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The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is Arab and Islam, and is deeply religious, conservative, traditional, and family oriented. Many attitudes and traditions are centuries-old, derived from Arab civilization. However its culture has also been affected by rapid change, as the country was transformed from an impoverished nomadic society into a rich commodity producer in just a few years in the 1970s.〔Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2003: p.28〕 The Wahhabi Islamic movement, which arose in the 18th century and is sometimes described as austerely puritanical, now predominates in the country. Following the principle of "enjoining good and forbidding wrong", there are many limitations on behaviour and dress are strictly enforced both legally and socially, often more so than in other Muslim countries. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, for example, and there is no theatre or public exhibition of films. Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance. Five times each day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques scattered throughout the country. Because Friday is the holiest day for Muslims, the weekend is Friday-Saturday.〔"Weekend shift: A welcome change", SaudiGazette.com.sa, 24 June 2013 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130624171030〕 In accordance with Wahhabi doctrine, only two religious holidays, ''Eid al-Fitr'' and ''Eid al-Adha'', were publicly recognized, until 2006 when a non-religious holiday, the 23 September national holiday (which commemorates the unification of the kingdom) was reintroduced in 2006.〔 ==Religion== Observers have described Saudi Arabian society as deeply religious and deeply conservative. Saudi Arabia is the "only modern Muslim state to have been created by jihad, the only one to claim the Quran as its constitution", and the only Arab-Muslim country "to have escaped European imperialism." Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia and its law requires that all citizens be Muslims.〔 Neither Saudi citizens nor guest workers have the right of freedom of religion.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35507.htm )〕 The official and dominant form of Islam in the kingdom, and "the predominant feature of Saudi culture"〔Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2003: p.14〕 is the austerely puritanical form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Wahhabism arose in the central region of Najd, the eighteenth century. Proponents call the movement "Salafism",〔(The Daily Star )| Lamine Chikhi| 27.11.2010.〕 and believe that its teachings purify the practice of Islam of innovations or practices that deviate from the seventh-century teachings of Muhammad and his companions.〔('The Islamic Traditions of Wahhabism and Salafiyya' ), US Congressional Research Service Report, 2008, by Christopher M. Blanchard available from the Federation of American Scientists website〕 The many limitations on behaviour and dress are strictly enforced both legally and socially. Saudi is one of the few countries that have "religious police" (also known as ''Haia'' or ''Mutaween''), who patrol the streets "enjoining good and forbidding wrong" by enforcing dress codes, strict separation of men and women, attendance at prayer (''salat'') five times each day, the ban on alcohol, and other aspects of ''Sharia'' (Islamic law) or behavior it believes to be commanded by Islam. Cinema theatres were shut down in 1980, for example. (In the privacy of the home behavior can be far looser, and reports from the Daily Mail and WikiLeaks indicate that the ruling Saudi Royal family applies a different moral code to itself, indulging in parties, drugs and sex.〔(WikiLeaks cables: Saudi princes throw parties boasting drink, drugs and sex | World news ). The Guardian (7 December 2010). Retrieved on 9 May 2012. quote: "Royals flout puritanical laws to throw parties for young elite while religious police are forced to turn a blind eye."〕) The kingdom uses not the international Gregorian calendar, but the lunar Islamic calendar, with the start of each lunar month determined not ahead of time by astronomical calculation, but only after the crescent moon is sighted by the proper religious authorities.〔Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2009: p.154-5〕 Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance. Businesses are closed three or four times a day〔the time varying according to sunrise and sunset times〕 during business hours for 30 to 45 minutes while employees and customers sent off to pray;〔Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2009: p.214〕 Because Friday is the holiest day for Muslims, the weekend is Friday-Saturday.〔〔Sulaiman, Tosin. (Bahrain changes the weekend in efficiency drive ), ''The Times'', 2 August 2006. Retrieved 25 June 2008. Turkey has a weekend on Saturday and Sunday〕〔Prior to 29 June 2013, the weekend was Thursday-Friday, but was shifted to better serve the Saudi economy and its international commitments. (source: "Weekend shift: A welcome change", SaudiGazette.com.sa, 24 June 2013 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130624171030 )〕 In accordance with Wahhabi doctrine, for many years only two religious holidays were publicly recognized, ''ʿĪd al-Fiṭr'' and ''ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā''. (''ʿĪd al-Fiṭr'' is "the biggest" holiday a three-day period of "feasting, gift-giving and general letting go".〔Tripp, ''Culture Shock'', 2009: p.35〕) In 2006, the 23 September national holiday (which commemorates the unification of the kingdom) was reintroduced over the objections of religious clerics. 〔 As of 2004 approximately half of the broadcast airtime of Saudi state television was devoted to religious issues.〔 90% of books published in the kingdom were on religious subjects, and most of the doctorates awarded by its universities were in Islamic studies. In the state school system, about half of the material taught is religious. In contrast, assigned readings over twelve years of primary and secondary schooling devoted to covering the history, literature, and cultures of the non-Muslim world comes to a total of about 40 pages. "Fierce religious resistance" had to be overcome to permit such innovations as paper money (in 1951), female education (1964), and television (1965) and the abolition of slavery (1962).〔(Review. "Unloved in Arabia" ) By Max Rodenbeck. ''The New York Review of Books'', Volume 51, Number 16 · October 21, 2004〕 There were a number of terrorist attacks targeting foreigners between 2001 and 2004, but these have been brought under control.〔("Saudi Arabia, a kingdom divided" ) ''The Nation'', 22 May 2006. Retrieved 6 February 2011,〕 Public support for the traditional political/religious structure of the kingdom is so strong that one researcher interviewing Saudis found virtually no support for reforms to secularize the state. Even the small minority of Westernized and liberal Saudis expressed "a desire for the kingdom to remain a Muslim society ruled by an overtly Muslim state."〔from p.195 of a (review ) by Joshua Teitelbum, ''Middle East Studies'', Vol. 38, No. 4, Oct., 2002, of ''Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia'' by anthropologist Mai Yamani, quoting p.116 |quote=Saudis of all stripes interviewed expressed a desire for the kingdom to remain a Muslim society ruled by an overtly Muslim state. Secularist are simply not to be found. (traditional and somewhat westernized Saudis she talked to mediate their concerns ) though the certainties of religion.〕 Because of religious restrictions, Saudi culture lacks any diversity of religious expression, buildings, annual festivals and public events seen in many other countries where religious freedom is permitted.〔(Saudi Arabia: International Religious Freedom Report 2008 )〕 The festivals (such as Day of Ashura) and communal public worship〔Islamic Political Culture, Democracy, and Human Rights: A Comparative Study, p 93 Daniel E. Price – 1999〕 of Shia Muslims who make up an estimated 15%〔(Saudi Arabia's Shia press for rights )| bbc|by Anees al-Qudaihi | 24 March 2009〕〔(Council on Foreign Relations )| Author: Lionel Beehner| June 16, 2006〕〔Nasr, ''Shia Revival'', (2006) p. 236〕 to 25% of the kingdom's population〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Demography of Religion in the Gulf )〕 are suppressed. Celebration of other (non-Wahhabi) Islamic holidays, such as the Muhammad's birthday and the Day of Ashura, (an important holiday for Shiites), are tolerated only when celebrated locally and on a small scale.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://country-stats.com/en/countries/asia/saudi-arabia/10599-saudi-arabia-culture.html )〕 Shia also face systematic discrimination in employment, education, the justice system according to Human Rights Watch. No churches, temples or other non-Muslim houses of worship permitted in the country (although there are nearly a million Christians as well as Hindus and Buddhists among the foreign workers). Foreign workers are not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter,〔 and reportedly private prayer services are forbidden in practice.〔 And at least one religious minority, the Ahmadiyya, are banned with adherents being deported according to a 2007 report by Human Rights Watch. Proselytizing by non-Muslims and conversion by Muslims to another religion is illegal.〔 According to the HeartCry Missionary Society, in 2014 the Saudi government "issued an official statement signifying that capital punishment may now be used" on those who distribute the Bible and all other "publications that have prejudice to any other religious belief other than Islam."〔Samuel Smith (18 December 2014) ("Saudi Arabia's New Law Imposes Death Sentence for Bible Smugglers?" ). ''Christian Post''.〕〔("SAUDI ARABIA IMPOSES DEATH SENTENCE FOR BIBLE SMUGGLING" ). ''handsoffcain.info''. 28 November 2014〕 In legal compensation court cases (''Diyya'') non-Muslim are awarded less than Muslims.〔 Atheists are legally designated as terrorists.〔(Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents ), ''The Independent'', 04 March 2014〕 Saudis or foreign residents who call "into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based" may be subject to as much as 20 years in prison.〔(Saudi Arabia declares atheists terrorists under new laws targeting citizens who 'call for secular thought in any form' ), Main Online, 01 April 2014〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Culture of Saudi Arabia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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