A Modest Farewell For Saudi Monarch

The modern Saudi state, which has the world's largest oil reserves, is the successor to an alliance forged in the 18th century between Mohammed bin Saud, a tribal leader, and Mohammed bin Abdul-Wahhab, a religious reformer who was bent on purging Islam of what he saw as heresies, profane innovations and folklore that adulterated God's message. The alliance still underpins the family's rule, endowing the monarchy with religious legitimacy.

With oil wealth that poured in during the 1970s and '80s, Saudi Arabia spread its conservative brand of Islam throughout the Muslim world. Inside the country, religious rhetoric still defines politics: Violence that has plagued the country since 2003 is often denounced as illegitimate under Islam.

That terrain will prove perhaps the most difficult for Abdullah to navigate as king. Popular inside the kingdom and viewed by many as a nationalist free of the corruption that blights some of his brothers, Abdullah is already encountering high expectations for change in a country that sits uneasily between old and new. Within his conservative family, he is seen as having at least the impulse of a reformer. Frustrated so far by relatives less inclined toward change, he will face fewer restraints as king. But some question whether he has the energy -- he is at least 80 -- or the institutions to liberalize the kingdom.

At each turn, analysts say, he will encounter a conservative religious establishment that is uneasy with the Saudi alliance with the United States and skeptical of reforms viewed as dictated by the West. For now, Abdullah, who has long cultivated a devout, even ascetic image, has better standing among that establishment than some of his brothers. But he also faces unrest stirred by Islamic radicals who have aligned themselves with Osama bin Laden, a Saudi native. If he intensifies efforts to rein in the radicals, analysts say, he could alienate elements of the religious establishment who may denounce the militants' turn to violence but not necessarily their ideas.

"The conservative backlash and the relations with the United States are the two main challenges for him -- how to deal with these competing or opposing forces nowadays" Abu Hamad said.

Those challenges still lay ahead Tuesday, as the country marked Fahd's funeral in the style of the country's founding. Unlike many Muslim states, Saudi Arabia did not declare a mourning period. Saudi flags, emblazoned with the creed "There is no god but God," flew at full staff. Businesses opened Tuesday, and by nightfall, traffic was snarled along Riyadh's main boulevards.

"There's grief, but it's not great," said Mahmoud Rabia, an 18-year-old student. "It's present in our hearts, but that's all."

At the cemetery, a gaggle of people crowded along one wall, climbing atop a container to peer inside before police dispersed them.

"This is the way a Muslim is supposed to be buried," said Mohammed Othman, a 27-year-old shopkeeper, standing across the street that takes its name from the cemetery. "In death, there's no difference between Muslims, no difference at all."

Eissa Salman, wearing the uniform of a security guard, walked down the street, past Othman's shop. He peered at the cemetery as a setting sun cast a soft light. Other kings, brothers of Fahd, were buried there, too.

"Death is the command of God for all people who live on Earth," Salman said. "No one lives forever." He shook his head and uttered the words that customarily greet death in the Arab world. "God have mercy on him," he said.