I dislike the House of Saud. I hate the hypocrisy of the country. I wish Muhammad bin abd-el Wahhab never existed and that Saudi Arabia had no oil so that the petro-dollars could not be used to wipe out Islamic cultural expressions around the world. I do not like my Islam defined by these characters. I, however. like Slate, the online journal. Read it quite regularly, I do.
Today, however, I was not happy to read the an article on Slate entitled: “Stop Scapegoating the Saudis, Maybe They’re Not Responsible for Everything That Ails Islam”, by Lee Smith. I like blaming the Saudis, but perhaps, I too, have been hypocritical. It could be that having the Saudis to blame does not allow me and others who feel the same way [ the majority of Muslims that I know ] from looking deeper into the problems afflicting Islam. I wish it was as easy as blaming the nastiness of the Saudis on all of our problems, because that would mean that they would be easy to fix.
Not that I am saying that a world without Saudi interference would be bad. It would mean more available booze and prostitutes in London, Paris and Geneva; less destruction of Islamic cultural heritage; the end of ahistorical or anti-historical religious doctrines about Islam; less beheadings; the right of women to exist; and other such items.
This unfortunately is not the case. Just as a new American foreign policy and peace in the Middle East will not solve all of the deeper issues that are a cancer on the Ummah. They would be a good start though.
Ghost Dog: Tell me what you think about this article:
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040101faessay83105/michael-scott-doran/the-saudi-paradox.html
David, this is a great article. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Three things that come to mind:
1. I do not think that the Wahhabi doctrine is looking to the golden age of Islam as the author states. Wahhabism is a-historic or even anti-historical. The golden age would be a civilising Islam of cultural pluralism, a striving to learn to understands God’s creation, an intellectual engagement with the world that surrounds us, and tolerant societies. This is not Wahhabism.
2. The second point the author left out was that the majority of the oil reserves in Saudi Arabia are in Shia dominated areas. This is hugh. Already a Shia block is forming in Iran, Iraq, and Bahrain.
3. Our government had better wake up to the fact that Saudi Arabia is not a country or even a government. It is a house of cards built upon a corrupt family comprising 5000 decadent princes and on the foundations of a morally decaying ideology.
Thanks again for the reference.