Saudi Arabia held celebrations on Tuesday to commemorate for the first time the Kingdom’s foundation nearly 300 years ago, “choosing a date that downplays the central role played by clerics from the ultra-conservative Wahhabi school of Islam” and instead focusing on the date in 1727 when Mohammed bin Saud, founder of the first Saudi state, took over the emirate of Diriyah, Reuters reports.
The government showcased the history of the Kingdom with events around Saudi Arabia that included musical performances on Saudi modern history, fireworks, drone shows and sound effects, with 3,500 performers taking part.
Saudi citizens and expats living or visiting abroad shared posts on social media commemorating the inaugural celebration of Founding Day.
Mohammed ibn Saud came to the throne in 1727, the year Saudi Arabia will use to celebrate its founding.
Earlier this year, the government announced the new holiday will be celebrated with a day off for both public and private sector workers, and released a vintage-looking logo used to mark the event.
The Saudi English-daily Arab News features a fascinating report on how historians and experts in the Kingdom worked to reveal the actual founding day as 17 years off from previous recording, instead using the first date of Bin Saud’s first day as ruler of Diryiah, in what is now modern-day Riyadh, instead of his alliance with Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdulwahhab.
“There is no doubt that the events of 1744, the year in which Imam Mohammed ibn Saud of Diriyah offered sanctuary to the religious reformer Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdulwahhab, were hugely significant….But over time the importance of that admittedly historic moment of common cause between state and faith came to obscure the far more complex and deeper-rooted origins of the First Saudi State…
“It is to correct this neglect of the Kingdom’s crucial embryonic years that Founding Day has been created, to celebrate 1727 as the true moment of birth and to give Saudis a deeper appreciation of a past far richer than many realize.”
The change of dates is consistent with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to modernize Saudi Arabia’s economy and create a vibrant society. The King and Crown Prince have taken significant steps to transform the Kingdom, including reigning in the so-called “religious police,” empowering Saudi women, and opening up the Kingdom’s borders and culture to the world.
