Saudi Arabia. League Of Arab States. SAUDI | National e-Government Portal. Sharia. To Arabic-speaking people, sharia (shariah, shari'a, sharīʿah; Arabic: شريعة šarīʿah, IPA: [ʃaˈriːʕa], "legislation"),[1] also known as Islāmī qānūn (اسلامی قانون), means the moral code and religious law of a prophetic religion.[2][3] In English usage, the term "sharia" has been largely identified with Islam.[4] Sharia deals with many topics addressed by secular law, including crime, politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday etiquette and fasting. Though interpretations of sharia vary between cultures, in its strictest and most historically coherent definition it is considered the infallible law of God—as opposed to the human interpretation of the laws (fiqh).[5] However, historically, much of Sharia has been implemented in its strictest understanding.
Etymology and origins[edit] History[edit] The Umayyads initiated the office of appointing qadis, or Islamic judges. Definitions and descriptions[edit] Saudi Arabia country profile. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the main players in the Arab world. Its stature is built on its geographical size (twice that of France and Germany combined), its prestige as the custodian of the birthplace of Islam and its colossus status as an oil producer - with a quarter of the world's proven reserves under its deserts.
Its importance as an oil exporting nation has made economic interdependence with the West - where the main consumer demand is found - a necessity. This, in turn, has led to strong political and military relationships that at times have been a source of awkwardness for both sides. It stands out for its espousal of a puritan version of Sunni Islam, including harsh punishments such as public beheadings, and its restrictions on women. Population 32 million Area 2.24 million sq km (864,869 sq miles) Major language Arabic Major religion Islam Life expectancy 73 years (men), 76 years (women) Currency Riyal Getty Images Image copyright Getty Images.
OPEC. OPEC (/ˈoʊpɛk/ OH-pek) (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is an oil cartel whose mission is to coordinate the policies of the oil-producing countries. The goal is to secure a steady income to the member states and to secure supply of oil to consumers.[2] OPEC is an intergovernmental organization that was created at the Baghdad Conference on 10–14 September 1960, by Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Later it was joined by nine more governments: Libya, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, and Gabon. OPEC was headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland before moving to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965.[3] In the 1980s, the price of oil was allowed to rise before the adverse effects of higher prices caused demand and price to fall. The OPEC nations, which depended on revenue from oil sales, experienced severe economic hardship from the lower demand for oil and consequently cut production in order to boost the price of oil. Saudi Arabia. Yes, It Could Happen Here - by Madawi Al-Rasheed. In the age of Arab revolutions, will Saudis dare to honor Facebook calls for anti-government demonstrations on March 11?
Will they protest at one of Jeddah's main roundabouts? Or will they start in Qatif, the eastern region where a substantial Shiite majority has had more experience in real protest? Will Riyadh remain cocooned in its cloak of pomp and power, hidden from public gaze in its mighty sand castles? Saudi Arabia is ripe for change. Despite its image as a fabulously wealthy realm with a quiescent, apolitical population, it has similar economic, demographic, social, and political conditions as those prevailing in its neighboring Arab countries.
There is no reason to believe Saudis are immune to the protest fever sweeping the region. Saudi Arabia is indeed wealthy, but most of its young population cannot find jobs in either the public or private sector. Like their neighbors, Saudis want jobs, houses, and education, but they also desire something else. King abdullah. Saudi Arabia's Musk Revolution - By Simon Henderson. "The king is dead, long live the king," is a call which, in its Arabic form, is sure to be heard before too long in Saudi Arabia. In the latest chapter of the saga of the House of Saud, the ailing and aged King Abdullah returned to the kingdom on Feb. 23 after a three-month absence, which included two back operations in New York City and a month's recuperation at his palace in Morocco. It wasn't quite a triumphant return.
Upon his arrival in Morocco, the king was brought down to earth in a wheelchair, carried from his aircraft in a scissor-lift disabled-passenger vehicle modeled on the design of a catering truck. A similar contraption was employed on his return home to Riyadh. The real story of the king's return, however, was the gifts that he lavished upon his population. King Abdullah's largesse looks a lot like preventive medicine to ensure that Saudi Arabia does not catch the revolutionary disease spreading from Tunisia and Egypt across the Arab world.
Bloomberg. The Saudi King's Speech - Zawya. The Saudi King's speech had 21 royal orders but very little to comfort reformists. It appears that the authorities have used its biggest political crisis to launch an economic bailout. The Saudi King has spoken, and it appears that instead of talking of reforms he has stepped back into his comfort zone: using oil wealth and backing the original power base of conservatives. To be sure, there were $93-billion of benefits offered, his most generous yet, but we will let other analysts dissect that. Also Read: Saudi Arabia's 21 Royal Orders As John Sfakianakis, chief economist, Banque Saudi Fransi notes: "The initiatives announced on Friday appear to target a comprehensive range of concerns among Saudi citizens and lend support particularly to those in lower income brackets who would benefit tremendously from an expansion in social security benefits and housing.
"The government must continue to make targeted efforts to entice and support those most in need of assistance. . © AlifArabia 2011. Saudi Arabia's 21 Royal Orders. 19 March 2011Here are the 21 orders announced by the Saudi authorities on March 18, 2011. . - Payment of two-month salary to all government civil and military personnel - Payment of two-month bursary to all government higher education male and female students - Payment of SR2000 per month for job-seekers at the public and private sectors.
Pending the required procedures by the Ministry of Labor, job-seeker could expect the payments to start from1/1/1433 H. The Ministry of Labor was instructed to finalize all records for new job-seekers without delay prior to forwarding the relevant reports to the monarch on monthly bases. - Setting the minimum limit of salaries of all categories of Saudi workers to SR3000 per month. The cost of living worth 15% should be fixed within the basic salary. The above royal orders should be carried out by the concerned authorities in the Kingdom with immediate effect, the royal court's statement said. © AlifArabia 2011 © Copyright Zawya.
Saudi King Orders Permanent State Jobs for Citizens. Rageless in Riyadh. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s opposition bloggers and Facebook users called for a “day of rage” to be held on Friday, March 11, modeled after those in neighboring Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen. There was no reason to think that Saudi Arabia would be immune to the protest contagion. After all, the problems facing Saudi Arabia are similar in kind (if not extent) to those of the other Arab states. Saudi Arabia has a demographic youth bulge. Like other Arab nations, it has a serious youth unemployment problem. It has an autocratic government that prevents serious political participation. It is a rich country but with low per capita income compared to its smaller Gulf neighbors. But the calls for a “day of rage” met with almost no response except for a few relatively small protests in Shiite-majority areas of the Eastern Province. Perhaps we should not have been so surprised.
The Middle East: U.S.-Saudi Relations and the Oil Crises of the 1980s. In the next five to ten years, the industrial world's demand for oil from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is likely to catch up with the amounts that OPEC countries will be able or willing to make available for export. The leading oil exporter, with more than a fourth of the world total, is Saudi Arabia; the world's largest consumer of oil - and since the lifting of import quotas in the spring of 1973 its leading importer - has been the United States. At what exact point the ascending curves of global demand for oil imports and of available OPEC exports will intersect will therefore depend in large measure on policies adopted by the United States in the next year or two, and by Saudi Arabia in the next five to ten.
The third major variable will be the rate of the industrial world's recovery from its 1973-75 recession, itself partly dependent on American and Saudi policies from year to year. To continue reading, please log in. Don't have an account? Register. Trouble in the Kingdom. Crown Prince Abdullah cut an impressive figure when he arrived in Crawford, Texas, in late April to meet with President George W. Bush. The man who has ruled Saudi Arabia ever since his half brother, King Fahd, suffered a stroke in 1995, Abdullah managed to present himself as both firm and conciliatory, establishing a productive dialogue with the American president and improving a relationship that had been badly frayed by September 11 and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. While pressuring Bush to take a more active role in the Arab-Israeli peace process, Abdullah also mollified the Americans by promising to keep Saudi oil flowing and by promoting his own groundbreaking solution to the conflict in the Middle East.
Abdullah's performance abroad, however, obscured the fact that the prince's power at home -- and indeed, the health of his nation -- has eroded significantly. Although Westerners may not have anticipated the current crisis, it came as no surprise to Abdullah. Register. Saudi Arabia by the Numbers. The very concept of public opinion in highly secretive Saudi Arabia is almost an oxymoron. Hard data are difficult to come by, and even rarer is information about controversial and strategically critical current issues: views about military action against Iran, corruption and the state of civil liberties within the kingdom, religious extremism and al Qaeda, and donations to other mujahideen.
Yet I was able to obtain exactly this kind of data by working with the new Princeton, N.J. -based firm Pechter Middle East Polls and an established regional survey team. The results are eye-opening. A third of the Saudi public would approve a U.S. military strike against Iran's nuclear program, and a fourth is even willing to say it would support an Israeli operation. Most intriguing of all, however, is that none of these hot-button issues ranks very high on the public's agenda compared with economic concerns.
Occasionally the transition from one topic to the next can be a bit awkward, but it works. Hundreds detained in Saudi Arabia over protests. {*style:<b> <b> Hundreds detained in Saudi Arabia over protests </b> </b>*} {*style:<b><b> <b> Saudi authorities detained hundreds of demonstrators on Friday in Jeddah who gathered to protest against poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through Saudi Arabia's second biggest city, police and witnesses said. </b> </b></b>*} {*style:<b><b>- </b> Saudi Arabia: The royal house is rattled too. Arab economies: Throwing money at the street. Saudi Arabia country profile. 28 March 2014Last updated at 12:27 ET One of the most insular countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has emerged from being an underdeveloped desert kingdom to become one of the wealthiest nations in the region thanks to vast oil resources.
But its rulers face the delicate task of responding to pressure for reform while combating extremist violence. Named after the ruling Al Saud family, which came to power in the 18th century, the country includes the Hijaz region - the birthplace of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad and the cradle of Islam. This fact, combined with the Al Sauds' espousal of a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism, has led it to develop a strongly religious self-identity.
Saudi women live under a wide range of restrictions, from dress to driving Saudi Arabia was established in 1932 by King Abd-al-Aziz - known as the Lion of Najd - who took over Hijaz from the Hashemite family and united the country under his family's rule. Housing crisis looms in Saudi Arabia | Special Report | MEED. Saudi King Counters Protests With $36 Billion as Tension Mounts :: Forex Trading Lebanon. Saudi Arabia offers $36 billion Peace Bribe. Mai Yamani Says Young Saudis Want Political Change. The Links Between Jobs and Revolts. Saudi Arabia News - Breaking World Saudi Arabia News. Saudi Arabia’s Action in Bahrain Strains Ties With United States. Alexandria Protocol. On 7 October 1944, in Alexandria, five Arab countries agreed on the foundation of a joint Arab Organization, which led to the formation of the League of Arab States in the following year. They all consented on what became known as the Alexandria Protocol. The agreement stated that all participating countries will be represented on an equal footing.
The main aim of this organization will be to strengthen the relations between Arab states and to participate actively in the coordination of their political plans and foreign policy without interference with their independence but promising protection by suitable means in case of aggression against a member state and its sovereignty. The meeting in Alexandria included five committees with representatives of the future members of the Arab League countries in the Middle East. Founding Members[edit] See also[edit] Pact of the League of Arab States References[edit] External links[edit] The Avalon Project : The Alexandria Protocol; October 7,1944.
OPEC. Petroleum Data, Reports, Analysis, Surveys. Saudi Oil Production - read Minister Al-Naimi's small print.