Saudis in Buraidah seeking entertainment have more options now, like this date farm were they can have an outdoor picnic for an entrance fee. In Buraidah, change has been much more nuanced than in the bigger cities of Riyadh and Jeddah.
Photographer: Tasneem Alsultan/Bloomberg
Even Saudi Arabia’s Most Conservative Heartland Is Opening Up
Change is inching forward even in Qassim province, an important testing ground for Mohammed bin Salman’s drive to liberalize the kingdom.
The taxi driver’s question was barely audible. Prodded to repeat it a few times, he mustered enough courage to raise his voice and ask if he could play music.
He sought permission because he was driving in Buraidah, the capital of Saudi Arabia’s conservative heartland, where music is widely frowned upon as un-Islamic. That he dared to do so is a sign of the subtle liberalization taking root in Qassim province, a bastion of Islamic orthodoxy, years after the big cities of Riyadh and Jeddah embraced change.