Hejaz - People of Hejaz

People of Hejaz

People of Hejaz, who feel particularly connected to the holy places of Mecca and Medina, have probably the most strongly articulated identity of any regional grouping in Saudi Arabia. Their place of origin affords them the feeling of being a chosen people and also provides them with special status in the eyes of other Muslims; but it also alienates them from the Saudi state, which invokes different narratives of the history of the Arabian Peninsula. Over the centuries, the inhabitants of Hejaz also created many rituals and ceremonies which further enhance their sense of superiority. Most of the official Salafi clerics look down on these rituals and in many instances consider them to be un-Islamic. Thus, they experienced tensions with people of Najd.

The people of Hejaz have never fully accommodated to Saudi and Wahhabi rule. Many consider themselves more cosmopolitan because Hejaz was for centuries a part of the great empires of Islam from the Umayyads to the Ottomans.

This is compensated, however, by huge oil income, with all the oil found in the opposite end of Saudi Arabia.