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EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE GULF COUNTRIES : A CASE STUDY OF SAUDI ARABIA THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy IN SOCIOLOGY BY FAISAL MOHAMMAD RATHER UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROF. NAZIM ALI DEPARTMENT OF WEST ASIAN STUDIES & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH-202002 (INDIA) 2018 DEPARTMENT OF WEST ASIAN STUDIES & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH 202002 ANNEXURE – I Dated: …………………………….. CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION I, Faisal Mohammad Rather, Department of West Asian studies and North African Studies certify that the work embodied in this Ph.D. thesis is my own bonafide work carried out by me under the supervision of Prof. Nazim Ali at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The matter embodied in this Ph.D. thesis has not been submitted for the award of any other degree. I declare that I have faithfully acknowledged, given credit to and referred to the research workers wherever their works have been cited in the text and the body of the thesis. I further certify that I have not willfully lifted up some other's work, para, text, data, result, etc. reported in the journals, books, magazines, reports, dissertations, theses, etc., or available at web-sites and included them in this Ph.D. thesis and cited as my own work. Dated ......................................... Faisal Mohammad Rather Enrolment no.: GD-3515 Faculty no.: ……………………………………………………………………………………. Certificate from the Supervisor This is to certify that the above statement made by the candidate is correct to the best of my knowledge. Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh MuslimProf. Nazim University Ali (Professor) Department of West Asian Studies & North African Studies Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (Signature of the Chairman of the Department with seal) DEPARTMENT OF WEST ASIAN STUDIES & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH 202002 ANNEXURE – II COURSE/COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION/PRE-SUBMISSION/ SEMINAR COMPLETION CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Faisal Mohammad Rather, Department of West Asian Studies & North African Studies has satisfactorily completed the course work/comprehensive examination and pre-submission seminar requirement, which is part of his Ph.D programme. Date : ……………………… Signature of Chairman Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University DEPARTMENT OF WEST ASIAN STUDIES & NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH 202002 ANNEXURE – III COPYRIGHT TRANSFER CERTIFICATE Title of the Thesis : EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE GULF COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF SAUDI ARABIA Candidate’s Name : Faisal Mohammad Rather Copyright Transfer The undersigned hereby assigns to the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh copyright that may exist in and for the above thesis submitted for the award of the Ph.D. degree. Faisal Mohammad Rather Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University Acknowledgements I would like to record my sense of gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Nazim Ali, for his generous, inspiring guidance, extensive cooperation and consistent, encouragement which steered me through difficult stages. His extraordinary desire to see students flourish will always be a source of inspiration for me. I also express my deep sense of indebtedness to my teachers of the department particularly Prof. Fazal Mahmood (Chairman) Prof. Mohammad Azhar, Prof. Mohammad Gulrez, Prof. Shamir Hasan, Prof. Jawaid Iqbal, Prof. Ghulam Mursaleen, Dr. Rakshanda F. Fazili, Dr. Aziz ur Rahman and others for their invaluable suggestions and help in my research work. Generous help of the staff members of Seminar Library of Department of West Asian Studies, AMU, Maulana Azad Library, AMU, Aligarh, JNU Library, New Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia Library, in searching materials and providing comfortable environment for the research work is worth mentioning. Language has its own limits; hence my words will not be able to express the contribution of my family members particularly my Parents and brother. Their blessings and unconditional support gave me the strength to carry out my research work. I am also thankful to my seniors and friends Dr. Mujahid ul Islam, Dr. Mafooz Alam, my friends Mr. Atik Ur Rehman, Mohd. Alam, Mohd. Javed, Nassar Ahmad Shah, Farooque Alam, and Mubasshir Khan, Mohd. Ishaque Malik, for their timely help and encouragement. Faisal Mohammad Rather Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh Muslim University ii PREFACE In Saudi Arabia, the development of education along the lines of modernization revolutionized the national integration, cultural reformation and the collective identity formation process. This greatly broadened the cognitive frontiers of the people and curbed and neutralized all sorts of parochialism, segmentations, and social fragmentation. The efforts to develop human development through good education have been notably successful and Saudi citizens and others in the gulf countries, particularly in the GCC countries have achieved first class, modern social and economic infra-structures. In the educational sector the Gulf countries emphasized on expanding learning opportunities as well as increasing general literacy. Moreover, the educational structural advancement got a boost during the oil-boom years, which remains until today, and the educational programs initiated by the Gulf governments altered their economic foundations. A new stratum of the population, modernized and equipped with technical skills, in the Gulf countries is attributed to modern education. Oil revenues and the expanding modern educational base have created a new and diverse stratum of professionals, managers, administrators, adequately trained teachers, lawyers, army officers, pilots, skilled workers, electronics engineers and technicians, planners, corporate managers and system analysts. The new dynamics of education and the social change brought by it has changed the social structure of these countries as new roles and specialization has been introduced in the entire aspects of social life in the Gulf countries. It is against this backdrop that the present study attempts to examine the nature, scope and dimensions of education and social change in the gulf countries especially Saudi Arabia. The present study is divided in to six chapters and attempts to analyze the social change that has been brought by education in the gulf countries and Saudi Arabia. The first chapter is introductory and explanatory note on the study. The second chapter analyzes the conceptual framework on education and social change. The third chapter Maulanaanalyzes Azadthe history Library, of education in Aligarhthe gulf countries Muslim and Saudi ArabiaUniversity since its inception. The fourth chapter highlights and analyzes the socio-economic development through education and the fifth chapter focuses on the growth of education and women empowerment. The sixth chapter will include the concluding chapter comprising of the findings of the study. i Abstract In the contemporary post-modern world, economic and military might has overshadowed the cultural heritage. The Arabian Gulf countries fall in this category which is in possession of vast oil reserves and strong national defense and among the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia, which is “known for its oil reserves and its military might, it’s easy to forget that the country also has a very strong cultural fabric that binds its society. It has a rich history of literature, theatre and dance. Unfortunately, in our current times the chatter around Saudi Arabia remains restricted to its economy and the cultural aspects of its society remain largely ignored. Education and culture cannot be divorced from each other and education as a part of culture has the twin functions of conservation and modification or renewal of culture. It is the culture in which education germinates and flourishes and exerts a nourishing influence. Education is conceived as a systematic effort to maintain a culture. Prior to the discovery of oil the most prominent characteristic of this “conservation and modification or renewal of culture, or in other words the educational structure in the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, was its uninterrupted historical connection with the educational system of the Kuttub, a dominant source of producing knowledge in the Arabian Gulf countries. Before enrolling the child with Kuttub, his or her education began at home as soon as the child could speak and the father was bound with the duty of teaching it al-Kalimah or the word La Ilah Illa Allah (no God but Allah) and when six years old child was held responsible for the ritual prayer. It was then that his formal education began. Over a period of time, cities and townships were witnessing some twinges of transition, as far as the structure of education was concerned, for instance in 1925, the Directorate of Education was established [in the modern day Saudi Arabia and] was followed a year later by the Basic Instructions that laid the foundation for a Maulanacentralized Azad national Library,system of government. Aligarh However, Muslim a rapid transition University began to be witnessed in this conservative educational system of the Kuttub after the discovery of oil. Nevertheless, with the dawn of the twentieth century, the conventional education system in the Gulf started to breakup. The disintegration process in Saudi Arabia 1 unlike elsewhere in the Gulf witnessed a slow pace given the religious character of its

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