Why the Saudis export Wahhabism

I saw a program on PBS tonight, a history of the Saudi monarchy, that gave a new angle on the Wahhabi issue. In 1979 a band of Wahhabi purists seized the Kabbah. The regime had to use military force to suppress this rebellion and kill the rebels. But afterward, in order to ward off further Wahhabi challenges, the regime began adopting a strict Wahhabi line which, according to one of the talking (Saudi) heads on the program, the regime itself did not believe in. What this suggests is that the Saudis are building all these Wahhabi mosques around the world and spreading all these Wahhabi publications around the world, not because they believe in Wahhabism, but because they want to ward off internal Wahhabi opposition. It’s weird.

It would be as though the leaders of the Soviet Union had created the Communist International and sought to spread Communism all over the world, not because they believed in Communism, but because they were seeking to placate troublesome domestic Communists.

Or, it would be as though Hitler had conquered Europe and set about destroying all the Jews, not because he believed in the conquest of Europe and the destruction of the Jews, but because he wanted to placate troublesome domestic Nazis.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 09, 2005 01:18 AM | Send