International Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Ambitious Quest to Modernize Saudi Arabia

Mohammed bin Salman’s Next Saudi Challenge: Curtailing Ultraconservative Islam
Crown prince’s overhaul includes a crackdown on religious fundamentalists who exercised rigid control



Religious conservatives are far less powerful than they were a decade ago. Thanks to satellite television and the internet, Saudis have been exposed to different ways of thinking. More than a hundred thousand Saudi men and women returned to the kingdom over the past decade after studying in Western universities on government-funded scholarships.

Last year, the government also began sending teachers abroad to see how Western schools function, a step partly aimed at tackling extremism among educators.

“We are moving in a new direction for education and a new direction for the country,” said Saudi Education Minister Ahmed al-Eissa. He added that new textbooks, scrubbed of vitriol, will be rolled out in the next academic year.
In 2016, the Saudi government stripped the religious police of its power to arrest, the most consequential result of the eroding alliance between the monarchy and the clerical establishment.
The Muslim World League—a body that was once the key vehicle through which Saudi Arabia spread Wahhabi ideology beyond its border—is now led by a moderate cleric, who says promoting greater understanding among faiths is a priority.

“In 1979 our religion was hijacked,” said Sheikh Mohammed al-Issa, a former minister of justice, who in a gesture of tolerance routinely encourages the non-Muslim women he meets to remove their headscarves, “Now we are eradicating the roots of extremism.”

During a trip to Europe earlier this year, he became the first head of the Muslim League to meet the pope and visit a synagogue.
In September, authorities arrested dozens of clerics as part of a broad crackdown against dissent. Among them are former members of the so-called Islamic Awakening, a once-powerful Islamist movement linked to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood that in the past has challenged the monarchy’s authority. Most of its members have since publicly embraced more moderate views.

Royals have also been targeted. Last month, authorities detained a senior prince, Khaled bin Talal, for opposing the government’s reforms such as the decision to curb the power of the religious police, according to people familiar with the matter.

“He was complaining about the reforms. He thought that would give him [political] credibility,” said a person briefed on the event. The prince, who has limited political clout, is kept at the high-security prison of al-Ha’ir.

Since the clampdown, many clerics have publicly endorsed the social reforms, while others have kept silent. “They are government decisions and it is part of our religion to accept that,” said Sheikh Mohammed al-Hodithy, 87, who until his retirement was the chief justice in Asir region.
The government is also setting up a new center to vet the interpretations of Prophet Muhammad’s teachings, or hadiths, in a bid to prevent the teachings from being used to justify violence.

“It will purify Islam from any inventions, clean the hadiths from the liars’ deliberate misquotations and present Islam in a better image,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Hassan al-Sheikh, the chairman of the new entity and a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, the kingdom’s highest religious body.
 
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Is this guy actually seriously trying to teach me how to create and maintain my mega-threads? o_O

Yeah he's known to do that. Fairly sure he was removed from being mod before for being a bit douchey.
 
Saudi stadiums to open doors to women on Friday
AFP | Published — Monday 8 January 2018

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RIYADH: Sports stadiums in Saudi Arabia will open their doors to women to attend football matches for the first time ever on Friday, the government has announced.

“The first match that women will be allowed to watch will be Al-Ahli versus Al-Batin on Friday January 12,” the ministry of information said in a statement on Monday.

It said women would also be able to attend a second match on the following day and a third one on January 18.

Women from across the vast Gulf kingdom may be able to take advantage of this new freedom as the first match will be held in the capital Riyadh, the second in Jeddah on the Red Sea and the third in the eastern city of Dammam.

The kingdom has in recent months eased some of its restrictions on women, including the lifting of a driving ban — set to go into effect in June.

In September, hundreds of women were allowed to enter a sports stadium in Riyadh, used mostly for football matches, for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia’s national day.

The easing of social controls comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks to repackage the oil-rich nation as more moderate and welcoming.

The crown princes’ Vision 2030 program for a post-oil era stems partly from an economic strategy to boost domestic spending on entertainment as the kingdom recovers from an energy slump.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1221221/saudi-arabia
 
@Arkain2K

How long do you think until there is a jihadi uprising inside of Saudi Arabia?
 
While I remain cautiously optimistic, I'm not sure what to make of all of this.

A power grab?
A legi attempt at westernization?
A bit of both?
 
@Arkain2K

How long do you think until there is a jihadi uprising inside of Saudi Arabia?

It appears that the transformation is going quite well, thanks to all the machinations happening behind the scene to keep the religious faction under control.

See the new WSJ reports above.
 
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Saudi Arabia's richest man thrown in jail, 'hung upside down and beaten' in crackdown

SAUDI Arabia’s richest man has been thrown into jail, “hung upside down and beaten” for refusing to pay the Government £728 million as part of an “anti-corruption sweep”, it has been reported.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was arrested two months ago as part of the crackdown and moved to restricted quarters at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton Hotel with 200 other princes and top officials.

The Saudi authorities have now transferred the prince along with others to the nation's highest security prison Al-Ha’ir – located south of Riyadh, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news.

During his detention, Alwaleed is said to have been hung upside down and beaten.

The numbers detained in the Riz-Carlton fell as they gave into demands from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for restitution payments, but Prince Alwaleed is said to have refused to pay the Government £728million.

Al-Ha’ir prison is the highest security in the Kingdom and sources say nearly 60 detainees were transferred.

Crown Prince Salman came to power last summer and began an “anti-corruption sweep”, arresting members of the royal family as well as influential officials.

Prince Turki Bin Abdullah, a member of the House of Saud, is among one of the detainees.

Earlier this week the Saudi Government seized the Binladen construction group and arrested some of the Bin Laden family, who are relatives of the notorious terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

The Government also took over managerial control and may erase £21 billion in debt it owes to the company, according to Reuters.

The arrest of 200 princes and top officials came as part of his economic reform.

Mohammed bin Salman was appointed as the Crown Prince by his father King Salman Bin Abdulaziz on June 21 last year and named as his father’s successor.

The Crown Prince of Saudi is the second most important position in the country and is only second to the king and is the designated successor.

Recently King Salman took bold action to lift the ban on women driving in the country - a move towards a more liberalised Saudi society.

The king ordered the reform in a royal decree requesting that drivers’ licences be issued to women who wanted them.

Under King Salman Saudi Arabia embraced a more aggressive foreign policy, launching a war in Yemen and severing diplomatic ties with Iran and neighbouring Qatar.

The Crown Prince has invested in Saudi Arabia’s military defences against Iran.

He also tried to strengthen ties with the US and Israel by purging anti-Semitic and anti-US Islamic clerics.

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Saudi Arabia's richest man thrown in jail, 'hung upside down and beaten' in crackdown



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I'm guessing this sensational meme-bait without source is from one of those premiere British tabloids, like the Sun or Express.co.uk?
 
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I'm guessing this sensational meme-bait without source is from one of those premiere British tabloids, like the Sun or Express.co.uk?

Thanks for reminding me! Forgot to add the link to the title.
 
It appears that the transformation is going quite well, thanks to all the machinations happening behind the scene to keep the religious faction under control.

See the new WSJ reports above.


Wouldn't surprise me if some fanatic assassinates him.
 
I really like the idea of stringing up billionaires then shaking them down. This Crown Prince fellow is onto something.
 
@Arkain2K out of curiosity, what is your reason for being interested in the Crown Prince and Saudi Arab's future?

I also have an interest in the region's prosperity.
 
It is an interview from prison, you can take everything he said with a grain of salt. His physical appearance speaks more than his words. If he is released, I doubt he will remain in Arabia.
Express says he was taken to a high level security prison....the photo for that interview is in the Ritz Carlton
 
Express says he was taken to a high level security prison....the photo for that interview is in the Ritz Carlton

They can take him back, or even torture him in the Ritz. I’m not saying he was tortured, but judging from his physical appearance he has been kept in far from perfect conditions and anything he says whilst still in custody should be taken with a grain of salt.
 
It appears that the transformation is going quite well, thanks to all the machinations happening behind the scene to keep the religious faction under control.

See the new WSJ reports above.
When it comes to suppressing religious folk in theMiddle East, it all comes down to how long they can keep it up for because it seems like it never works
 
Wouldn't surprise me if some fanatic assassinates him.
Or the US or Russians or another foreign power.



Let's hope he continues down this path following in the footsteps of the beloved Morocco King.
 
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