Of sand or soil: genealogy and tribal belonging in Saudi Arabia

303 Pages·2017·22.285 MB·English

by  Jāsir, Ḥamad;Samin, Nadav

Of Sand or Soil
PRINCETON STUDIES IN MUSLIM POLITICS
Dale F. Eickelman and Augustus Richard Norton, series editors
A list of titles in this series can be found at the back of the book
Of Sand or Soil
Genealogy and Tribal Belonging
in Saudi Arabia
Nadav Samin
PRINCETON UNIvERSITy PRESS
PRINCETON aND OxfORD
Copyright © 2015 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
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press.princeton.edu
Jacket art: With permission from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shuqayr,
Aṭlas Mushajjarāt Banī Zayd (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Shuqayr, 2015)
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Samin, Nadav, 1976-
Of sand or soil : genealogy and tribal belonging in Saudi Arabia / Nadav Samin.
pages cm.—(Princeton studies in muslim politics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 691- 16444- 1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Tribes—Saudi Arabia. 2. Tribal
government—Saudi Arabia. 3. Saudi Arabia—Ethnic relations. 4. Jasir, Hamad. I. Title.
DS218.S26 2015
953.805—dc23
2014044326
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Linux Libertine O and Adobe Caslon Pro
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For Lily and Selma

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Transliteration xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
ChaPTER ONE
Ḥamad al- Jāsir: A Life in Context 19
ChaPTER TwO
The Dark Matter of Tribal Belonging 53
ChaPTER ThREE
The Oracle of al- Wurūd: Ḥamad al- Jāsir’s
Genealogical Correspondence 79
ChaPTER fOUR
Marriage and Lineal Authentication 115
ChaPTER fIvE
Parallel Migrations, Divergent Destinations 136
ChaPTER SIx
Toward a Genealogical Rule of Governance 165
CONCLUSION 201
Notes 205
Bibliography 255
Index 271

Illustrations
Figure 0.1. Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, front entrance 2
Figure 0.2. A Saudi family tree with Quran 49:13 framing it 3
Figure 1.1. Ruins of al- Burūd, birthplace of Ḥamad al- Jāsir 25
Figure 1.2. Ḥamad al- Jāsir 37
Figure 1.3. Al- Yamāma, July 1954, “Special Issue on the Bedouin” 41
Figure 3.1. Ḥamad al- Jāsir’s home, al- Wurūd neighborhood in
north Riyadh 81
Figure 3.2. Al- ʿArab, March/April 1976, back cover 94
Figure 4.1. Āl ʿĪsā family tree (c. 1925) 132
Figure 5.1. Al- ʿUlā’s date palm plantations (1910) 138
Figure 5.2. Jaussen and Savignac’s guide Qufṭān al- Faqīr (1910) 140
Figure 5.3. Al- ʿUlā today 143
Figure 6.1. (a) Aramco map of the disputed Līwā and Buraymī oases
(1952), (b) Saudi government map and description of Buraymī
dispute (1956) 177
MAP AND TABLE
Map 1. Approximate boundaries of Arabian tribal territories before the
establishment of the modern Saudi state, along with toponyms
significant for this study xiv
Table 1. Chronology of Ḥamad al- Jāsir’s life 22