Saudi Arabia

SAUDI ARABIA WAS founded through an alliance of the Al-Saud and Al-Wahhab families. The former has been the temporal power and the latter the spiritual power. Wahhabism, or Muwahhidun, as it is called in Saudi Arabia, is a puritanical version of Islam. The theology of Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92) presented in his book Tawhid stresses the oneness of Allah. His teachings were partly derived from ibn [Page 855]Taymiyah (1263–1303). He taught that Islamic theology could develop but rejected many practices that could be viewed as human. These included celebrating the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, Sufi practices such as pilgrimages to the tombs of saints, performing or listening to music, and dancing.

Abdul Al-Aziz ibn Saud (1880–1953), the founder of the modern state of Saudi Arabia, used Wahhabism to break tribal loyalties. He settled its extreme followers, the Wahhabi Ikhwan (Brotherhood), into villages. Their beliefs were like those of the the Khariji of early Islam who taught that those who opposed their view of Islam were apostates. The zeal of the Ikhwan for Islamic conquests beyond the kingdom led them to revolt (1927–30). They accused ibn Saud of apostasy because he was not as extreme as they, thus constituting the first religious opposition of the right to the Al-Saud. Although suppressed, the children and grandchildren of the Ikhwan now constitute a major source of the religious opposition of the right.

In 1965, a group of Muslim zealots led by Prince Khaled bin Musa'id, a grandson of King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, fought with the police while attempting to take control of a radio station. The prince and several others were killed. This was followed in 1966 by bombings in Riyadh and elsewhere. It culminated on March 25, 1975, when Prince Faisal bin Musa'id assassinated his uncle, King Faisal, in revenge for his brother's death. He was executed soon afterward. On November 20, 1979, a group led by Juhaiman bin Muhammed AlUtaibi seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. They were inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran, by the beginning of a new Islamic century, and by the teachings of Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz, head of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. While only about 300 in number, it took weeks and a special French unit to root them out. The survivors were executed. Among those killed were some non-Saudi citizens, which demonstrated a linking of opposition in different social groups.

Religious opposition has continued to grow with increasingly sophisticated means used by leaders educated in the West. Many clerics in Saudi Arabia put their sermons onto cassette tapes. These are sold like books-on-tape. Web sites are also used as media for preaching against the Al-Sauds. This includes the Shiite movement led by Sheikh Hasan al-Saffar. The basic problem that the Al-Sauds are facing is the definition of the Islamic creed (da'wa). Who is in charge of defining “true” Islam? Saudi Arabia is already, because of Wahhabism, based on a fundamentalist Islamic belief system. The opposition that has been growing claims that they are not Islamic enough. The opposition can be called extreme fundamentalism. It is led by members of the Saudi religious establishment, or ulama, that is, Islamic religious scholars. The great increase in graduates from Saudi universities with degrees in Islamic studies has led to an increase in those who are educated and yet oppose the regime. Some may be paid members of the state, while others are independent. A combination of these has engaged in criticism of the Al-Saud regime.

Abdul Al-Aziz ibn Saud, founder of modern Saudi Arabia, used religion to break tribal loyalties.

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