itself with the United States, in the early 2000s, the Islamicist opposition to the regime carried out a series of terrorist attacks. He instituted a number of reforms to modernize many of the countrys institutions and, to some extent. Salman became king in 2015 There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 63,000 years ago, the earliest known events in Arabian history are migrations from the peninsula into neighbouring areas. Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, was born in Mecca in about 570 and first began preaching in the city in 610, but migrated to Medina in 622. From there, he and his companions united the tribes of Arabia under the banner of Islam, following Muhammads death in 632, Abu Bakr became leader of the Muslims as the first Caliph. After putting down a rebellion by the Arab tribes, Abu Bakr attacked the Byzantine Empire, on his death in 634, he was succeeded by Umar as caliph, followed by Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib. The period of these first four caliphs is known as the Rashidun or rightly guided Caliphate, under the Rashidun Caliphs, and, from 661, their Umayyad successors, the Arabs rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim control outside of Arabia. In a matter of decades Muslim armies decisively defeated the Byzantine army and destroyed the Persian Empire, the political focus of the Muslim world then shifted to the newly conquered territories. Nevertheless, Mecca and Medina remained the spiritually most important places in the Muslim world, muawiyah I, the first Umayyad caliph, took an interest in his native Mecca, erecting buildings and digging wells. Under his Marwanids successors, Mecca became the abode of poets, even then, Medina eclipsed Mecca in importance for much of the Umayyad period, as it was home to the new Muslim aristocracy
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Pre-Islamic Arabia
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Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam in the 630s. Pre-Islamic religion in Arabia consisted of indigenous beliefs, Ancient Arabian Christianity, Nestorian Christianity. In the latter stages of the era, Christianity gained converts with some unorthodox sects, such as the gnostics. Archaeological exploration in the Arabian Peninsula has been sparse but fruitful, the most recent detailed study of pre-Islamic Arabia is Arabs and Empires Before Islam, published by Oxford University Press in 2015. This book collects a range of ancient texts and inscriptions for the history of the region during this time period. Ubaid period - could have originated in Eastern Arabia, umm an-Nar Culture Sabr culture Magan is attested as the name of a trading partner of the Sumerians. It is often assumed to have located in Oman. The Aadids established themselves in South Arabia, settling to the east of the Qahtan tribe and they established the Kingdom of ʿĀd around the 10th century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The ʿĀd nation were known to the Greeks and Egyptians, claudius Ptolemys Geographos refers to the place by a Hellenized version of the inhabitants of the capital Ubar. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Eastern Arabia were mainly Aramaic speakers, in pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of Christianized Arabs, Aramean Christians, Persian-speaking Zoroastrians and Jewish agriculturalists. Nestorian Christianity was the dominant religion in pre-Islamic Eastern Arabia, Zoroastrianism was also present, the Zoroastrians of Eastern Arabia were known as Majoos in pre-Islamic times. The sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia, including Bahrani Arabic, were influenced by Akkadian, Aramaic, the Dilmun civilization was an important trading centre which at the height of its power controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes. The Sumerians regarded Dilmun as holy land, Dilmun is regarded as one of the oldest ancient civilizations in the Middle East. The Sumerians described Dilmun as a garden in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Sumerian tale of the paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story. Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BCE, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official, Dilmun was an important trading center from the late fourth millennium to 1800 BCE. At the height of Dilmuns power, Dilmun controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes, Dilmun was very prosperous during the first 300 years of the second millennium
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Muhammad in Medina
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The period of Muhammad in Medina started with the Hijra in 622 and ended with the conquest of Mecca in December 629. A delegation from Medina, consisting of the representatives of the important clans of Medina. There was fighting in Yathrib mainly involving its Arab and Jewish inhabitants for around a hundred years before 620, the delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow-citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and physically protect him as one of themselves. Muhammad instructed his followers to emigrate to Medina until virtually all of his followers had left Mecca, being alarmed at the departure of Muslims, according to the tradition, the Meccans plotted to assassinate him. He fooled the Meccans who were watching him, and secretly slipped away from the town, by 622, Muhammad had emigrated to Medina, then known as Yathrib, a large agricultural oasis. Following the emigration, the Meccans seized the properties of the Muslim emigrants in Mecca, Muhammad also adopted some features of the Jewish worship and customs such as fasting on the Yom Kippur day. According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three daily prayer rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction of the Islamic midday prayer. The first group of converts to Islam in Medina were the clans who had not produced great leaders for themselves but had suffered from warlike leaders from other clans. This was followed by the acceptance of Islam by the pagan population of Medina. This was, according to Ibn Ishaq, influenced by the conversion to Islam of Sad ibn Muadh, Muslims, like Jews, were at that time praying towards Jerusalem. In the Constitution of Medina, Muhammad demanded the Jews political loyalty in return for religious, the Jewish clans however kept aloof from Islam though in the course of time there were a few converts from them. After his migration to Medina, Muhammads attitude towards Christians and Jews changed, the Quran at this time states that it will relate to the Children of Israel most of that about which they differ. Muhammad delivered Quranic verses permitting the Muslims, those who have been expelled from their homes, in March 624, Muhammad led some three hundred warriors in a raid on a Meccan merchant caravan. The Muslims set an ambush for the Meccans at Badr, aware of the plan, the Meccan caravan eluded the Muslims. Meanwhile, a force from Mecca was sent to protect the caravan, the force did not return home upon hearing that the caravan was safe. The battle of Badr began in March 624, though outnumbered more than three to one, the Muslims won the battle, killing at least forty-five Meccans and taking seventy prisoners for ransom, only fourteen Muslims died. They had also succeeded in killing many of the Meccan leaders, Muhammad himself did not fight, directing the battle from a nearby hut alongside Abu Bakr. In the weeks following the battle, Meccans visited Medina in order to ransom captives from Badr, many of these had belonged to wealthy families, and were likely ransomed for a considerable sum
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Rashidun Caliphate
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The Rashidun Caliphate was the Islamic caliphate in the earliest period of Islam, comprising the first five caliphs—the Rightly Guided or Rashidun caliphs. It was founded after Muhammads death in 632 CE, after Muhammads death in 632 CE, the Medinan Ansar debated which of them should succeed him in running the affairs of the Muslims while Muhammads household was busy with his burial. Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah pledged their loyalty to Abu Bakr, with the Ansar, Abu Bakr thus became the first Khalīfatu Rasūli l-Lāh successor of the Messenger of God, or caliph, and embarked on campaigns to propagate Islam. First he would have to subdue the Arabian tribes which had claimed that although they pledged allegiance to Muhammad and accepted Islam, as a caliph, Abu Bakr was not a monarch and never claimed such a title, nor did any of his three successors. Rather, their election and leadership were based upon merit, as for the fifth Caliph, ‘Alis son Al-Hasan, as a son of Fatimah, he was a grandson of Muhammad. Furthermore, according to other hadiths in Sunan Abu Dawood and Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, towards the end times, Abu Bakr, the oldest companion of Muhammad, was caliph for only 2 years before he died. When Muhammad died, Abu Bakr and Umar, his two companions, were in the Saqifah meeting to select his successor while the family of Muhammad was busy with his funeral, controversy among the Muslims emerged about whom to name as Caliph. There was disagreement between the Meccan followers of Muhammad who had emigrated with him in 622 and the Medinans who had become followers, the Ansar, considering themselves being the hosts and loyal companions of Muhammad, nominated Sad bin Ubadah as their candidate for the Caliphate. In the end, however, Muhammads closest friend, Abu Bakr, was named the khalifa or Successor of Muhammad, a new circumstance had formed a new, untried political formation, the caliphate. Troubles emerged soon after Muhammads death, threatening the unity and stability of the new community, Apostasy spread to every tribe in the Arabian Peninsula with the exception of the people in Mecca and Medina, the Banu Thaqif in Taif and the Bani Abdul Qais of Oman. In some cases, entire tribes apostatised, others merely withheld zakat, the alms tax, without formally challenging Islam. Many tribal leaders made claims to prophethood, some made it during the lifetime of Muhammad, the news of his death reached Medina shortly after the death of Muhammad. The apostasy of al-Yamama was led by another supposed prophet, Musaylimah, many tribes claimed that they had submitted to Muhammad and that with Muhammads death, their allegiance was ended. Caliph Abu Bakr insisted that they had not just submitted to a leader, the result of this situation was the Ridda wars. Abu Bakr planned his strategy accordingly and he divided the Muslim army into several corps. The strongest corps, and the force of the Muslims, was the corps of Khalid ibn al-Walid. This corps was used to fight the most powerful of the rebel forces, other corps were given areas of secondary importance in which to bring the less dangerous apostate tribes to submission. After a series of successful campaigns Khalid ibn Walid defeated Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama, the Campaign on the Apostasy was fought and completed during the eleventh year of the Hijri
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Umayyad Caliphate
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The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelled Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. This caliphate was centred on the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca, Syria remained the Umayyads main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital. The Umayyads continued the Muslim conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim world. At its greatest extent, the Umayyad Caliphate covered 11,100,000 km2 and 62 million people, the Umayyad Caliphate was secular by nature. At the time, the Umayyad taxation and administrative practice were perceived as unjust by some Muslims, Muhammad had stated explicitly during his lifetime that Abrahamic religious groups, should be allowed to practice their own religion, provided that they paid the jizya taxation. The welfare state of both the Muslim and the poor started by Umar ibn al Khattab had also continued, financed by the zakat tax levied only on Muslims. Muawiyas wife Maysum was also a Christian, the relations between the Muslims and the Christians in the state were stable in this time. Prominent positions were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments, the employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious assimilation that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, as in Syria. This policy also boosted Muawiyas popularity and solidified Syria as his power base, the rivalries between the Arab tribes had caused unrest in the provinces outside Syria, most notably in the Second Muslim Civil War of AD 680–692 and the Berber Revolt of 740–743. During the Second Civil War, leadership of the Umayyad clan shifted from the Sufyanid branch of the family to the Marwanid branch. A branch of the family fled across North Africa to Al-Andalus, where they established the Caliphate of Córdoba, according to tradition, the Umayyad family and Muhammad both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, and they originally came from the city of Mecca. Muhammad descended from Abd Manāf via his son Hashim, while the Umayyads descended from Abd Manaf via a different son, Abd-Shams, the two families are therefore considered to be different clans of the same tribe. However Muslim Shia historians suspect that Umayya was a son of Abd Shams so he was not a blood relative of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai. Umayya was later discarded from the noble family, Sunni historians disagree with this and view Shia claims as nothing more than outright polemics due to their hostility to the Umayyad family in general. While the Umayyads and the Hashimites may have had bitterness between the two clans before Muhammad, the rivalry turned into a case of tribal animosity after the Battle of Badr. The battle saw three top leaders of the Umayyad clan killed by Hashimites in a three-on-three melee and this fueled the opposition of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the grandson of Umayya, to Muhammad and to Islam. Abu Sufyan sought to exterminate the adherents of the new religion by waging another battle with Muslims based in Medina only a year after the Battle of Badr and he did this to avenge the defeat at Badr. The Battle of Uhud is generally believed by scholars to be the first defeat for the Muslims, as they had incurred greater losses than the Meccans
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Abbasid Caliphate
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The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammads youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and they ruled as caliphs, for most of their period from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after assuming authority over the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE. The Abbasid caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad, the political power of the caliphs largely ended with the rise of the Buyids and the Seljuq Turks. Although Abbasid leadership over the vast Islamic empire was reduced to a ceremonial religious function. The capital city of Baghdad became a center of science, culture, philosophy and this period of cultural fruition ended in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan. The Abbasid line of rulers, and Muslim culture in general, though lacking in political power, the dynasty continued to claim authority in religious matters until after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. The Abbasid caliphs were Arabs descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, one of the youngest uncles of Muhammad, the Abbasids claimed to be the true successors of Prophet Muhammad in replacing the Umayyad descendants of Banu Umayya by virtue of their closer bloodline to Muhammad. The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their moral character, according to Ira Lapidus, The Abbasid revolt was supported largely by Arabs, mainly the aggrieved settlers of Marw with the addition of the Yemeni faction and their Mawali. The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, Muhammad ibn Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of Prophet Muhammad, the Hashimites, in Persia during the reign of Umar II. During the reign of Marwan II, this culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam. On 9 June 747, Abu Muslim successfully initiated a revolt against Umayyad rule. Close to 10,000 soldiers were under Abu Muslims command when the hostilities began in Merv. General Qahtaba followed the fleeing governor Nasr ibn Sayyar west defeating the Umayyads at the Battle of Nishapur, the Battle of Gorgan, after this loss, Marwan fled to Egypt, where he was subsequently assassinated. The remainder of his family, barring one male, were also eliminated, immediately after their victory, As-Saffah sent his forces to Central Asia, where his forces fought against Tang expansion during the Battle of Talas. Barmakids, who were instrumental in building Baghdad, introduced the worlds first recorded paper mill in Baghdad, As-Saffah focused on putting down numerous rebellions in Syria and Mesopotamia. The Byzantines conducted raids during these early distractions, the first change the Abbasids, under Al-Mansur, made was to move the empires capital from Damascus, in Syria, to Baghdad in Iraq. Baghdad was established on the Tigris River in 762, a new position, that of the vizier, was also established to delegate central authority, and even greater authority was delegated to local emirs. During Al-Mansurs time control of Al-Andalus was lost, and the Shiites revolted and were defeated a year later at the Battle of Bakhamra, the Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads
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Emirate of Diriyah
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The Emirate of Diriyah was the first Saudi state. In 1744, both Muhammed bin Abd Al Wahhab and Muhammad bin Saud took an oath to achieve their goal. Furthermore, Sauds forces brought the highlands of Asir under their suzerainty, while Muhammed bin Abd Al Wahhab wrote letters to people, after many military campaigns, Saud died in 1765, leaving the leadership to his son, Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad. Sauds forces went so far as to command of the Shia holy city of Karbala in 1801. Here they destroyed grave markers of saints and monuments and killed over 5000 civilians, Muhammed bin Abd Al Wahhab died in 1792. In 1803, eleven year after Wahhabs death, the son of Abdul Aziz Bin Muhammad, Saud bin Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad bin Saud, taif was the first city to be captured, and later the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. This was seen as a challenge to the authority of the Ottoman Empire. The task of weakening the grip of the House of Saud was given to the viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. This initiated the Ottoman–Wahhabi War, in which Muhammad Ali sent his troops to the Hejaz region by sea and his son, Ibrahim Pasha, then led Ottoman forces into the heart of Nejd, capturing town after town. Sauds successor, his son Abdullah bin Saud, was unable to prevent the recapture of the region, finally, Ibrahim reached the Saudi capital at Diriyah and placed it under siege for several months until it surrendered in the winter of 1818. Ibrahim then shipped off many members of the clans of Al Saud and Muhammed Ibn Abd Al Wahhab to Egypt, before he left he ordered a systematic destruction of Diriyah, whose ruins have remained untouched ever since. Muhammad bin Saud 1726–1744, 1744–1765 Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad 1765–1803 Saud bin Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad bin Saud 1803–1814 Abdullah bin Saud 1814–1818, ottoman–Saudi War Second Saudi State Saudi Arabia List of Sunni Muslim dynasties Facey, William, Hawkins, Philip. Dirʻīyyah and the first Saudi state
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Emirate of Nejd
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The Emirate of Nejd was the second Saudi state, existing between 1824 and 1891 in Nejd, the regions of Riyadh and Hail of what is now Saudi Arabia. The second Saudi period was marked by territorial expansion and less religious zeal, although the Saudi leaders continued to be called Imam. Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammads reconquest of Riyadh from Egyptian forces in 1824 is generally regarded as the beginning of the Second Saudi State. He made his capital in Riyadh and was able to enlist the services of many relatives who had escaped captivity in Egypt, Turki was assassinated in 1834 by Mishari ibn Abdul-Rahman, a distant cousin. Mishari was soon besieged in Riyadh and later executed by Faisal, Faisal, however, faced a re-invasion of Najd by the Egyptians four years later. The local population was unwilling to resist, and Faisal was defeated, in 1840, however, external conflicts forced the Egyptians to withdraw all their presence in the Arabian Peninsula, leaving Khalid with little support. Seen by most locals as nothing more than an Egyptian governor, Khalid was toppled soon afterwards by Abdullah ibn Thuniyyan, upon Faisals death in 1865, Abdullah assumed rule in Riyadh but was soon challenged by his brother, Saud. The two brothers fought a civil war, in which they traded rule in Riyadh several times. A vassal of the Saudis, Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Rashid of Hail took the opportunity to intervene in the conflict, gradually, Ibn Rashid extended his authority over most of Najd, including the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Ibn Rashid finally expelled the last Saudi leader, Abdul-Rahman bin Faisal, from Najd after the Battle of Mulayda in 1891
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Kingdom of Hejaz
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The Kingdom of Hejaz was a state in the Hejaz region in the Middle East ruled by the Hashemite dynasty. The new kingdom had a life and then was conquered in 1925 by the neighbouring Sultanate of Nejd under a resurgent House of Saud, creating the Kingdom of Hejaz. On 23 September 1932, the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd joined the Saudi dominions of Al-Hasa and Qatif, the Sharif of Mecca was an office appointed by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in their capacity as Caliph. The role went to a member of the Hashemite family, but the Sultans typically used inter-familial rivalry to pick and choose from among contenders and so ensure that the Sharif remained weak. The British already had a series of treaties with other Arab leaders in the region and were fearful that the Hejaz could be used as a base to attack their shipping to. The British though, were compromised by their agreement to give the French control of Syria and did not, in Husseins eyes, nevertheless, they did eventually create Hashemite-ruled kingdoms in Jordan and Iraq alongside Hejaz. Hussein thus refused to conclude a treaty of friendship with the British who then later felt powerless to intervene when another British client, Hussein bin Ali Ali bin Hussein Sharif of Mecca Hashemite History of Saudi Arabia Hejazi dialect T. E. Lawrence Palestinian flag
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Unification of Saudi Arabia
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In 1902, Ibn Saud recaptured Riyadh, the Al Saud dynastys former capital. He went on to subdue the rest of Nejd, Al-Hasa, Jebel Shammar, Asir, the resultant polity was named the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz from 1927 until it was further consolidated with Al-Hasa and Qatif into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Following the Diriyah agreement between Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and Muhammad ibn Saud, the Al Saud clan founded the First Saudi State, the ideology born of this period was later dubbed Wahhabism. Originating in the Nejd region of central Arabia, the First Saudi State conquered most of the Arabian Peninsula, the task of destroying the Saudis was given to the powerful viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, who sent troops to the Hejaz region and recaptured Mecca. His son, Ibrahim Pasha, meanwhile led Ottoman forces into the heart of Nejd, on reaching the Saudi capital at Diriyah, Ibrahim placed it under siege for several months until it surrendered in the winter of 1818. He then sent many members of the clans of Al Saud and Ibn Abdul Wahhab to Egypt, the last Saudi imam, Abdullah bin Saud, was later executed in Constantinople. Compared to the First Saudi State, the second Saudi period was marked by territorial expansion. It was also marked by instability, which the Al Rashid clan of Jebel Shammar were able to exploit, the Saudi leader, Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal, sought refuge in Ottoman Iraq in 1893. In 1901, Abdul Rahman bin Faisals son, the future Ibn Saud, asked the Emir of Kuwait for men, already involved in several wars with the Rashidis, the Emir agreed to the request, giving Ibn Saud horses and arms. Although the exact number of men waxed and waned during the subsequent journey, in January 1902, Ibn Saud and his men reached Riyadh. The warfare period of battles ended with Saudi takeover of the Al-Qassim Region, after decisive victory in Qasim on April 13,1906. In 1913, Ibn Saud, with support from the Ikhwan, conquered al-Hasa from an Ottoman garrison, conquered Al-Hasa and integrated al-Hasa]] and Qatif into the Emirate. The Kuwait-Najd War occurred because Ibn Saud wanted to annex Kuwait, Ibn Saud insisted that Kuwaits territory belonged to him. The sharpened conflict between Kuwait and Najd led to the death of hundreds of Kuwaitis, the war resulted in sporadic border clashes throughout 1919–1920. Following Kuwait–Najd War, Ibn Saud imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait for 14 years from 1923 until 1937. The goal of the Saudi economic and military attacks on Kuwait was to annex as much of Kuwaits territory as possible, at the Uqair conference in 1922, the boundaries of Kuwait and Najd were set. Kuwait had no representative at the Uqair conference, Ibn Saud persuaded Sir Percy Cox to give him two-thirds of Kuwaits territory. More than half of Kuwait was lost due to Uqair, after the Uqair conference, Kuwait was still subjected to a Saudi economic blockade and intermittent Saudi raiding
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Modern history of Saudi Arabia
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The Modern history of Saudi Arabia begins with the unification of Saudi Arabia in a single kingdom in 1932. Abdul Azizs military and political successes were not mirrored economically until vast reserves of oil were discovered in 1938 in the Al-Hasa region along the Persian Gulf coast. Prior to the discovery of oil, the source of income for the government depended on the pilgrimage to Mecca. In the 1930s, Abdul Aziz granted a concession to the Standard Oil Company of California to drill for oil in his kingdom. Oil wells were constructed in Dhahran in the late 1930s, and by 1939, during and after World War II, production of Saudi oil expanded, with much of the oil being sold to the Allies. Aramco built a pipeline to Bahrain to help increase oil flow in 1945. Between 1939 and 1953, oil revenues from Saudi Arabia increased from $7 million to over $200 million, only sons of Abdul Aziz have, to date, ascended the Saudi throne. The number of children that he fathered is unknown, but it is believed that he had 22 wives and 37 sons, in 1933, he chose his eldest surviving son Saud as his immediate successor. King Saud succeeded to the throne on his fathers death in 1953, Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and a great deal of political leverage in the international community. The sudden wealth from increased production was a mixed blessing, cultural life rapidly developed, primarily in the Hejaz, which was the center for newspapers and radio, but the large influx of foreigners increased the pre-existing propensity for xenophobia. At the same time, the government became increasingly wasteful and lavish, despite the new wealth, extravagant spending led to governmental deficits and foreign borrowing in the 1950s. However, by the early 1960s an intense rivalry between the King and his half-brother, Faisal of Saudi Arabia emerged, fueled by doubts in the family over Sauds competence. As a consequence, Saud was deposed in favor of Faisal in 1964, the mid-1960s saw external pressures generated by Saudi-Egyptian differences over Yemen. When civil war broke out in 1962 between Yemeni royalists and republicans, Egyptian forces entered Yemen to support the new republican government, tensions subsided only after 1967, when Egypt withdrew its troops from Yemen. Saudi forces did not participate in the Six-Day War of June 1967, but the government later provided annual subsidies to Egypt, Jordan, during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Saudi Arabia participated in the Arab oil boycott of the United States and Netherlands. A member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi Arabia had joined other member countries in moderate oil price increases beginning in 1971, after the 1973 war, the price of oil rose substantially, dramatically increasing Saudi Arabias wealth and political influence. Faisal was assassinated in 1975 by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid, King Khalid succeeded his half-brother King Faisa. It was feared the Al Saud that the countrys Shiite minority in the Eastern Province – might rebel under the influence of their Iranian co-religionists, in fact several anti-government riots took place in the region in 1979 and 1980
