In Praise of Saudi

One seldom gets the opportunity to write anything positive about Saudi Arabia so when I thought of the contents of this post, I immediately put them down in writing. So, in future, when I write about the regressive and anachronistic laws in Saudi, fair-minded people will remember that I praised Saudi where I thought they deserved praise.
Saudi’s are Wahhabi’s, or more appropriately ‘Salafis’ The word Salaf means predecessors (or ancestors) and refers to the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (the Sahaba), the early Muslims who followed them, and the scholars of the first three generations of Muslims. They are also called as ‘Salafus Saalih’ or "the Righteous Predecessors". The Salafis view the first three generations of Muslims, who are the prophet Muhammad's companions, and the two succeeding generations after them, the Taba'een and the taba Tabe'een as perfect examples of how Islam should be practiced in everyday life. In doctrinal matters, Salafis adhere to pure Islamic monotheism and believe, amongst other things that venerating the graves of dead prophets or scholars is incorrect.
The long and short of the above is that when King Fahd (the incumbent Monarch of Saudi) died on Monday, it was widely expected that a long period of mourning would be announced along with at least a few days of holidays. However, not only did the Saudi royal family not give any holidays, they also held a very modest ceremony for the late King and finished with their mourning in three days. I thought this was extremely admirable. In fact, UAE had announced a day of holiday in mourning but after realising that Saudi itself had not declared any holiday they rescinded their decision.
I can well imagine that an event of such magnitude in India would have led to a number of days off for the public sector and a general breakdown of public services through the country. I thought that the Saudi viewpoint, although based on theology, was also practical and devoid of all pomposity i.e. an example for us in India.