Saudi Arabia

C

Education

The Saudi government has built an education system that provides free schooling at all levels to a large portion of the population. School is not compulsory, but 67 percent of primary school-age children are enrolled in school (2002–2003), as well as 67 percent of secondary school-age children. A dramatic increase in literacy over the last decades of the 20th century is one indicator of the success of the government’s efforts. According to a 1970 estimate, Saudis had one of the lowest literacy rates in the Middle East: 15 percent for men and 2 percent for women. In 2007, 89 percent of all men and 79 percent of all women were literate. The government operates most primary and secondary schools, but also permits privately owned schools. The Saudi curriculum heavily emphasizes the study of Islam.

Saudi Arabia has several universities and teacher training colleges, and a large number of other higher education institutions. Major universities include King Saud University (1957) and the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud (1953), in Riyadh; the Islamic University at Medina (1961); King Faisal University (1975), with colleges in both Ad Dammām and Al Hufūf King Abdul Aziz University (1967), in Jiddah; King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (1963), in Ad Dammām; and Umm Al-Qura University (1979), in Mecca. The government funds university and graduate education abroad, and many Saudi students attend educational institutions in the United States and United Kingdom. This has helped create an English-speaking technocratic elite, some of whom are advocates of political reform and social liberalization.

The government extended public education to girls in 1960, despite opposition from some conservative religious leaders. Female education, now widely popular, is helping to transform the traditional role of women in Saudi society. Nonetheless, the education system is segregated by gender. In the past, women who wished to attend college were largely limited to the study of education or nursing (as these were the principal types of work deemed acceptable for women). However, economic and social pressures have forced universities to broaden the range of educational opportunities for women.

D

Way of Life

As in other Middle Eastern societies, the family is the focal point of identity, loyalty, social status, and economic prospects in Saudi Arabia. Households tend to be large; Saudi women bear 3.8 children on average, according to 2009 statistics. The roles of men and women are sharply divided in many respects, a reflection of conservative Islamic practice and local custom. Men are expected to lead the household and provide for its financial well-being. Women are expected to marry, have children, and raise them according to Islamic principles. Therefore, few Saudi women work outside the home. In 2007 women made up only 15 percent of the labor force, and most of these were expatriate workers. Saudi women are not permitted to drive or to travel abroad without a male relative’s approval. Some women and men have expressed opposition to these restrictions, and the government has on occasion expressed a willingness to gradually provide more rights for women. However, opposition from religious authorities, a lack of strong support from the ruling family, and the basic conservatism of broad sectors of the Saudi population have made change very slow.

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Influenced by the dictates of Islamic custom and the need for protection from a hot, dusty climate, traditional Saudi clothing is designed to cover and conceal the body. Although there are regional variations in the styles, colors, and materials used in traditional clothing, the customary garb of the Najd region has come to predominate throughout Saudi Arabia as a result of government and social pressure. Younger generations of Saudis, favoring blue jeans and baseball caps, are moving away from wearing traditional garb.

Women traditionally use veils to cover their hair in public and a mask (called a burka or batula) to cover their faces. At home, women usually wear a caftan (full-length, loose robe with long sleeves), which may be ornamented with embroidery. When going outside the house, women add an outer garment called an abaya, which is often made of dark, gauzy material that also can help cover the head. For men, the most common garment is the thob, similar to the caftan in that it reaches the ground and has long sleeves. It is typically made of white cotton, but men may wear thobs of dark wool in the cooler months. Over the thob men may wear an aba or bisht, a coarser robe usually of brown wool. Men also tend to cover their heads, first with a small skullcap, then with a large square kerchief called a ghoutra. The ghoutra is often white but is also found in red or black checked patterns. It is held in place with an igal, two intertwined black cords formed into rings.

A typical meal in Saudi Arabia could include mutton, chicken, or fish, with rice, bread, and vegetables. Dates are a local delicacy. Coffee, tea, and fruit juices are the most popular beverages among all segments of the population. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Food, especially sweets, takes on special significance during the holy month of Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast (go without food or drink) until the sun sets.

IV

Culture

Bedouin society and Islam have shaped Saudi cultural expression. As in many parts of the Middle East, Saudis view the nomadic Bedouin as the embodiment of core social and cultural values, including honor, valor, chivalry, and hospitality. In pre-Islamic times called jahiliyya (Arabic for “time of ignorance”), Bedouin poetry was one of the most developed and influential forms of cultural expression on the Arabian Peninsula. Among these nomadic people, poetry was an oral tradition: Poets recited or sang their works, and listeners memorized the poems and retold them to others. The Bedouin poetical tradition influenced subsequent Arabian literature, and survives to the present day.

Islam developed in Arabia in the 7th century and soon came to influence nearly all aspects of Arabian cultural life, including the arts, architecture, the Arabic language, and literature. Today, the kingdom’s conservative religious authorities attempt to control cultural expression strictly, forbidding movie theaters, and singing or dancing at religious observances.

A

Literature

Poetry was the first form of Arabic literature to attain a high degree of refinement, and the poetry of pre-Islamic Arabia is still admired and influential. The most notable type of poem was the qasida, an ode that could have a number of often-complex rhyming patterns. These odes dealt with themes such as love, beauty, courage in battle, and praise for noble leaders. The most influential poet of the pre-Islamic period was Imru al-Qays. The Qur’an, revealed to Muhammad and recorded in Arabic, has had a profound influence on Arabian literature and society. Not only a guide for living life according to God’s will, the Qur’an is also considered by many to exemplify the perfect use of the Arabic language and provide an ultimate literary model.

B

Art and Architecture

A relatively poor region until the exploitation of oil began in the mid-20th century, Arabia’s artistic and architectural heritage is small, particularly in comparison to centers of Islamic culture elsewhere in the Middle East (see Islamic Art and Architecture). Because of Islamic prohibitions against idolatry (idol worship), religious art has focused more on nonhuman subjects. Islamic artists in Arabia have explored the artistic possibilities of geometric shapes and calligraphy (artistic writing) in pottery decoration, mosaics, weavings, and illustrated manuscripts. Since the 19th century puritanical Muslims have been responsible for the destruction of many historic structures, such as funerary monuments, associated with figures from early Islam. They have viewed these structures as examples of idolatry or as encouraging worship of saints, deviations from Islam considered unacceptable.

Few architectural artifacts survive from pre-oil times. Most buildings were made using local materials: mud brick, stone, wood, trunks and fronds of palm trees, and plaster. Simple mud-brick structures of one or two stories were the most common dwellings throughout the country. Nomads lived in tents woven from sheep’s wool and goat hair. Since the mid-20th century, Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth has enabled the construction of a number of significant buildings that have artistically married local styles, materials, and influences with modern concepts of design. For example, the Hajj Terminal of King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jiddah consists of numerous conical fabric structures reminiscent of the tents of hajj pilgrims.

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