ALTHUBAITI HAYTHAM

Ph.D. Anthropology

Haytham

Research Interest: Islam, Markets, and Sacred Labor: The al-Zamazimah and the Economization of Value in Saudi Arabia

Haytham Althubaiti is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore (NUS), and a Lecturer at the Department of Global Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). His research explores the intersections of religion, economy, and labor in contemporary Saudi Arabia, focusing on how sacred professions – particularly the al-Zamazimah – have been reconfigured through processes of bureaucratization and market rationalization. He holds a B.A. in Sociology from Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and an M.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. His broader interests include business anthropology, the anthropology of Islam, ritual practices, and cultural identity in the Middle East.


Publications:

  • Althubaiti, H. (2025). Saudi Women Writers Sociopolitical and Literary Landscapes: by Basma A. Al Mutlaq, Routledge, 2025, 180 pp., £145 (Hardback), ISPN: 9781032887821, United Kingdom. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2025.2556560
  • Althubaiti, H. (2025). Charity in Saudi Arabia: civil society under authoritarianism: by Nora Derbal, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022, 336 pp., $120 (hardcover), ISBN: 978-1316513477. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2025.2497163
  • Althubaiti, H. (2024, December 7). The Transformation of a Religious Object into a Commodity in Islamic Society: Ethnographic Insights in the Digital Age. Paper presented at the 25th Annual Conference of the Hong Kong Sociological Association, Hong Kong Shue Yan University.
  • Al Yousef, A., & Althubaiti, H. (2024). Advancements and challenges forensic odontology and anthropology: Applications for identification in Saudi Arabia. International Journal for Scientific Research, 3(5), 46–69. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59992/ijsr.2024.v3n5p2
  • Althubaiti, H., & Spencer-Blume, A. (2024). In Conversation with Dr Hiro Saito: Exploring Mindfulness, Sociological Inquiry, and the Future of Education. New Sociological Perspectives, 4(1).
  • Althubaiti, H. (2024). Women Business Leaders: Identity, Resistance, and Alternative Forms of Knowledge in Saudi Arabia by Liela A. Jamjoom. 2023. New York & Abingdon: Routledge. Journal of Business Anthropology, 13(1), 54-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22439/jba.v13i1.7149
  • Althubaiti, H., & Al Yousef, A. S. A. (2024). Exploring the Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Issues, 2(1), 12-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56705/ijaimi.v2i1.135
  • Althubaiti, H. (2024). Review of Fischer, Johan and Jammes, Jérémy (Eds.). Muslim Piety As Economy: Markets, Meaning and Morality in Southeast Asia. International Journal of Management and Business Economics, 2(3), 44–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58540/ijmebe.v2i3.523
  • Althubaiti, H. (2024). Sociology of Everyday Life: The Masjid’s Role in Muslims Lives – Applying Garfinkel’s Ethnomethodology. International Journal for Scientific Research, 3(4), 255-267. DOI: https://doi.org/10.59992/IJSR.2024.v3n4p7
  • Althubaiti, H. (2022). Muslim Women’s Pilgrimage to Mecca and Beyond: Reconfiguring Gender, Religion, and Mobility: MARJO, BUITELAAR, MANJA, STEPHAN-EMMRICH, and VIOLA, THIMM (eds), (London: Routledge, 2021), 223 pages; £29.59 paperback, £104.00 hardback. Journal of Arabian Studies, 12(2), 296–297. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2023.2184937

Previous Degrees:
Bachelor degree in Sociology at AL-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia.
Master’s degree in Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Virginia, United States.

Contact Info
Email ID:  haytham@u.nus.edu