Saudi facts

King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud,Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,

King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, (16 March 1921 – 1 August 2005) was the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Head of the House of Saud as well as Prime Minister. One of forty-five sons of Saudi founder Ibn,

Saudi Arabia orders Facebook ban in morality row,

Facebook, the popular social networking site, was temporarily blocked in Saudi Arabia over the weekend for failing to conform with the kingdom's values.

Associated Press quoted,

خادم الحرمين الشريفينKing Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz,

King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Bin Faisal Bin Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad Bin Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, ( خادم الحرمين الشريفين الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز آلسعود‎, born August 1, 1924) is the current King of Saudi Arabia, and head of the House of Saud. He succeeded to the throne and assumed the title of King upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd, on August 1, 2005. As Crown Prince since 1982, he had previously acted as de facto regent and thus ruler of Saudi Arabia since January 1, 1996, when king Fahd was incapacitat,

Mecca,

Mecca ( /ˈmɛkə/), also spelled Makkah (occasionally Bakkah) (English: /ˈmækə/; Arabic: مكة‎ Makkah and in full: Arabic: مكّة المكرمة‎ transliterated Makkah Al Mukarramah [mækːæt ælmukarːamæ]) is a city in Saudi Arabia, regarded as the holiest meeting site in Islam, closely followed by Medina.

Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants. In the 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city which was by then an important trading center. After 966, Mecca was led by local shar,

Al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah,المدينة المنورة‎,

Medina (/mɛˈdiːnə/; Arabic: المدينة المنورة‎, pronounced [ælmæˈdiːnæ ælmuˈnɑw.wɑrɑ], or المدينة [ælmæˈdiːnæ]; also transliterated as Madinah; officially al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah (the radiant city)) is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and it is historically significant for being his home after the Hijrah.

The significance of Medina stems from the presence of the most significant historical mosques; such as Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque), Quba,

Hajj,

The Hajj ( حج‎ Ḥajj) is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is currently the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah in the Arabic language).

The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days sho,

Ihram (إحرام

Ihram (إحرام iḥrām, from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-R-M) is, in Islam, a sacred state which a Muslim must enter in order to perform the major pilgrimage (Hajj) or the minor pilgrimage (Umrah). A pilgrim must enter into this state before crossing the pilgrimage boundary, known as Miqat, by performing the cleansing rituals and wearing the prescribed attire.

Clothing

Ihram clothing is simply an item of cloth,

Umrah: عمرة

The Umrah or (Arabic: عمرة‎) is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic, Umrah means "to visit a populated place". As a technical term used in the Sharia, Umrah means to perform Tawaf round the Kaaba and Sa'i between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, after assuming Ihram (a sacred state), either from a Miqat like Zu 'l-Hulafa, Juhfa, Qarnu 'l-Manāzil, Yalamlam, Zāt-i-'Irq, Ibrahīm Mursīa, or a place in Hill. It is sometimes called the 'minor pilgrimage' or 'less,

Mount Arafat: جبل عرفات

Mount Arafat or Mount Arafah ( جبل عرفات‎; transliterated Jabal 'Arafat) is a granite hill east of Mecca. It is also known as the Mount of Mercy (Jabal ar-Rahmah). The hill is the place Muslims believe the Islamic prophet Muhammad stood and delivered the Farew,

Stoning of the Devil,

Stoning of the Devil or stoning of the jamarat (Arabic: ramy al-jamarāt‎) is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslim pilgrims fling pebbles at three walls called jamarat in the city of Mina just east of Mecca. It is one of a series of ritual acts that must be performed in the Hajj.

Until 2004 the three jamarat (singular: jamrah) were tall pillars. After the 2004 Hajj, Saudi authorities replaced the pillars with 26 m (85 ft) long walls for safety; many people were accidentally throwing pebbles at people on the other side. The jamarat are named (starting from the east) the first or smallest jamrah (Arabic: al-jamrah al-ula or al-jamrah as-sughra‎), the middle jamrah (al-jamrah al-wusta), and the largest jamrah or jamrah of Aqaba (al-jamra,

Eid al-Adha عيد الأضحى

Eid al-Adha ( عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) or "Eid-u'z-Zuha" "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. The meat is divided into three equal parts to be distributed to others. The family retains one third of the share, another third is given to relatives, friends and neigh,

Aab-e-Zamzam,Zamzam Well,

The Well of Zamzam (or the Zamzam Well, or just Zamzam; Arabic: زمزم‎) is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 20 m (66 ft) east of the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam. According to Islamic belief, it was a miraculously-generated source of water from God, which began thousands of years ago when Abraham's (Ibrāhīm) infant son Ishmael (ʼIsmāʻīl) was thirsty and kept crying for water and was kicking at the ground when water gushed out. Millions of pilgrims visit the well eac,

Conquest of Mecca,

Mecca was conquered by the Muslims in January 630 AD (10th day of Ramadan, 8 AH). It is called Fatah-e-Mubeen, The Glorious Victory.

Background

In 628 the Meccan tribe of Quraysh and the Muslim community in Medina signed a 10 year truce called the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

According to the terms of the treaty of Hudaibiyah, the Arab tribes were given the option to join either of the parties, the Muslims or Quraish, with which they desired to enter into treaty alliance. Should any of these tribes suffer aggression, then the party to which it was allied would have the right to retaliate. As a consequen,

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

 لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية‎), commonly known as Saudi Arabia, occasionally spelled Saʿudi Arabia, is the largest Arab country of the Middle East. It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. The Arabian Gulf lies to the nor,

History of Saudi Arabia,

The rise of Islam in the 620s CE, the subsequent religious importance of the Arabian cities of Makkah Makkah al-Mukarramah, and Medina (the two holiest places in Islam), and the discovery of large oil reserves in the early twentieth century, have given the rulers of this territory significant influence beyond the peninsula.

Early history

People of various cultures have lived in the peninsula over a span of more than 5,000 years. The Dilmun culture, along the Persian Gulf,

Riyadh,

Riyadh (Arabic: الرياض‎ ar-Riyāḍ, lit: The Gardens) is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Nejd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 4,854,000 people, and the urban center of a region with a population of close to 7 million people. The city is divided into 15 municipal districts, managed by Riyadh Municipality headed by the mayor of Riyadh, and the Riyadh Development Authority, chaired by the Governor of Riyadh Province, Prince Salm,

Economy of Saudi Arabia,

Saudi Arabia has an oil-based economy with strong government control over major economic activities. Saudi Arabia possesses 25%  of the world's proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC.

Saudi Arabia's economy is a centrally planned economy. Private enterprises do exist, they are however regulated by the Saudi government.

Economic overview

The petroleum sector accou,

Economy of Saudi Arabia 2009,