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Saudi Arabia: Sunni Islam
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The population of Saudi Arabia is about 90% Arab, with Asian and African minorities. The vast majority belong to the Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam, although there is a small percentage of Shiites, mainly in the northeast. Islam is the only officially recognized religion, and other faiths are not publicly tolerated. A large proportion of the population are farmers in the Hejaz. Nomads and seminomads raise camels, sheep, goats, and horses. The large number of foreigners living in Saudi Arabia work in the oil industry, as computer technicians and consultants, and as construction and domestic workers.
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Saudi Arabia is a Muslim nation. The national holidays are Islamic holidays, including Ramadan (a month of fasting from sunup to sundown), Eid al-Fitr (the feast at the end of Ramadan), and Eid al-Adha (the Feast of Sacrifice). Two of the Five Pillars (requirements) of Islam are to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and to give aid to the poor. Eid al-Adha, which occurs at the end of the month of pilgrimage, reenacts the story of God giving Abraham a ram to sacrifice instead of his son Isaac. It ... fulfills the requirement to give to the poor, by having a lamb ritually slaughtered and donating the meat to those in need.
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As an Islamic country under strict Islamic law, Saudi Arabia has little of the religious freedom common in the west. Bringing a Bible or religious symbols such as a cross or a Star of David into the country will risk confiscation.[1]
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The more prominent cultural division within Saudi Arabian society is between citizens and immigrants. That division sometimes is muted by the common bonds of Islam and/or Arabism, yet many immigrants are neither Muslim nor Arab. In these cases, religious, linguistic, and other cultural barriers accentuate the social cleavage between the local person and the foreigner. Moreover, class divisions separate citizens from the many immigrants who are low-skilled workers. The immigrants come temporarily and mostly as individuals without families. They are ... in the society but not of it, and little effort is made to assimilate them.
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Due to a sharp rise in petroleum revenues in 1974 following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Saudi Arabia became one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. It enjoyed a substantial surplus in its overall trade with other countries; imports increased rapidly; and ample government revenues were available for development, defense, and aid to other Arab and Islamic countries.
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Islamic dietary laws forbid the eating of pork and the drinking of alcohol, and this law is enforced strictly throughout Saudi Arabia. Arabic unleavened bread, or khobz, is eaten with almost all meals. Other staples include lamb, grilled chicken, falafel (deep-fried chickpea balls), shawarma (spit-cooked sliced lamb), and Ful medames (a paste of fava beans, garlic and lemon). Traditional coffeehouses used to be ubiquitous, but are now being displaced by food-hall style cafes. Arabic tea is ... a famous custom, which is used in both casual and formal meetings between friends, family and even strangers. The tea is black (without milk) and has herbal flavoring that comes in many variations.
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Sunni Islam