Abstract
This chapter discusses the 1979 siege of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. The chapter is organized as follows. The first section examines the history of Juhayman's movement, “The Salafi Group that commands virtue and combats sin,” from its creation as a semi-official body in 1965 to the first signs of secession between its political wing, headed by Juhayman, and a pietistic minority. The second section details the open confrontation of Juhayman's followers with the Saudi authorities and the ensuing crackdown in 1976–1978. These efforts to repress the movement appear to have further radicalized it, since its violent millenarianism can be traced from that point. The third section analyzes the group's strategy and exposes why insurgents sought to occupy the Grand Mosque. The fourth section analyzes the counterinsurgency operations, which spanned two weeks from November 20 to December 4, 1979. Finally, the chapter details the ways in which the insurgency revealed the weaknesses of a government whose military and media strategies decisively failed.