RIYADH, 9 January 2005 — Al-Suwaidi district has been compared — at least by many Saudis — to Fallujah. It is more than simply one of the capital’s many residential areas; it has attained its present notoriety because of terrorism. It seems to breed terrorists and indeed, 15 of those on the Kingdom’s list of the 26 most wanted Saudi terrorists have links with Al-Suwaidi.
The district was among Riyadh’s most well-known residential areas in the years during and after the oil boom of the 1970s and early 1980s. Those were years which saw a substantial movement of many Saudis from rural to urban areas in the Kingdom. As the capital, Riyadh was a magnet for those seeking good jobs and economic prosperity. On the western side of Wadi Hanifa, the area was originally beyond the capital’s congestion; that is, however, no longer the case. Today it is home to thousands of middle-income Saudis.
Saleh Al-Mizyad is a Saudi in his 60s who was among the first to live in Al-Suwaidi. As recently as 1395H (it is now 1425H), Al-Suwaidi could not be found on any map of Riyadh and its environs but in that year, Al-Mizyad bought some land in the area. “Even today some of the district’s residents say that one early builder — me — didn’t want to build a house on the land but wanted to bury treasure there,” Al-Mizyad says with a wry smile. “That indicates how far in those days we were from the city. The closest thing to my house, in those days, was Al-Azizia Farm which belonged to Prince Sultan; at that time my house was a few kilometers away from what is now Ateeqah District. I had to hire a Yemeni to guard the land and the construction material I had put there. The next morning when I went to bring him breakfast and tea, I found that he was refusing to stay on this ‘deserted land’. Things have certainly changed since those days.”
Today Al-Suwaidi is considered one of Riyadh’s older residential districts. Its entrances and exits are numerous and it teems with residents. On the whole its buildings are not new; many date back to the boom years and its infrastructure is also not as recent and modern as much of Riyadh’s.
Abdul Rahman Al-Zahrani, 34, is a former resident of Al-Suwaidi. He attributes the fact that many terrorists have come from the district to the fact that many parents living there believed their children’s futures lay exclusively in religion. As a result, there were a number of strict religious preachers in the area; they frequented the mosques, shortened their thobes, lengthened their beards and became a kind of Islamic missionary. Many young people in Al-Suwaidi fell under their influence and, in time, went beyond what the early preachers had taught and recommended. The community gradually moved to pressure the younger generation in being stricter in their religious observances and practices than their predecessors.
At this point, in Al-Zahrani’s opinion, some of the young people moved one step further into extremism. They began to talk of jihad and taking up arms against non-Muslims. Because of the variety of religious writing and interpretations available, they were able to justify their positions which, to many who were not so strict, appeared to be going too far. In order to put their beliefs into practice, the young men of Al-Suwaidi looked around and settled on Afghanistan under Soviet domination as it was in those days to be the place for jihad. And so it developed that many of the area’s young men went to Afghanistan. They honed their skills and beliefs there and once the Soviets had left, they came home and found what they decided was an enemy within the very Saudi society they had left.
In the wake of recent events in the district which have seen confrontations between security forces and terrorists, the residents of Al-Suwaidi have turned to their library. An old white building in the middle of a residential area, it was established by the Ministry of Education and is now under the supervision of the Cultural Administration. Recently, it has been the center for registration of voters in the upcoming municipality elections. The library is seen as an intellectual haven, far from the language of violence and extremism that has been the feature of fatwas (religious edicts) and pamphlets distributed in the area’s mosques over the past decade.
To those leaving the district, the last thing they see is a large sign posing the following question: “Did you pray Fajr (the dawn prayer) at the mosque?” As many are about to answer, another sign appears which admonishes its readers, “Ask God’s forgiveness. Make your waiting moments full of asking for forgiveness.” No doubt Abdul Aziz Al-Miqren, the slain leader of the Kingdom’s Al-Qaeda deviants, and those with him read those very signs.
Two sheikhs, Abdullah ibn Quoud, and Abdullah ibn Jabreen, are among the most popular in the district. Some others, Sheikh Adel Al-Kalbani, Sheikh Saad Al-Bareik, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Feryan and Sheikh Fahd Al-Ghurab have specialized in organizing courses for the study of Shariah and Arabic language. Among the most famous mosques in the area are: Ibn Taymia, Muhammad Abdul Wahab, Princess Sarah bint Saad and Sheikh Al-Shuaibi.
A 45-year-old Indian who works in a small grocery store said he had lived in Al-Suwaidi for more than 15 years. He said it was definitely an area of “mutawwas” (strict religious people). He pointed out that there was a great deal of mosque activity such as sermons, lessons in religion, Qur’an recitations and encouraging all local people to follow Islamic teachings, to pray and grow beards. The Indian observed that his former sponsor had been ostracized by the community because he failed to pray all his prayers and also because he sold cigarettes in his shop. Today, in contrast, at the eastern entrance to Al-Suwaidi there is a McDonald’s. There are also other fast-food establishments throughout the district; cigarettes are sold in most shops and it is even possible to buy music tapes.
Plastered on the walls and buildings of the district are many large signs warning the people, “Do not forget to remember God” and “There is no god but God”. All the signs are indications and illustrations of there being clear and obvious religious activity in the area.
Mishaal Al-Mutairi, 32, said Al-Suwaidi is famous for neighbors who keep their eyes on each other in order to learn who prays in the mosques. Each man and woman watches other men and women to make sure that they are not violating rules. If they are, attempts are made to bring them back to what is seen as proper behavior and conduct. This is usually done by speaking directly to the offenders or by ostracizing them and refusing to have anything to do with them and perhaps even their family members. Some even go so far as to refuse to marry into the families or kin of “violators”.
To anyone visiting the district today, the presence of security cameras is most noticeable. The visitor will also not fail to feel religious influences. Many publishing houses and centers for the distribution of Islamic publications are much in evidence. In addition, there are a number of Haj and Umrah offices and an association for Qur’anic recitation.
