Saudi Arabia is the source of the world’s extremism. To be precise, the oil-rich kingdom is the biggest sponsor and supplier of terrorists, the product of its extremism policy. And thanks to Saudi, it gave birth to terror groups such as al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIS, ISIL, IS), among others, because Muslims were being radicalized as Islamic terrorists or jihadists at an alarming rate.
The kingdom has done such an excellent job in producing extremists-turn-terrorists that it also gave birth to the mantras – “not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.” Saudi’s greatest export – Wahhabism and Salafism – has successfully transformed many Muslim-majority countries from moderate to extreme nations. A good example is Malaysia.
Refuse to admit their extremism, certain Wahhabists or Salafists would foam at the mouth telling all and sundry they’re not extremists, let alone terrorists, but merely following the teachings of Islam. And when they couldn’t justify their extremism (or even terrorism), they would blame the Chinese, Indians, Jews, gays, lesbians, hamsters and even Shia / Shiite Iranians.
![September 11 - 911 Attacks USA - Saudi Arabia Sponsors Funding](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/September-11-911-Attacks-USA-Saudi-Arabia-Sponsors-Funding.jpg)
But what better way to prove that the present Wahhabism subscribers have actually subscribed to extremism other than to hear from the horse’s mouth – the heir to the Saudi throne. The kingdom’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has revealed the country will return – to moderate Islam – and promises to tackle the extremism that is terrorizing the world today.
In an interview with the Guardian, the powerful Saudi Crown Prince admitted the ultra-conservative state had been “not normal” for the past 30 years, conveniently blaming rigid doctrines that have governed society in a reaction to the Iranian revolution, which successive leaders “didn’t know how to deal with”. Did he just admit his monarchy has been clueless for the past 30 years?
He said – “What happened in the last 30 years is not Saudi Arabia. What happened in the region in the last 30 years is not the Middle East. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, people wanted to copy this model in different countries, one of them is Saudi Arabia. We didn’t know how to deal with it. And the problem spread all over the world. Now is the time to get rid of it.”
![Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Saudi-Arabia-Crown-Prince-Mohammed-bin-Salman.jpg)
Interestingly, the crown prince is asking for global support to transform the hardline kingdom into an open society that empowers citizens and lures investors. Ahhh, the magic word here is “investors”, something which the kingdom conveniently ignored when the crude oil prices were sky high. Now that Saudi Arabia is struggling to stop the bleed of its foreign reserves, they finally spoke the truth.
Apparently, he made the admission at an investment conference at which he announced the launch of an ambitious US$500 billion (£381 billion; RM2.1 tillion) independent economic zone linking Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Also known as NEOM, the zone which covers an area of 26,500 square km (10,230 square mile) will focus on industries such as energy and water, biotechnology, food and entertainment.
Prince Mohammed also said – “We are simply reverting to what we followed – a moderate Islam opens to the world and all religions. 70% of the Saudis are younger than 30, honestly we won’t waste 30 years of our life combating extremist thoughts, we will destroy them now and immediately.” Again, this is an admission that the present Saudi is almost destroyed by its own doing.
![Saudi’s Grand Mosque Under Siege - 1979](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Saudi%E2%80%99s-Grand-Mosque-Under-Siege-1979-1.jpg)
In truth, Malaysia and other Muslim-majority countries, just like Saudi Arabia, were once peaceful countries with their moderate Islam belief, until the incompetent Al Saud monarchy turned the Muslim world upside down. Yes, it wasn’t Iranian revolution which drove Saudi to extremism. It was the 1979’s Siege of Mecca, coincidently the same year Iranian Revolution exploded, which started Saudi’s extremism.
The seizure was led by Juhayman al-Otaybi, a preacher and a former corporal in the Saudi National Guard, who proclaimed that the ruling Al Saud dynasty had lost its legitimacy because it was corrupt, ostentatious and had destroyed Saudi culture by an aggressive policy of Westernization. Saudi forces launched multiple assaults trying to reclaim the holy mosque but were defeated.
Embarrassingly, the Saudi government was forced to engage French commandos from the Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN) to fix the problem. Thanks to the inexperienced and clueless Saudi forces, even an elite Pakistani unit called “Rahbar” was rushed to Mecca, on top of CIA, to provide expertise to finally reclaim their holy mosque.
![Juhayman al-Otaybi - Preacher and Former Corporal of Saudi National Guard](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Juhayman-al-Otaybi-Preacher-and-Former-Corporal-of-Saudi-National-Guard.jpg)
Instead of throwing radicalized Islamic extremists and terrorists into jail and throw away the keys, the House of Saud had chosen the easy way out – adding fuel to fire, feeding extremists – and essentially plunging the kingdom to a slow but sure death in what the Saudi prince admits today – that extremism is destroying the country – because they “didn’t know how to deal with”.
What Prince Mohammed doesn’t want the public to know is the fact that Saudi’s King Khalid was stupid in cutting a deal with the radical clerics that helped facilitate the attack on the Grand Mosque of Mecca in 1979. King Khalid’s ignorant solution to the religious upheaval such as those who seized the Mecca was quite simple – give the ulama and religious conservatives more power.
To be fair, the Saudi Prince Mohammed should be credited for admitting the past mistakes of his royal family. He was also said to be instrumental in pushing for reforms so that Saudi women can drive, although the real reason was to boost the kingdom’s ailing economy. Likewise, his sudden U-turn to go back to moderate Islam was driven by the desperation for foreign investment.
![Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – 1960s](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Riyadh-Saudi-Arabia-%E2%80%93-1960s.jpg)
Still, it isn’t as easy as a walk in the park. The prince can’t simply turn a switch and drive Saudi to the road of moderation. An entrenched poor work ethic, opposition from conservative base and a general reluctance to change could frustrate the prince’s latest wish-list. He would be lucky if the same 30 years are all it takes to reverse Saudi’s extremism back to moderation.
Even if Saudi is ready to reform, what about other Muslim-majority countries funded and inspired by the same kingdom to the path of extremism? What would they do with Saudi’s latest U-turn? Can Saudi afford to lose its influence over other countries after billions of funding, who had obediently followed its “extreme teaching”, but might decide to un-follow the kingdom now?
But hey, if Saudi Arabia, the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, could simply get rid of moderation in favour of extremism initially, only to make a U-turn now just to suit their needs, what type of message or teaching it is sending to the 1.5-billion Sunni Muslims? Does this means all the previous teachings, obviously un-Islamic but insisted to be Islamic, were as fake as a two-dollar bill?
![Kabul Afghanistan Photo - 1970s](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Kabul-Afghanistan-Photo-1970s.jpg)
![](http://www.financetwitter.com.prx.proxyunblocker.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/University-of-Tehran-%E2%80%93-Before-1979-Iran-Revolution.jpg)
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