I had come across many vloggers mostly from Pakistan and many of whom don't even know the name correctly and call it Saudia, which is an abbreviation of Saudi Arabian Airline, not the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, yet jumping the guns of critics of the country that it is going away from Islam and Islamic law but it appears from their vlogs that they are unaware of even basic knowledge of the imperial history of Islamic colonial past and its legal norms.
The problem with many is that they don't know the history of modern Saudi Arabia and the politics of its founders.
The Crown Prince HRH Muhammad Bin Salman is not new in the line of the reform movement in Saudi society but the element of reform, improvement, and development is in its origin. Even the religious movement that had started by Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab, though inclined toward extremists form of Islam, contradicting the Qur'an by bringing in stunning to death that was based on sunna yet the principle that no sunna can be accepted if it contradicts Qur'an, exceeds Qur'an, or restrict Qur'an.
This was a departure by the founders of the Hanbalite school themselves that if sunna and Qur'an are in contradiction, the sunna will abrogate Qur'an, but, after sometime when they came under severe attacks by the opponents that how on earth creation can abrogate its own creator forcing them to accept that Qur'an will abrogate sunna. He was in his narrow vision of environment under the general perception of stunning to death rather battle between Qur'an and sunna after 200 years of the Prophet's death. Mohammad Ibn Abdul Wahab's religious approach was dominated by the demands of Najid's politics and in the broader political sense, it was also a reform movement.
King Abdul Aziz himself had allowed religious extremists in his rank and file and allowed them a separate territory to test their utopian religious ideology if it can work in terms of social norms and values. They had failed to produce any positive result that could become an example to be adopted by the Kingdom. Instead, to produce any positive example, it becomes a source of factionalism and divides in society forcing King Abdul Aziz to used his force in order to crush them completely and he did very successfully to remove the hurdle in the path of its development agenda.
King Abdul Aziz very successfully put his extreme conservative society on the path to reform, allowing oil companies to carry out research and development. That is why OBL himself while giving an interview to journalist Abdel Bari Atwan in Afghanistan call King Abdul Aziz that he was not believing in Islam because the King was a reformist, not a religious zealot as the OBL and his thuggery movement are.
King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz during his time in office, telephone communication systems had started to grow from the west toward the east. He had decided to install a telephone in his office but theologians had refused him to do so. The theologians were of the view that it is not possible that a person in Riyadh can talk to another person in Jeddah. This was not possible during the time of the Prophet then how it is possible now? This must be the devil is playing its tricks by using Kufar.
King Faisal invited theologians under the leadership of his country's Sheikh ul Islam to discuss the telephone question. King told the operator that when you ring my office, don't say anything just play the record of some verses from surah Rahman. When the bell rang, he asked Sheik ul Islam to pick up the receiver to check by himself and tell others what is happening? When he had picked up the receiver, it was reciting the verses of Sura Rahman. "This is not the devil but Rahmani," Sheik said to others. In their view, the devil can not recite the Qur'an. Therefore King was able after all this to use the telephone for his office work.
When King started the program for women's education. There was a delegation of 200 men from al Qassim who went to see King in order to warn him that this is a red line for them to allow women to read and write which mean they would able to communicate with their lovers through letters. "If you still continue, we will wage the war against your government", a threatening tone to the King. King told them I will open schools for women in every town and village of my country. I'll do so even though I have to use my army. For you 200, I'll put you behind the bar, not allowing you even to go back to your homes.
Therefore, what Crown Prince HRH Muhammad bin Salman is doing, only following the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle but dictated by his own environment, time and space.
The fact that every reform movement is subject to its own environment. Every change is not an improvement but every improvement is a change. The environment of his grandfather was different from that of his uncle HM King Faisal. His own is drastically different so his tools and approaches are different too. In my view, this is not one leader on the top but the collective efforts of the Saudi society moving forward in their own styles and demands and following the leadership in the journey toward a new destination. Certainly, in every society, there are people who don't agree but those in the agreement would lead the rest.
I had spent my 14 years in Saudi Arabia, working with Saudi Arabian Airlines. I had keenly observed the Saudi society keep changing in front of my eyes. They are not fanatic, religious zealots, or prone to the culture of the mob as Pakistani and Indian are famous for.
Saudi society keeps changing constantly. I had my girlfriends there both Saudi nationals and Pakistani though not openly while living in Saudi Arabia yet I never had a relationship while living in London. So, to judge a society while standing outside of its real environment/happening would be erroneous leading to the wrong conclusion.
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