Saudi Arabia cannot make up its mind: be a leader of Sunni Muslims, or continue to rule the Kingdom with an iron grip.
THE GOOD
A Team-Player
Since its birth as a nation-state, Saudi Arabia had been a team player at the world stage. It has negotiated its way up.
First with the British, who then dominated the Indian Ocean. After the dissolution of the Othmania Sultanat in 1921, the Saudi Arabia deflated the Khilaafat aspirations of many Muslim elite who wanted a say in the world affairs. The Indian and Indonesian Muslims will not fight the British and Dutch for independence in the name of Islam. Both will rise up later, incited by the socialist ideology in the name of class grievances: liberty, equality, fairness, etc.
In 1945, Saudis accepted the United States as the leader of the world. By 1971, at the peak of the Cold War, it flooded the Western countries with cheap oil that was otherwise available only in the Communist countries.
Muslim Leadership
Though a team player on the world stage, in Islamic affairs Saudi Arabia railed against all known Muslim traditions – in the name of early Islam, Salafism.
Maslaki Ulema had to defend themselves why Taqleed was still being followed. Sufi were denounced for their outright superstitious beliefs. Shi’a were condemned for their ambivalence towards the foundational creed of Islam; many were declared kaafir.
Today, Maslaki Ulema are limited to individual mosques or have become internet celebrities; though they have nothing to offer the world. Sufis are seen queuing the grant-application lines of their governments. Shi’a are united, for being called a kaafir.
All in all, the Muslim masses are beginning to think for themselves. The status-quo has been shaken. It was badly needed, and it had to come from within Islam.
THE BAD
Science-Aloof
Though they rebel against Taqleed, the Kingdom has never been an active promoter of the Science. It feels that Islam and Science is a zero-sum game.
It’s dependence on its Western allies to do the science for it has come to bite it in the 21th century, both materially and spiritually. Iran, its existential rival, has taken the lead regionally – and has been courted by global elites. Spiritually, the Muslim masses are struck at the cusps of the pit of superstitions they had dug themselves out of hearing the Salafi call.
The reason for such aloofness, if not negativity, towards science is because they could not achieve a balance between faith and reason. In trying to uplift faith, the Salafis had suppressed reason.
THE UGLY
Salafi Manhaj
After calling for the destruction of the Taqleed, the Salafis could not lay the new infrastructure to sustain the Ummah’s spiritual needs. Now when the Ummah is adrift, they cannot stem the tide either despite their best means.
Many Muslims have a soft corner for the Kingdom, though such charms pulls it in various domains: economic, spiritual, glory, etc.
To manage such a crush, it needs Science – not on hire but to value. This is the challenge of the 21st century to the Kingdom.
