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Spectacle and Ceremony: Honoring Tradition or Managing Expectation?

a different framework?

Though the length of his reign could not compare to that of Elizabeth, the Saudi king, Abdallah, also died in his nineties, on January 22, 2015, after a short illness. In keeping with the ascetic traditions of the country's unique brand of Islam, in which grand displays of wealth contradict the ideal of egalitarianism that should unite all Muslims, he was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in al-Oud public cemetery, alongside many commoners. This modest Riyadh cemetery (together with other simple graveyards in the Kingdom's other cities) is the resting place of many kings and royals, as the nature of such interment prevents veneration of the dead.

Since ostentatious displays of grief or mourning are considered tantamount to idolatry, funerals are also simple affairs, and puritanical in character. The late king was first bathed according to Islamic ritual, then wrapped in two pieces of plain white cloth, the standard shroud for all Muslims. Nothing out of the ordinary was to be done to the king's body. It was then transported in a plain city ambulance to the Imam Turki bin Abdallah Grand Mosque in Riyadh for the funeral prayers.

The mid-afternoon 'Asr' prayers that preceded the burial took place in the presence of various Muslim leaders, princes and religious scholars. In line with codes that dictate that a tribal chieftain be accessible to everyone in his community, the ceremony was open to the public. Women were able to attend, sitting in the women's section of the mosque. Absentee funeral prayers were also ordered to be held at mosques throughout the Kingdom.

Following prayers, the body, wrapped in a simple white shroud, was carried through the crowds at the mosque on a simple litter by male relatives wearing the traditional red-and-white checked head gear. It was then driven to al-Oud cemetery in a black truck, where royals gathered at his gravesite. His successor, the new King Salman, dressed in a plain black gown, joined a group of men in lowering the pallet containing the body to the ground, and tipped it toward the unmarked grave. The body was set inside the burial plot, and mourners threw handfuls of desert soil onto it. That dirt was then covered with a bed of small stones, concluding the simple ceremony.

While public displays of grief are discouraged under the strict form of Islam practiced in the Kingdom, tens of thousands paid their condolences. Most of the visiting took place at the king's palace, with all the senior royals there to receive condolers. Visitors, which included citizens, foreign heads of state and dignitaries, were greeted by a line of princes arranged according to age instead of rank. The king's wives and daughters also received female visitors in their own palaces. Protocol permits no official mourning period, but flags were flown at half staff for three days, while businesses and shops remained open. Despite Abdallah's popularity, there were no spontaneous gatherings on city streets, let alone formal, sanctioned events, to mark his passing.

Salman, having been the 'vali al-ahd', or heir-in-waiting, succeeded him on the throne, but the royals also quickly appointed a new crown prince, Muqrin. Subjects and tribal leaders across the Kingdom were then expected to pledge their allegiance to the new king, in the traditional "bay'a" oath. There is no concept of a formal coronation, or public ceremony. Indeed, the royal family has always taken pains to distinguish itself from European monarchies, preferring to hark to the tribal roots of its leadership, while the religious element takes precedence over all - a king's formal title is in fact "Custodian of the two Holy Places" (of Makkah and Madinah). Ostentatious displays of wealth and elaborate spectacles to cement one's importance in the public eye run counter to the image the family strives to project, even if in reality its riches and power surpass that of other monarchies by a very large measure.

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