Arab Confederation (World of Sultans)

The Confederation of Arab Emirates (Arabic: اتحاد الامارات العربية), also known as the Arab Confederation (Arabic: الاتحاد العربي) in short, is a country located in the southwestern

Arabian Peninsula. The country consists of five emirates, equivalent to "principalities" and each is ruled by an Arab "emir". The Arab Federal Supreme Council is the nation's legislative body, one emir from each kingdom is chosen to be the president of the Arab Confederation, and a prince is chosen to be the prime minister.

History
The Arab Confederation was found mainly by Al-Waleed bin Talal, a Saudi prince who wanted to transform the desert and empty regions of the Arabian Peninsula into thriving communities. Additionally, he recieved support from a number of other countries, particularily that of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Jordan also sent workers to scout the land and begin land preparations.

The Saudi government sold the city of Taif to Al-Waleed bin Talal, for a cheap price of $40,000,000. By his wife, Ameera al-Taweel's interest, Al-Waleed bin Talal hired workers from Somalia and Sudan, to help work in the land for a pay which proved to become beneficial. The couple eventually help set up communities for these families, which formed the basis of the Emirates of Saba and Jizan.

Eventually, bin Talal hired more foreign workers, especially Pakistani, Indian, Filipino and Saudi workers to help build Taif. Once Taif was complete, bin Talal found the Emirate of Taif, which was recognized by the United Nations as an independant nation in the Middle East.

During the Yemeni Revolution, the inhabitants of Sa'da declared their independance and formed the de facto Emirate of Sa'ada, and became ruled by a Shiite family under the leadership of Nabil al-Abdullah ibn Yahya. Later, Yahya met with bin Talal and the two emirates merged into the Emirate of Taif and Sa'ada. The militants who fought in Sa'ada would form the basis of the Arab Confederation National Army.

Militants west of the city of Aden eventually declared independance as well, forming the Emirate of West Aden, independant from the one controlled by Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Saba and Jizan remained exclave cities under Al-Waleed bin Talal's control. Eventually, Saadia ibn Nasiruddin Abdullahi, an Afro-Arab from Sudan assumed control of Saba, the community of Sudanese and Somali workers. He took control of the city, and establishing the Emirate of Saba, exerting his control and splitting up the communities to find other cities to establish. They found and established two other cities, Abu Raza and Kamilullah. Eventually, the establishment of emirates in the Middle East led to the confusion of international recognition.

Abdullahi eventually annexed Jizan, filled sprawling with migrants from Sudan as part of his domain. He placed his cousin, Malik Mukhtar in charge of Jizan's community. Al-

Waleed bin Talal had eventually found out about Saba and Jizan's growing communities. Eventually, Mukhtar established the Emirate of Jizan.

On the Islamic New Year, the emirs all met in Taif and announced they would unite and form the Arab Confederation. However, West Aden did not join until a month later.

Demographics
About 95% of all West Arabians are Muslims. Of those Muslims, about 70% are Sunni Muslims and 29% are Shiites which are those from the southern parts near Yemen as well as Syrian expatriot communities in West Aden who are refugees from the Syrian Civil War. The other 1% are Ahmadiyyahs, whicha are mostly Indian and Indonesian expatriots living in Taif. The other 5% are Christians, which are mostly Filipino, Ethiopian and Chinese.

The Arab Confederation consists of emirates, based primarily on certain Arab tribes. About 90% of people of West Arabia are Arab, 5% Somalis and 5% foreign ethnicities.

Most of the Arab Confederation's natives are Hejazi Arabs from the Banu Hijaz which inhabit the Emirate of Taif. Those of West Aden and Sa'da are mostly of South Arabian and Yemenite descent.

The Emirate of Saba and Emirate of Jizan are both primarily inhabited by Afro-Arabs, who reached the region via the Horn of Africa. The Emirate of Saba is ruled by Rashiada and the Ja'alin tribes. The Emirate of Jizan contains a a large Somali community. Taif, the country's capital also includes communities of Filipino, Chinese, Ethiopian, Indonesian

and Indian expatriots. Taif has a popular Chinatown, Manilatown and Little Jakarta which are ethnic enclaves within the city. The Ethiopians also have a community, known as Little Ethiopia.

Taif also contains a Lebanese community, of 10,000.

Language
Arabic is the national language and lone state official language of the Arab Confederation. Arabic studies are all mandatory, and Classical Arabic studies are also mandatory.

Most people speak Arabic as a native language. Other languages spoken are Somali, Indonesian, Amharic, Chinese, Hebrew and Tagalog. Somali is the secod most-spoken language in the Arab Confederation, with about 500,031 speakers in the city of Abu Raza in the Saba Emirate and about 30,000 speakers in Taif's Little Warsangali community.

Al-Waleed bin Talal has allowed for the establishmentof Somali-speaking schools, but they must promote Arabic studies as any Arab school would in the country.

Hebrew is spoken by the Jews of West Aden, however they speak the ancient dialect known as Yemenite Hebrew and bares large-scale differences from Modern Hebrew. Aviv ben Aaron, an Israeli linguist visited the Jews of West Aden and reported having trouble with the communication but understood and communicated well.

Mandarin, Indonesian and Tagalog are spoken by expatriot foreign communities in Taif. Al-Waleed bin Talal also allowed the establishment of Indonesian-speaking schools, but they too, must also promote Arabic as a mandatory lesson, and have certain classes instructed in no other language other than Arabic.

Religious Laws
Islam is the official established state religion of the Arab Confederation. Under the Confederation's constitution, only Sunnis and Shiites are considered legal Muslim citizens. Ahmadis are considered of a foreign faith, along with those of Christianity. Howver, outside of Taif's religious rulings, each independant emirate chooses how strict to enforce them.

Followers of other Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity, Judaism and Ahmadiyyah and Bahai Faith may become legal citizens but must register with the Royal Court as non-Muslim and pay the jizyah tax and are known as "dhimmis". People who follow Judaism are subject to contrevoursy. About 30,000 Yemenite Jews live in West Aden.

As for religious education, all public schools can only promote Islam. For schools operated by non-Muslims, religion may only be practiced outside. Churches and Jewish temples are allowed to be built in the Arab Confederation, but they must not be within close proximity of a Muslim, cannot be built using public funds and again, involved heavy taxes.

Although hijabs, burqas and niqabs are not mandatory in the Arab Confederation. However, over-exposure bodies is illegal. Ameera al-Taweel was given the power to make the official ruling regarding hijabs.

She said, "Although as a Muslim, of course we must show piety. It is up to the person to wear hijabs, burqas and niqabs."

This ruling was enforced in 2013, when the Filipino School in Manilatown was shut down for a week due to the presence of crucifixes and Ten Commandments. Also, the little chapels and church rooms in the school were shut down, and converted to mosques to accomadate for the few Filipino Muslims living among the predominant Catholic Filipino community. The police of the Arab Confederation sweeped the building, taking out all bibles and other Christian symbols.

Trinidad Vera, the school's president was warned and given a fine worth $40,000,000 and all of the school's students were given alternate education in Taif's schools for the meantime.

Ameera al-Taweel, the "emira", queen consort of Taif released the final statement on that. She said, "It is not that I or my husband hate Filipinos. Our job is not to hate,

remember we are all Allah's people and must show each other love and compassion. I talked to Trinidad personally, calmly issued him the warning. I'm giving him a full year to pay the fine. But look, Islam is the law of our Nation. We simply cannot allow idols to be present in our schools and education systems, whether they be Arab schools or Indonesian, Filipino or Chinese schools. This is a Muslim nation, and an Arab nation."

Atheists, Buddhists and Hindus deemed "kafirs" may not live in the Arab Confederation, and may only come visitors, tourists or temporary foreign workers.

Also, pork is illegal in the Arab Confederation, and anybody involved in the illegal underground sales of pork or swine meat may face legal punishment. Alcohol however, is allowed but a heavy tax is applied and alcohol may not be sold to Muslims.