Why don’t we call him Hussein? I can’t see that it’s an Arabic thing, as we have (Muhamar) Khadafi, (Yasir) Arafat, etc.
I would say it reflects an understandable lack of respect. It also avoids confusion with King Hussein of Jordan.
The thread Why is Saddam Hussein often called just “Saddam”? contains a lively discussion of this very topic.
An short excerpt to whet the appetite:
My understanding (from coverage of the first gulf war) is that he is always called Saddam – by his people, and by his fellow middle-eastern despots.
Here, Muslim people seem to be called by their first (I just typed “Christian” but amended it!) rather than their family names.
So Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum gets called “Sheikh Mohammed” and even just “Mohammed” but NEVER “Maktoum”. This habit extends to westerners, I am continually called “Miss Istara” rather than “Miss Surname”.
The only western comparison I can make is the UK royal family. Charles Mountbatten/Windsor is always “Prince Charles” or “Charles”, he is never “Prince Windsor” or “Mr Mountbatten”. In this region, this custom appears to informally extend beyond the royal classes eg in conversation, though a bank will still write to you as “Mr Surname”.
**at one organisation, they insisted on an associate of mine giving his full name. They refused to accept his name, “Barry Bobby Brown.” Instead, they insisted on his middle name being his father’s name: “Barry Larry Brown” (those aren’t his actualy names!) They obviously wanted it to match Forename bin Fathername bin Surname.
Also interesting to note there that the father name is the forename, not the family name, although it’s that as well if that makes sense. ie the first name of the father is given greater importance here, nearly as important as the family name, whereas in most western countries no one knows or cares what your parents’ forenames are.
Just to bump this - the BBC has just been asked this very question.
Here’s what they had to say:
Because he wants to be the **Madonna ** of the Middle East! 