Why is riyhad more conservative than jeddah and query on hijab in saudi?

Question

is it just the fact that is it is the capital or is it just more religous is so why.

also so i can get my facts right is it true that in saudi arabia lots of women now just wear hijab rather than full niqab i always thought that niqab was compulsory is it still required in both cities or is it worn un riyhad more that jeddah

Answer 1

Jeddah is a mixed community, many come from Africa, Asia, other Arab countries to do Hajj or Ummrah, then live there.  Therefore, the culture is not as solid as people who have spent most of the life in the desert like Riyadh.

In Riyadh, the forigners are free to wear Hijab or any form of it.  However, most of the Saudi girls now wear a form of full cover that barely covers half of the face, and some of them wear hijab only.

Answer 2

Riyadh is the birth place of Ibn Wahab ..That explains what you see in Riyadh region...Lots of women wear niqab..few cover everything...All ladies above 16 are Almost required in Riyadh to wear them  ..Religious Police will go after ladies who don't especially in shopping malls....In Jeddah,however  Religious police has less authority in Jeddah ..The composition of jeddah people are people from all around the world who came to  Makkah for  Hajj and  eventually settled in Jeddah  and became Saudis..That explain the cosmopolitan style in Jeddah

Answer 3

the main reason is historical and geographical

riyadh is more conservative in general, in different aspects of life not only hijab

jeddah is called "the gate for the two holy mosques". it grew up and lived on foreign pilgrims for the holy places. so, historically it had to deal with so many foreigners. many of them liked the place and decided to settle down in the western province. so most people in western province have differenet ethnic background, most of them settled down before the foundation of saudi arabia (i.e. 19th century or before)

riyadh is in the center of the kingdom, in the desert, and it has never been ruled by foreign countries, unlike jeddah with the turkish empire. so, you find people there more conservative in general, more authentic is some habits

(like i think you might find friends share the restaurant bill in jeddah, while in riyadh they fight who will pay the bill, i hear that family relations is stronger in riyadh)

i am not sure in riyadh now, but in jeddah, i would say, a girl is pretty much wear hijab by her choice (i.e. she might not wear it at all). well, unless they meet the relegious police, but you might spend years without meeting one.

Answer 4

yes. i agree with Ameen there

you have to think about the country historically.. This is a barren desert and hard to get into by outsiders in the past.. You just dont want to go trapsing through the desert in 120F heat to invade someone.. Your horses will need water, food etc and if you think you might die just getting there, you wont do it.. so Riyadh historically remained closed off to outsiders.. they are traditionally a close knit bedouin origin group of tribesmen also.. They have their strong old ways of culture.. They hold onto this..

Whereas the outlying regions.. Jeddah in the west and Khobar in the east are close to water ports and peoples from other countries have easy access to immigrant and come and trade historically, some staying and marrying into the tribes, so you'll see a mix mash of peoples in these outlying cities... More tolerant to other peoples cultures...

Women now ive seen the younger generation dont wear the face veil now.. its mostly the older women that do.. Also you see the styles of abaya changing.. the older women wear a much "uglier" in my opinion black tent, that they pull up over their head.. where as the younger women go for all the pretty new styles, and will have embroidery designs on theirs.. ..

Answer 5

What Gigi said is right but in one point, the way of wearing Hijab does not depend on the region, it depends on the doctrine or the principle.

But for the point that they are more conservative because of their traditions, that’s also true.

In addition, people in Riyadh live in the middle of the desert. And that affects in their attitude, so they are very tough in some ways.

Answer 6

it is the infection....sorry the influence of egypt over jeddah and bahrain over dammam it is that simple

Answer 7

No Riyadh is not more religious, it is more conservative in its traditions.

That is two different things.

Jeddah is more open, because the people living there are mainly mixed from different muslim counties all over the world, giving them more of an international flair, bringing traditions from all over the world together.

Riyadh has attracted more people from surrounding areas that were mainly tribal.

You cannot though say that the people of Riyadh are more religious than the ones of Jeddah. I find this statement unfair.

What women in Saudi Arabia wear also depends on the region. For example in Abha you will find old women that come out wearing hijab and large traditional straw hats. During my visit I also saw women with long traditional dresses and hijab walking with children between neighbourhoods, without abaya. That was in remote areas, just a year ago.

So again do not mix the islamic dress code with the traditions of the local areas.

What is compulsory in Islam is loose dressing, preferrably of coulours that do not attract and hijab.