Further reading: Nizam al-Din Awliya,
Morals for the
Heart. Recorded by Amir Hasan Sijzi and translated
by Bruce Lawrence (New York: Paulist Press, 1992);
Muneera Haeri, The Chishtis: A Living Light (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2000); Khaliq A. Nizami, The
Life and Times of Shaikh Nizam ud-Din Auliya (Delhi:
Idarah-i Adabyat-i Delli, 1991).
Nizari
See i
smaili
s
hiism
.
nomad
See b
edouin
.
Nowruz
See n
avruz
.
Nusayri
See a
lawi
.
Nusayri
531 J
532
AF
J:
oil
When the first oil well was drilled in 1859 in
Titusville, Pennsylvania, oil, which is also called
petroleum, was used primarily for illumination.
The single most significant incentive to develop
the oil industry was the arrival of the motorcar,
run on gasoline, at the turn of the 20th cen-
tury. Today, oil is used in producing a variety
of products besides gasoline, including asphalt,
explosives, fertilizers, jet fuel, medicines, paints,
plastics, rubbers, waxes, and others. Because it is
a resource that is in high demand throughout the
world, oil plays a significant role in international
economics and politics.
The U
nited
s
tates
is the largest consumer of
oil, accounting for 25 percent of world oil con-
sumption in 2007. c
hina
is a distant second, at
about 8 percent, and Japan third, at 6.5 percent. As
of 2004, 57 percent of total proven oil reserves are
located in countries bordering the Persian Gulf,
with about one-fourth of the world’s proven oil
reserves in s
aUdi
a
rabia
alone. i
raq
, i
ran
, Kuwait,
and the United Arab Emirates are the countries
with the second, third, fifth, and sixth largest
proven oil reserves, respectively. Other countries
with high proven oil reserves include l
ibya
and
Nigeria, which are the ninth and 10th largest.
At first, the oil resources of countries with
Muslim majority populations were under direct
or indirect outside control; for example, Iraq
and Kuwait were under British colonial control,
and Iran was under British and Russian influ-
ence. Saudi Arabia, while an independent king-
dom, conceded development and control of its
oil resources to American petroleum companies.
Therefore, oil resources in such countries were
directly controlled by a number of foreign com-
panies. In exchange for these concessions over
control of their oil production, the host countries
received a percentage of the revenue generated.
Initial attempts to seize control by the host coun-
tries were met with failure—in 1951 Muhammad
Musaddiq (d. 1967), the prime minister of Iran,
nationalized the British-owned oil company in
charge of Iran’s oil, but in 1953 a coup instigated
by the United States ousted Musaddiq and put a
pro-U.S. leader, m
Uhammad
r
eza
p
ahlavi
, back
into power. He quickly offered oil concessions
to the West. However, with the formation of the
o
rganization
oF
p
etroleUm
e
Xporting
c
oUntries
(OPEC) in 1960 and the widespread nationaliza-
tion of domestic oil resources in the 1970s, oil-
producing countries gained control over their oil
production and price setting.
O
After the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the main oil-
producing states found themselves with revenues
vast enough to assure them a clear position of
influence throughout the Muslim world. Saudi
Arabia, in particular, found itself in a position to
export its conservative Wahhabi form of Islam
through international development and charity
projects, supporting international Islamic asso-
ciations, and even distributing Wahhabi texts in
mosques and madrasas throughout the world.
Oil also provides an incentive for immigration to
oil-producing countries, particularly in the Gulf,
where annually millions of foreigners from all
over the world go to work in the oil industry and
remit money back to their home countries.
Oftentimes foreign policies from within and
without oil-producing countries are heavily influ-
enced or dictated by the need for cheap oil. In
1996, for example, the t
aliban
came to power
in a
Fghanistan
, and were at first supported by
the United States, in part because a huge pipeline
project was at the time under negotiation between
the Taliban and UNOCAL, a major American oil
company.
Oil was also a crucial factor in the two g
UlF
W
ars
between the United States and Iraq. In
August 1990 Saddam h
Usayn
(r. 1979–2003),
the Iraqi president, ordered the invasion of
Kuwait largely because of concerns that Kuwait
was undermining oil prices. In January 1991 the
United States led a coalition to drive Iraq out
of Kuwait, a decision heavily influenced by the
concern of the administration of George H. W.
Bush that Saddam Hussein would seize control
of Saudi oilfields. Further, in March 2003, the
administration of George W. Bush also invaded
Iraq. One of the primary reasons for this deci-
sion was the belief that, by seizing control of
the country with the second largest proven oil
reserves, the United States could weaken Saudi
Arabia’s leverage over oil pricing and exercise
greater control over access to the world’s major
petroleum resources. Further, the Bush adminis-
tration sought to ensure U.S. energy security and
protect American consumers from the prospect of
rising oil prices.
Historically, oil prices have widely fluctuated.
Two major oil crises, the first engendered by the
1973 OPEC oil embargo and the second by the
i
ranian
r
evolUtion
oF
1978–79, drove oil prices
up sufficiently high to damage Western economies.
As of 2006 oil prices reached record highs at $75
per barrel, largely caused by demand for motor
fuel in the United States, damage caused by Hurri-
cane Katrina to American oilfields, rebel attacks in
Nigeria that damaged the country’s oil output, the
virtual collapse of Iraq’s oil industry following the
American invasion, fears of a U.S. strike on Iran,
and increasing demand by rapidly industrializing
countries. In 2008, oil prices exceeded $150 per
barrel, then began a rapid decline.
See also a
rab
-i
sraeli
conFlicts
; g
UlF
s
tates
;
i
slamism
;
madrasa
; W
ahhabism
.
Joshua Hoffman
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