A’an Suryana
Saudi Arabia has undergone significant social and political transformations under the new de facto ruler, Muhammad bin Salman, who started governing the country in 2017. Under his rule, the country has been much more open socially and culturally. For example, in 2018, he lifted the 35-year ban on cinemas. In 2019, tourists were welcome as part of the “white-oil” drive, and he took further steps to loosen men’s total authority over women by allowing women to travel without a male “guardian”.[1] These policies marked a shift in the country’s conservative outlook, signalling its embrace of a more “moderate” form of Islam.
The overall policy on religious moderation is part of Muhammad bin Salman’s efforts to promote Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative. Realising that the country can no longer rely solely on oil profit to sustain its social and economic development, the Vision 2030 initiative aims to open Saudi Arabia to foreign investment and tourism, which may prospectively be key drivers of growth in the post-oil era.
One of the social aspects that needs scrutiny in this seismic shift in Saudi Arabia’s policies is the government’s funding programmes and its Wahhabisation project. Saudi funding in this article refers to the money the Saudi government and its people have spent in spreading Wahhabism and Salafism across the world. Salafism is a religious ideology that advocates returning to the practices of Islam as performed by the Prophet Muhammad and Muslims who lived two generations after him. Wahhabism, on the other hand, is an increasingly entrenched global religious movement initiated by Abdul Wahhab in the 18th century to spread his version of Salafi ideology.
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