Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This book examines why tribal genealogies continue to be a central facet of modern Saudi identity despite the erosion of kinship ties resulting from almost 300 years of religious conditioning, and ...
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This book examines why tribal genealogies continue to be a central facet of modern Saudi identity despite the erosion of kinship ties resulting from almost 300 years of religious conditioning, and despite the unprecedented material transformation of Saudi society in the oil age. It considers what accounts for the compulsion to affirm tribal belonging in modern Saudi Arabia by focusing on verse 49:13 of the Quran and the multiple contexts in which it is embedded in the kingdom. More specifically, the book asks why this verse is interpreted by so many Saudis as a license to assert their particularist tribal identities, while its ostensibly equalizing final clause is dismissed as an afterthought. It also explores the politicization of the Arabian oral culture by documenting the life and work of the Arabian genealogist and historian Hamad al-Jāsir.Less
This book examines why tribal genealogies continue to be a central facet of modern Saudi identity despite the erosion of kinship ties resulting from almost 300 years of religious conditioning, and despite the unprecedented material transformation of Saudi society in the oil age. It considers what accounts for the compulsion to affirm tribal belonging in modern Saudi Arabia by focusing on verse 49:13 of the Quran and the multiple contexts in which it is embedded in the kingdom. More specifically, the book asks why this verse is interpreted by so many Saudis as a license to assert their particularist tribal identities, while its ostensibly equalizing final clause is dismissed as an afterthought. It also explores the politicization of the Arabian oral culture by documenting the life and work of the Arabian genealogist and historian Hamad al-Jāsir.
Nadav Samin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164441
- eISBN:
- 9781400873852
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164441.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
Why do tribal genealogies matter in modern-day Saudi Arabia? What compels the strivers and climbers of the new Saudi Arabia to want to prove their authentic descent from one or another prestigious ...
More
Why do tribal genealogies matter in modern-day Saudi Arabia? What compels the strivers and climbers of the new Saudi Arabia to want to prove their authentic descent from one or another prestigious Arabian tribe? This book looks at how genealogy and tribal belonging have informed the lives of past and present inhabitants of Saudi Arabia and how the Saudi government's tacit glorification of tribal origins has shaped the powerful development of the kingdom's genealogical culture. The book presents the first extended biographical exploration of the major twentieth-century Saudi scholar Hamad al-Jāsir, whose genealogical studies frame the story about belonging and identity in the modern kingdom. It examines the interplay between al-Jāsir's genealogical project and his many hundreds of petitioners, mostly Saudis of nontribal or lower status origin who sought validation of their tribal roots in his genealogical texts. Investigating the Saudi relationship to this opaque, orally inscribed historical tradition, the book considers the consequences of modern Saudi genealogical politics and how the most intimate anxieties of nontribal Saudis today are amplified by the governing strategies and kinship ideology of the Saudi state. Challenging the impression that Saudi culture is determined by puritanical religiosity or rentier economic principles, the book shows how the exploration and establishment of tribal genealogies have become influential phenomena in contemporary Saudi society. Beyond Saudi Arabia, this book casts important new light on the interplay between kinship ideas, oral narrative, and state formation in rapidly changing societies.Less
Why do tribal genealogies matter in modern-day Saudi Arabia? What compels the strivers and climbers of the new Saudi Arabia to want to prove their authentic descent from one or another prestigious Arabian tribe? This book looks at how genealogy and tribal belonging have informed the lives of past and present inhabitants of Saudi Arabia and how the Saudi government's tacit glorification of tribal origins has shaped the powerful development of the kingdom's genealogical culture. The book presents the first extended biographical exploration of the major twentieth-century Saudi scholar Hamad al-Jāsir, whose genealogical studies frame the story about belonging and identity in the modern kingdom. It examines the interplay between al-Jāsir's genealogical project and his many hundreds of petitioners, mostly Saudis of nontribal or lower status origin who sought validation of their tribal roots in his genealogical texts. Investigating the Saudi relationship to this opaque, orally inscribed historical tradition, the book considers the consequences of modern Saudi genealogical politics and how the most intimate anxieties of nontribal Saudis today are amplified by the governing strategies and kinship ideology of the Saudi state. Challenging the impression that Saudi culture is determined by puritanical religiosity or rentier economic principles, the book shows how the exploration and establishment of tribal genealogies have become influential phenomena in contemporary Saudi society. Beyond Saudi Arabia, this book casts important new light on the interplay between kinship ideas, oral narrative, and state formation in rapidly changing societies.
Amal Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781501758614
- eISBN:
- 9781501758621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501758614.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Middle Eastern Cultural Anthropology
This chapter begins by describing the specific nature of slavery in Nizwa and the social relationships it generated through the idea of clientage even after manumission. It then looks at the social ...
More
This chapter begins by describing the specific nature of slavery in Nizwa and the social relationships it generated through the idea of clientage even after manumission. It then looks at the social and political dimensions of being descended from slaves or being from the khādim (servant) class in the era of modern state building and homogenous citizenship. The nahda led to the abolishment of slavery as part of the operation toward creating a united citizenry. However, many Nizwanis (and others) construe state management of tribal hierarchies and kinship ties to be in direct contradiction to the state's discourse of a common history and culture. Moreover, the importance of genealogy is officially sanctioned by a recalibrated sharīʿa, now relegated to the domain of family or personal status law, through the principle of kafāʾa, or equivalence in marriage. This paradox has produced widely acknowledged tribal discrimination in the workplace and in marriage. It has also resulted in fiery debates about the relationship between the Islamic discursive tradition, differential status accorded by tribal genealogies, and intermarriage in ways deeply informed by the lived realities of nationhood, including liberal notions of equality, human rights, and capitalist modernity.Less
This chapter begins by describing the specific nature of slavery in Nizwa and the social relationships it generated through the idea of clientage even after manumission. It then looks at the social and political dimensions of being descended from slaves or being from the khādim (servant) class in the era of modern state building and homogenous citizenship. The nahda led to the abolishment of slavery as part of the operation toward creating a united citizenry. However, many Nizwanis (and others) construe state management of tribal hierarchies and kinship ties to be in direct contradiction to the state's discourse of a common history and culture. Moreover, the importance of genealogy is officially sanctioned by a recalibrated sharīʿa, now relegated to the domain of family or personal status law, through the principle of kafāʾa, or equivalence in marriage. This paradox has produced widely acknowledged tribal discrimination in the workplace and in marriage. It has also resulted in fiery debates about the relationship between the Islamic discursive tradition, differential status accorded by tribal genealogies, and intermarriage in ways deeply informed by the lived realities of nationhood, including liberal notions of equality, human rights, and capitalist modernity.
