Editing Politics of Saudi Arabia (section)

===The influence of the ulama===
The significance of the [[ulama]] (the body of Islamic religious leaders and jurists) is derived from the central role of religion in Saudi society. It has been said that Islam is more than a religion, it is a way of life in Saudi Arabia, and, as a result, the influence of the ulama is pervasive.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Foreign Policies of Arab States: The Challenge of Globalization|last=Korany|first=Bahgat|author2=Dessouki, Ali E.Hillal|year=2010|isbn=978-9774163609|page=358}}</ref> Saudi Arabia is almost unique in giving the ulama a direct role in government,<ref name= Goldstein118>{{cite book |title=Religion and the State|url=https://archive.org/details/religionstate0000gold|url-access=registration|last=Goldstein|first=Natalie|author2=Brown-Foster |author3=Walton |year=2010|isbn=978-0816080908 |page=[https://archive.org/details/religionstate0000gold/page/118 118]|publisher=Facts On File }}</ref> the only other example being [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Saudi Arabia A Country Study |last=Federal Research Division|year=2004|isbn=978-1419146213|page=232}}</ref> Prior to 1971, a council of senior ulama advising the king was headed by the [[Grand Mufti]] and met informally.  In that year, the council was formalized in a [[Council of Senior Scholars (Saudi Arabia)|Council of Senior Scholars]], appointed by the king and with salaries paid by the government.<ref name=ComingStorm>[https://books.google.com/books?id=K_c9FOeeuewC&dq=Council+of+Senior+Scholars+saudi&pg=PA25 "Saudi Arabia: The Coming Storm" By Peter W. Wilson] p. 26-27</ref>

Not only is royal succession subject to the approval of the ulama,<ref name=Cavendish78/> so are all new laws (royal decrees).<ref name= Goldstein118/> The ulama have also influenced major executive decisions, for example the imposition of the [[1973 Oil Crisis|oil embargo in 1973]] and the [[1990 Gulf War|invitation of foreign troops to Saudi Arabia in 1990]].<ref name="meforum.org">{{cite journal|author=Nawaf E. Obaid|year=1999|title=The Power of Saudi Arabia's Islamic Leaders|journal=Middle East Quarterly|volume=VI|issue=3|pages=51–58|url=http://www.meforum.org/482/the-power-of-saudi-arabias-islamic-leaders|access-date=23 June 2011|archive-date=6 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806023223/http://www.meforum.org/482/the-power-of-saudi-arabias-islamic-leaders|url-status=live}}</ref> It plays a major role in the judicial and education systems<ref>{{cite book|title=Modernity and tradition: the Saudi equation |last=Farsy|first=Fouad|year=1992|isbn=978-1874132035|page=29|publisher=Knight Communications }}</ref> and has a monopoly of authority in the sphere of religious and social morals.<ref name= Hassner>{{cite book|title=War on sacred grounds|last=Hassner|first=Ron Eduard|year=2009|isbn=978-0801448065|page=[https://archive.org/details/waronsacredgroun00hass/page/143 143]|publisher=Cornell University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/waronsacredgroun00hass/page/143}}</ref>

By the 1970s, as a result of oil wealth and the modernization of the country initiated by King Faisal, important changes to Saudi society were under way and the power of the ulama was in decline.<ref>{{cite book|title=Saudi Arabia in the oil era: regime and elites: conflict and collaboration|last=Abir|first=Mordechai|year=1987|isbn=978-0709951292|page=30|publisher=Croom Helm }}</ref> However, this changed following [[Grand Mosque Seizure|the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979]] by [[Islamist]] radicals.<ref name= Abir21>{{cite book|title=Saudi Arabia: government, society, and the Gulf crisis|last=Abir |first=Mordechai|year=1993|isbn=978-0415093255|page=21|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> The government's response to the crisis included strengthening the ulama's powers and increasing their financial support:<ref name= Hegghammer24>{{cite book|title=Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism Since 1979|url=https://archive.org/details/jihadsaudiarabia00hegg|url-access=limited|last=Hegghammer|first=Thomas|year=2010|isbn=978-0521732369|page=[https://archive.org/details/jihadsaudiarabia00hegg/page/n35 24]|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> in particular, they were given greater control over the education system<ref name= Abir21/> and allowed to enforce stricter observance of [[wahhabism|Wahhabi]] rules of moral and social behaviour.<ref name= Hegghammer24/> Following his accession to the throne in 2005, [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia|King Abdullah]] took steps to rein back the powers of the ulama, for instance transferring their control over girls' education to the Ministry of Education.<ref name="NYT Abdullah">{{cite news|title=Abdullah, King of Saudi Arabia|url=http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/a/abdullah_bin_abdul_aziz_alsaud/index.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=29 November 2010|access-date=28 June 2011|first=Helene|last=Cooper|archive-date=27 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727045836/http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/a/abdullah_bin_abdul_aziz_alsaud/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ulama have historically been led by the [[Al ash-Sheikh]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Saudi Arabia in the oil era: regime and elites: conflict and collaboration|last=Abir|first=Mordechai|year=1987|isbn=978-0709951292|page=4|publisher=Croom Helm }}</ref> the country's leading religious family.<ref name= Hassner/> The Al ash-Sheikh are the descendants of [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]], the 18th century founder of the [[Wahhabi]] form of [[Sunni Islam]] which is today dominant in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Saudi Arabia: the coming storm|last=Wilson|first=Peter W.|author2=Graham, Douglas|year=1994|isbn=1563243946 |page=16|publisher=M.E. Sharpe }}</ref> The family is second in prestige only to the Al Saud (the royal family)<ref name= Long11>{{cite book|title=Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia|last=Long|first=David E.|year=2005|isbn=978-0313320217|page=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00long/page/11 11]|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00long/page/11}}</ref> with whom they formed a "mutual support pact"<ref name= IBP>{{cite book|title=Saudi Arabia King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Handbook|last=International Business Publications|year=2011|publisher=International Business Publications, USA |isbn=978-0739727409}}</ref> and power-sharing arrangement nearly 300 years ago.<ref name="meforum.org"/> The pact, which persists to this day,<ref name= IBP/> is based on the Al Saud maintaining the Al ash-Sheikh's authority in religious matters and upholding and propagating Wahhabi doctrine. In return, the Al ash-Sheikh support the Al Saud's political authority <ref>{{cite book|title=Area Handbook for the Persian Gulf States |last=Nyrop|first=Richard F.|year=2008|isbn=978-1434462107|page=50}}</ref> thereby using its religious-moral authority to legitimize the royal family's rule.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Bligh, Alexander|year=1985|title=The Saudi religious elite (Ulama) as participant in the political system of the kingdom|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=17|pages=37–50|doi=10.1017/S0020743800028750|s2cid=154565116 }}</ref> Although the Al ash-Sheikh's domination of the ulama has diminished in recent decades,<ref name= Mattar>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa: Vol. 1 A–C|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo00phil_0|url-access=registration|last=Mattar|first=Philip|year=2004|isbn=978-0028657707|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo00phil_0/page/101 101]}}</ref> they still hold the most important religious posts and are closely linked to the Al Saud by a high degree of intermarriage.<ref name= Hassner/>