Qatif: Difference between revisions

| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]

| subdivision_name = [[Saudi Arabia]]{{KSA}}

| utc_offset = +03:00

| timezone = [[UTC+303:00#Arabia GMTStandard Time|AST]]

'''Qatif''' or '''Al-Qatif''' ({{lang-langx|ar|ٱلْقَطِيف}} ''Al-Qaṭīf'') is a [[Governorateslist of governorates of Saudi Arabia|governorate]] and [[urban area]] located in [[Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia|Eastern Province]], [[Saudi Arabia]]. It extends from [[Ras Tanura]] and [[Jubail]] in the north to [[Dammam]] in the south, and from the [[Persian Gulf]] in the east to [[King Fahd International Airport]] in the west. This region has its own municipality and includes the Qatif downtown, [[Safwa City|Safwa]], [[Saihat]], [[Tarout Island]], and many other smaller cities and towns.

Qatif is one of the oldest settlements in [[Eastern Arabia]],; its history goinggoes back to 3500 BC, more than 50005,000 years ago, and was part of the [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrain Region]] which was called Dilmun at that time and the Sumerians knew it as the land of Paradiseparadise, immortality, and life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crawford |first=Harriet E. W. |author-link=Harriet Crawford |date=1998 |title=Dilmun and Its Gulf Neighbours |page=9 |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-52158-679-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rice |first=Michael |date=1991 |title=Egypt's Making: The Origins of Ancient Egypt 5000–2000 BC |location=London, UK |publisher=Routledge |page=229 |isbn=978-0-41506-454-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.com/2010/12/09/ancient_dilmun_garden_eden_gulf_lost_civilisation/ |title=Lost ancient civilisation's ruins lie beneath Gulf, says boffin |first=Lewis |last=Page |date=December 9, 2010 |website=[[The Register]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107022714/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/09/ancient_dilmun_garden_eden_gulf_lost_civilisation/ |archive-date=November 7, 2017}}</ref> Before the discovery of oil, Qatifi people used to work as merchants, farmers, and fishermen. However, Sincewith the development of the oil fields in the late 1940s, Qatif has lost its status as an important port to Ad-Dammam, and fromsince the 1990s theyhas tendfocused to work inon the oil industry, public services, education, and healthcare sectors.<ref name="the-saudi.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.the-saudi.net/saudi-arabia/qatif/Qatif%20City%20-%20Saudi%20Arabia.htm |title=Qatif City Profile |date=2019 |website=The Saudi Network}}</ref>

Several travelers visited the city, the most two famous of them werefamously [[Abulfeda]] (1273–1331), who described it: "Al-Qatif: a town next to Al-Ahsa, of a beautiful nature, whose people are well-groomed, and it is on the Arab side of the Persian Sea coast.,"<ref name=":0"/> Andas well as [[Ibn Battuta]] (1304–1369): "Then we traveled to the city of Al-Qatif, its name is derived from fruit picking, which is an oasis of water and a large city with many palm trees inhabited by sects of Shiite Arabs."<ref>{{cite book |url=http://islamport.com/w/bld/Web/455/133.htm |last=Battuta |first=Ibn |authorlink=Ibn Battuta |date=2017-08-08 |title=Ibn Battuta's Journey |language=ar |location= |publisher=Al-Maktaba Al-Asriyya for printing and publishing |page= |isbn= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193820/http://islamport.com/w/bld/Web/455/133.htm |archive-date=2017-08-08}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Al-Ramis |first=Salman |date=2004 |title=Qatif, a study in ancient history |url= |location= |publisher=Al-hazen library |page= |isbn=}}</ref>

Its survival in the midst of [[desert]] surroundings is due not only to its being a coastal city but to the fact that Qatif is a green oasis with rich agricultural soil. Qatif itself is surrounded by a jungle of [[Arecaceae|palm trees]]. Springs are abundant in the Oasisoasis of Qatif. On the East, there lies the [[Persian Gulf]]. Its warm and calm waters are rich in marine life; fishes, shrimps, and pearls. Also, some springs are found in the midst of its waters. On the west lies, Al-Dahna Desert with its golden sands intermingled with little rocky heights. There are many landmarks in Qatif such as the old city of the Qala'a and Awamiya, [[Tarout Castle]], Darin castle which was built to repel the attacks of the [[Siege of Bahrain|Portuguese campaign on Bahrain]] in the 15th century, and traditional markets such as the Khamis market; In addition to statues, which were transferred to the National Museum in [[Riyadh]] to be preserved.<ref name="the-saudi.net"/>

The historic oasis area shows its first archaeological evidence of settlement beginning about 3500 BC. It was known by other names, such as [[Al-Khutt|Al-Khatt]] ({{lang|ar|الخَطّ}}), immortalized in the poetry of [[Antarah ibn Shaddad]], [[Tarafa ibn Al-`Abd]], [[BasharBashshar ibn Burd]] (in his famous Ba'yya), and others. The word "Khatty" became the preferred "[[kenning]]" for "spear" in traditional poetic writing until the dawn of the modern era, supposedly because the region was famous for spear making, just as "muhannad" ("of [[India]]") was the preferred kenning for "sword". The older name also survives as the eponym of several well-known local families ("Al-Khatti", spelled variously in English).{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

=== Portuguese and Ottomans ===

In 1515 the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] conquered Hormuz and sacked Qatif in 1520, killing the Jabrid ruler [[Muqrin ibn Zamil]].<ref name="Facey" /> The Portuguese invaded the island of [[History of Bahrain#Bahrain as a Portuguese dominion|Bahrain]] and stayed there for the next eighty years. The ruler of Basra extended his power to Qatif in 1524 but ultimately in 1549 the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] took over, though they could not expel the Portuguese from the island of Bahrain.<ref name="Facey" /> In 1551 Thethe Portuguese conquered Qatif maintaining domain of the gulf allied with the Pasha of Basra.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zoTsorEN_yEC&q=qatif+pasha&pg=PA10 |last=Slot |first=B. J. |date=1991 |title=The Origins of Kuwait |page=10 |location=Leiden |publisher=E.J. Brill |isbn=9004094091}}</ref>

=== Modern political history ===

{{main|1979 Qatif Uprisingconflict}}

Approximately 60,000 Shias (estimate of 1969) live in the oasis town of Qatif, which is about {{convert|40|mi|km|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}} from the main Saudi refinery and the export terminal of [[Ras Tanura]]. The Shias have participated in all the [[1979 Qatif Uprising|strikes and other political demonstrations]] that have taken place in the kingdom. The most significant were the 1979 strikes when the Saudi armed forces were called in. The Shias in Saudi Arabia were very receptive to [[Khomeini]] and demonstrated against the Saudi royal family on the hitherto novel grounds that Islam and hereditary kingship are not compatible. When American jets landed in [[Dhahran]] Air Base for manoeuvres, citizens of Qatif organized a big demonstration. The demonstrators spent the evening of 11 November 1979 shouting slogans against the royal family and the Americans. The Saudi government responded by imposing a curfew on all the towns in the Qatif area, sealing off the area with tanks and armoured vehicles. A bloody showdown between the armed forces and the Shiites continued until 30 November 1979, in which thousands were arrested, hundreds injured and 24 killed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nehme |first=Michel G. |title=Saudi Arabia 1950-80: Between Nationalism and Religion |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |date=October 1994 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=930–943 |jstor=4283682 |doi=10.1080/00263209408701030}}</ref>

As of 20092022, the total population of Qatif was 474552,573442.<ref name="cdsi.gov.sa"/> Qatif has one of the lowest numbers of non-Saudi residents in the kingdom (only 59114,808173).<ref>{{CitationCite web needed|datetitle=Novemberبوابة 2009الهيئة |url=https://portal.saudicensus.sa/portal/public/1/15/101460?type=TABLE |website=تعداد السعودية 2022}}'</ref>

At the beginning of each [[Hijri year]], Qatif is draped with black, red and green banners and flags over houses, alleys and roads, which is intended to announce the state of mourning and the start of the [[Ashura|Ashura season]] from the beginning of the month of Muharram until the end of the month of [[Safar]] in commemoration of the days of Ashura in which [[Husayn ibn Ali|Hussein bin Ali]], grandson of [[Muhammad]] was killed in the [[Battle of Karbala]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://juhaina.ddns.net/index.php?act=artc&id=36154 |title=بالصور.. المواكب الحسينية تحيي ليلة 13 محرم بالعزاء والعروض التمثيلية |trans-title=In pictures.. Hussainiya processions celebrate the night of Muharram 13 with condolences and performances |language=ar |date=2020-03-21 |website=Juhayna News |access-date=2021-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321163517/https://web.archive.org/web/20170706090224/http://juhaina.ddns.net/index.php?act=artc&id=36154 |archive-date=2020-03-21}}</ref> These days have a special importance for the majority of the Qatif community, in which shops are closed and no marriagemarriages takestake place, and any sign of joy is abolished, and black or dark colors are worn.<ref name=":1" /> These days are accompanied by Hussaini [[Majlis]]es which are religious or scientific lectures delivered by clerics in [[Hussainiya|Husseiniyas]] or [[mosque]]s. And the practice of Husseini rites. During the 10 days, Smallsmall [[kiosk]]s are erected by volunteers in the squares and streets to provide free food, sweets and beverages to the audience and passers-by. [[Mahmous]], a local black colored dish is widely offered during Ashura to indicate a climate of grief.

Qatifi people are likely to work in the oil industry (Saudi Aramco, [[Schlumberger]], [[Halliburton]] and [[Baker Hughes]]). Some of the employees have moved to [[Dhahran]], where these companies are located, but the majority still reside in Qatif and go to Dhahran by cars or Saudi Aramco buses in about 50 minutes' journey. Others work in Aramco refineries in Ras Tanura. and others work in the petrochemical companies in Jubail (80&nbsp;km from Qatif), some go everydayevery day and some have moved to Jubail. [[SABIC]] is the largest employer in Qatif, However, some Qatifi are also working in other oil, petrochemical, and engineering companies located in Dhahran, Khobar, Dammam, Ras Tanura, or Jubail. Some of Qatifi people work in public services, health care and education.

On 8 March 2020 Qatif was put into lockdown by Saudi Arabia until 29 April 2020 because of cases of [[Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/covid-19/411258/coronavirus-italy-death-toll-soars-amid-travel-ban |title=Coronavirus: Italy death toll soars amid travel ban |date=2020-03-09 |website=[[RNZ]] |language=en-nz |access-date=2020-03-08}}</ref>

It is also close to the causeway[[King Fahd Causeway]] that connects the kingdom with the nation of [[Bahrain]] (about {{convert|35|mi|km|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}}).

* [http://www.qatifoasis.com Qatif Oasis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705173722/http://www.qatifoasis.com/ |date=5 July 2014 }} {{in lang|ar}}