Raif bin Muhammad Badawi (Arabic: رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 on a charge of "insulting Islam through electronic channels" and brought to court on several charges, including apostasy. In 2013, he was convicted on several charges and sentenced to seven years in prison, and 600 lashes. In 2014 his sentence was increased to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes, and a fine of one-million Saudi riyals. The flogging was to be carried out over 20 weeks. The first 50 lashes were administered on 9 January 2015. The second flogging was postponed more than twelve times. The reason for the most recent postponement is unknown, but the previous scheduled floggings were delayed due to Badawi's poor health. Badawi is known to have hypertension, and his health worsened after the flogging began. (Full article...)
... that the 2021 film West Side Story was banned in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, likely due to the transgender character Anybodys?
... that Saudi Arabian poet Hamad al-Hajji lost three members of his family during his childhood and later suffered from schizophrenia until he died at the age of 49 after a lung disease?
At least 1,119 pilgrims, more than half of whom are from Egypt, are now confirmed to have died from heat-related causes during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. (Barron's)
This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
The Alid revolt of 762–763 or Revolt of Muhammad the Pure Soul was an uprising by the Hasanid branch of the Alids against the newly established Abbasid Caliphate. The Hasanids, led by the brothers Muhammad (called "the Pure Soul") and Ibrahim, rejected the legitimacy of the Abbasid family's claim to power. Reacting to mounting persecution by the Abbasid regime, in 762 they launched a rebellion, with Muhammad rising in revolt at Medina in September and Ibrahim following in Basra in November.
The Hasanid's lack of co-ordination and organization, as well as the lukewarm support of their followers, allowed the Abbasids under Caliph al-Mansur to react swiftly. The Caliph contained Muhammad's rebellion in the Hejaz and crushed it only two weeks after Ibrahim's uprising, before turning his forces against the latter. Ibrahim's rebellion had achieved some initial successes in southern Iraq, but his camp was torn by dissent among rival Shi'a groups as to the prosecution of the war and future political objectives. In the end, Ibrahim's army was decisively defeated at Bakhamra in January 763, with Ibrahim dying of his wounds shortly after. (Full article...)
Image 1Nasseef House is a historical structure in Al-Balad, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As of 2009 it is a museum and cultural center which has special exhibits and lectures given by historians.
Image 2Sunset view from Farasan Island, the largest island of the Farasan Islands, in the Red Sea. It is located some 50 km offshore from Jizan, the far southwestern part of Saudi Arabia.
Image 3A view of Jabal Sawda, a peak located in Saudi Arabia, with an elevation of around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft).[1]
More did you know
...that land under cultivation has grown from under 400,000 acres (1600 km²) in 1976 to more than eight million acres (32,000 km²) in 1993 due to better irrigation in Saudi Arabia?
Image 28Dammam No. 7, the oil well where commercial volumes of oil were first discovered in Saudi Arabia on March 4, 1938. (from History of Saudi Arabia)
![Image 3A view of Jabal Sawda, a peak located in Saudi Arabia, with an elevation of around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft).[1]](https://naturehabitats.org/knowledge-base/black-cherry/?rdp_we_resource=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3AAl_Sawda_peak.jpg)
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