"Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman has vowed to restore 'moderate' Islam that is open to all religions in the world."
My response? You can't return to something that has never existed. This is a precursor to something even darker...
Saudi Arabia's specific origins date from the late 18th century, when reformist preacher Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, striving to purge Sunni Islam of heretical accretions and restore pure Islam and the doctrine of tawhid, allied himself to tribal leader Muhammad bin Saud, promising him "power and glory" and rule over "lands and men" if he was faithful in protecting and spreading the Wahhabi doctrine of pure Islam. [1] This happened nearly two centuries before the discovery of the vast oil fields in the Arabian Peninsula; quite a fortuitous deal for the House of Saud.
Does this offer sound familiar? It should.
For one, this durable religious/political alignment of course takes its example from that of Muhammad himself, the founder of Islam, who, in obedience to Allah's dictates, melded strict monotheism (tawhid) with totalitarian governance in order to achieve worldly power and glory (and multiple wives and slaves). After Muhammad's death, allegiance to him was replaced by allegiance to the caliph, and successive generations of Islamic clerics and Islamic schools of jurisprudence expounded on the dynamic synthesis between the religious and political spheres. In our time, Saudi Arabia (Sunni Islam) and Iran (Shia) have come to represent modern efforts apply this Islamic form of governance, based on the Koran, the example of Muhammad, and Islamic jurisprudence.
But al Wahhab's offer to Saud also hearkens back to one of the temptations offered by Satan to Jesus in the wilderness following His baptism in the Jordan by John. Jesus refused the temptations, as we know, but Islam has advanced throughout history based precisely on the promise of the temptation to "power and glory" and rule over "lands and men." This is more than a clue as to the source of Islam's power.
It should be acknowledged by all that the draconian forms of punishment mandated by Islamic law (e.g., death penalty for apostasy, blasphemy or fitna, amputations for theft, stonings or canings for adultery, etc.) are enforced by not only Saudi Arabia and Iran, but by ISIS and all other Islamic movements and states which seek to adhere to the original, pure form of Islam. In fact, Wahhabism/Salafism may be properly seen as a forerunner of the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and the whole gamut of jihadist groups, which use terrorism as one of many tools to attack non Muslims in the dar al Harb (House of War) and advance Islam (the dar al Islam). The non-violent Muslim organizations waging stealth jihad (Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, etc.) derive from the same roots and have the same goals, yet use deception, finance, lawfare, infiltration of Western governments, educational systems and media to advance Islam.
Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman is spinning some seriously inflated taqiyya with his vow that “We are returning to what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world."
The truly dangerous thrust of this initiative, however, is that Salman's Islamic deception may actually be embraced by a world seduced by spiritual delusion, and therefore hungry to believe a lie.
As Robert Spencer pointed out in his coverage of this story:
To further demonstrate the absurdity of the Crown Prince’s intellectually insulting declaration that Saudi Arabia is a “moderate” state, consider that Saudi Arabian officials recently arrested 27 Christians — among them several women and children — for the crime of “conducting Christian prayers” and being “in possession of Bibles.”
Another sobering piece of information: more citizens of Saudi Arabia have joined the Islamic State than from any other country. Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of global jihad initiatives, further belying its smooth public relations campaign and attempt to appear “moderate” in the Western media. For more information about what Saudi Arabia has really been up to, click here.
A "moderate" Saudi Arabia which continues to persecute Christians and fund global jihad. Can Antichrist be far behind?
Saudi Arabia will ‘return to moderate, open Islam’ – Crown Prince
RT News, October 24, 2017:
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman has vowed to restore “moderate” Islam that is open to all religions in the world. Saudi Arabia is known for its ultraconservative rule.
“We are returning to what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world,” he said at an economic forum in Riyadh, as quoted by AFP. “We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today,” he added. “We will end extremism very soon.”
Riyadh is known for its adherence to ultra-conservative norms of Islam and strict segregation of men and women. It has long been the only state where women are officially forbidden to drive.
Earlier this year, the crown prince accused Tehran of promoting an “extremist ideology” and having ambitions to “control the Islamic world.” Asked if there is any room for dialogue with Iran, the 31-year-old prince replied: “How can I come to an understanding with someone, or a regime, that has an anchoring belief built on an extremist ideology?”
He said that the primary objective of the “Iranian regime is to reach the focal point of Muslims [Mecca] and we will not wait until the fight is inside Saudi Arabia and we will work so that the battle is on their side, inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia.”
The Saudi government enforces a strict, conservative version of Sunni Islam. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ruled by a Sunni monarchy known as the House of Saud, while the Islamic Republic of Iran is overwhelmingly Shia. The divisions between the Sunnis and the Shia are based on a long-running religious conflict that started as a dispute over the Prophet Mohammed’s successor. While Shia Muslims believe the prophet’s cousin should have filled the role, Sunnis support the selection of Muhammad’s close friend and adviser, Abu Bakr, as the first caliph of the Islamic nation…..
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[1] Lacey, Robert (2009). Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia. Viking. pp. 10–11. "the two ... concluded a pact. Ibn Saud would protect and propagate the stern doctrines of the Wahhabi mission, which made the Koran the basis of government. In return, Abdul Wahhab would support the ruler, supplying him with 'glory and power.' Whoever championed his message, he promised, 'will, by means of it, rule and lands and men'."
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman has vowed to restore “moderate” Islam that is open to all religions in the world. Saudi Arabia is known for its ultraconservative rule.
“We are returning to what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world,” he said at an economic forum in Riyadh, as quoted by AFP. “We will not spend the next 30 years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas. We will destroy them today,” he added. “We will end extremism very soon.”
Riyadh is known for its adherence to ultra-conservative norms of Islam and strict segregation of men and women. It has long been the only state where women are officially forbidden to drive.
Earlier this year, the crown prince accused Tehran of promoting an “extremist ideology” and having ambitions to “control the Islamic world.” Asked if there is any room for dialogue with Iran, the 31-year-old prince replied: “How can I come to an understanding with someone, or a regime, that has an anchoring belief built on an extremist ideology?”
He said that the primary objective of the “Iranian regime is to reach the focal point of Muslims [Mecca] and we will not wait until the fight is inside Saudi Arabia and we will work so that the battle is on their side, inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia.”
The Saudi government enforces a strict, conservative version of Sunni Islam. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is ruled by a Sunni monarchy known as the House of Saud, while the Islamic Republic of Iran is overwhelmingly Shia. The divisions between the Sunnis and the Shia are based on a long-running religious conflict that started as a dispute over the Prophet Mohammed’s successor. While Shia Muslims believe the prophet’s cousin should have filled the role, Sunnis support the selection of Muhammad’s close friend and adviser, Abu Bakr, as the first caliph of the Islamic nation…..
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[1] Lacey, Robert (2009). Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia. Viking. pp. 10–11. "the two ... concluded a pact. Ibn Saud would protect and propagate the stern doctrines of the Wahhabi mission, which made the Koran the basis of government. In return, Abdul Wahhab would support the ruler, supplying him with 'glory and power.' Whoever championed his message, he promised, 'will, by means of it, rule and lands and men'."