There’s a very interesting story sourced from AFP that has popped up on the Breitbart website. The article, published yesterday, (24/10/2017) concerns statements by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Saudi Arabia is going to face down the extremists and institute reform in what has become one of the world’s most wealthy but socially backward Islamic nations.
Mohamed Bin Salman does have somewhat of a minor record for encouraging change even though change happens glacially in the kingdom. He is believed to be the mover and shaker behind the recent decision by the Saudi government to allow women to drive and he could move the Saudi kingdom out of the dark ages and bring it some way towards the 19th century if not the 21st century. It will be interesting to see if the overturning of the ban on Saudi women driving goes ahead without much problem or violent resistance and also what side the Saudi law and order authorities come down on? If women can drive in future with no problems and the Islamic crazies are jumped upon, then this might indicate that the Crown Prince is serious about change. If, on the other hand, the Saudi government panics and cleaves as closely to the Islamic crazies as they have done in the past, then reform will be unlikely to succeed. If an act of reform as minor as women driving cannot be easily implemented, then it is unlikely that the Saudi Royal Family or the Saudi Government will be able to steer their Islamic clerics away from the theological fascism of Wahhabism. If small things cannot be changed, then there is little chance of confronting the more serious problems within Saudi Islam.
As I’ve heard Islamic national and religious leaders lie so often about the nature of Islam and the content of Islamic theology, I must admit I am more than a little cynical about the statement by the Crown Prince. He might be serious about reform and determined to bring it about, or he might be shovelling the most enormous load of bullshit towards western audiences in a form of taqiyya. At the present time I would not bet my house on this being an honest and determined attempt to reform, it may well be wiser to reserve judgement and see what happens.
Breibart quoting AFP said:
Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday vowed to restore “moderate, open” Islam in a kingdom known for its ultra-conservative rule.
“We are returning to what we were before — a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world,” he said at an economic forum in Riyadh.
The call for reform is welcome but will it happen? I also question the Crown Prince’s statement that Saudi will ‘return to what it was before’ with ‘moderate Islam’. Even a brief perusal of Britannica shows that prior to the foundation of the Kingdom in the 1930’s, the lands that now encompass Saudi Arabia were tribal and suspicious of outsiders. The first ruler of Saudi Arabia King Ibn Saʿūd was known to be unhappy about the outside influences that oil wealth had brought and the kingdom has consistently run away from the idea of cracking down on the Islamic crazies and has only rarely properly countered them. I don’t believe that the Saudi Arabia of the past was some sort of utopia of religious freedom and outward looking, the facts I’m afraid, don’t match with the Crown Prince’s words.
Brietbart quoted the AFP report as saying:
“We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today,” he added.
“We will end extremism very soon.”
The crown prince’s statement is the most direct attack by a top official on the Gulf country’s influential conservative religious establishment.
Although it is heartening to see such a senior member of the Saudi Royal Family attacking the religious establishment, time will tell whether he is serious about reform or whether these are empty words for the consumption of foreigners. It will be interesting to see whether the Crown Prince has enough political support within the Royal Family and the government to take on the Wahhabists, or whether he has not. If he’s serious and I hope that he is, then I’ll believe that reform is happening when I see a synagogue and a church built side by side in Riyadh.
If the Crown Prince is serious about reform, then it could be an indication that he and others of similar mind in the Saudi ruling establishment could be becoming more aware of the scale of the problem that this establishment faces. They may have realised that the Islamic crazies that they have funded and nurtured over decades are not only a danger to the nations of the West, but are also a danger to the safety and security of the Saudi royals. It certainly looks as if the Crown Prince recognises that if violent religious extremism is not tackled now, then it will be worse in the future.
A reformed Saudi Arabia would be a thing worth hoping for, but we should not rely on hope alone, we should continue to have some degree of suspicion about Saudi Arabia and its motives. It may well be that the Crown Prince is serious and honest about reform but it’s equally likely that either his plan for reform will fail or he may not have been serious about reform in the first place. We should wait and see to see what the next few years or decades bring.
http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2017/10/24/saudi-crown-prince-pledges-return-moderate-islam/
