Bangladesh-Saudi Arabia relations

Bangladesh	Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh–Saudi Arabia relations are the diplomatic and bilateral relations betweenBangladesh andSaudi Arabia. Relations between the two nations had a strained beginning but have grown strong since then. Being aMuslim-majority state, Bangladesh attaches a special importance to its ties with Saudi Arabia, which is the birthplace ofIslam. Both nations are members of theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Saudi Arabia hosts a large proportion of the globalBangladeshi diaspora.^[1][2][3]

TheSultan of Bengal,Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, sponsored the construction ofmadrasas in theHejaz.^[4] The schools became known asBangaliyyah madrasas.Taqi al-Din al-Fasi, a contemporary Arab scholar, was a teacher at the madrasa inMakkah. A madrasa inMadinah was built at a place called Husn al-Atiq near theProphet's Mosque.^[5] Several other Bengali Sultans also sponsored madrasas in the Hejaz, including SultanJalaluddin Muhammad Shah, who had close relations with theSharif of Makkah and would gift him and other residents of the two holy cities with presents and robes of honours.^[6]

The introduction ofIslam to the Bengali people has generated a connection toSaudi Arabia, as Muslims of means are required to visit the land once in their lifetime to complete theHajj pilgrimage. Some Bengalis even settled in present-day Saudi Arabia and an early example is that ofHaji Shariatullah's teacherMawlana Murad, who was permanently residing in the city ofMecca in the early 1800s.^[7]

United States diplomatKissinger sent letters toKing Faisal, encouraging its participation in theBangladesh Liberation War.F-86 aircraft were sent from Saudi Arabia to help camouflage the extent ofPAF aircraft losses and perhaps as a potential training unit to prepare Pakistani pilots for an influx of more F-5s from Saudi Arabia.^[8]

Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh formally established diplomatic relations in 1975–76, after theAssassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by mutinous officers in Bangladesh Army. The military regimes ofZiaur Rahman andHussain Muhammad Ershad took steps to forge strong commercial and cultural ties with Saudi Arabia. Since the late 1980s, many both skilled and unskilled Bangladeshi workers have moved to Saudi Arabia; the number of Bangladeshis living in Saudi Arabia today exceeds 2.5 million. Many Muslim religious students and clerics also regularly travel to Saudi Arabia for study and religious work. As one of the most populous Muslim countries, Bangladesh is a major source of Hajj pilgrims. Saudi Arabia has become a major source of financing and economic aid to Bangladesh.^[9] In August 2014, Saudi Arabia banned Bangladeshi women from marrying Saudi nationals.^[10][11]

• Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia
• Foreign relations of Bangladesh
• Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia

• Bangladesh–Saudi Arabia relations
• Bilateral relations of Bangladesh
• Bilateral relations of Saudi Arabia

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata