family, this name is something of a misnomer since the kingdom is actually divided into diverse historical and cultural identities. One of the functions of the name is to suppress this fact, according to Yamani in Cradle of Islam. To demonstrate this is so, Yamani offers an account of one such suppressed identity, that of the Hijaz. The Hijaz are located primarily in Mecca and Medina, the ôcradle of Islam,ö and also the old port of Jeddah (Yamani, 2004). As such, the author maintains that the Hijaz have a history of an urban, civilized, and cosmopolitan culture compared to the Saudi tribesmen from Najd who overran the Hijaz kingdom in the 1920s. Powerful ôpatronymic clansö of the Hijazi æawaÆil have been the ongoing force to resist the submergence of Hijazi culture into Saudi or Najdi culture, ôTheir position in Hijazi society make the æawaÆil more sensitive to political and cultural change, and also more likely to respond to itö (Yamani, 2004, p. 21).
Since the Saudi dynasty began its rule, the dominant national rules of Saudi Arabia have made the Hijazi people, along with their customs and culture, subservient to those of the Wahhabism promoting Saudis. This has been orchestrated through a number of means, including economic dominance from oil revenues, and control of the kingdom by political and religious elite in the Najd region of the nation. The Najd ruling elite steadfastly refuses to assimilate the Hijazi in addition. As Yamani notes, a battle between Hijazi and Najd elites results in class distinctions and an unwillingness for assimilation:
Najdis, who today form almost the entire governing and religious eliteàperceive and treat Hijazis as second-class citizens. As a result, Hijazis have sought to assert their distinctiveness vis-a-vis the Najdi elite, particularly as assimilation into the Najdi ruling elite is virtually impossible (2004, p. 11).
However, even though the Al Saud family has be...