The signs in the Heavens! 36

[resurrected]

The Guardians of faith

The political power corrupts and for that reason is not compatible with spirituality. The pious kings just exist in the myths; even the God-fearing kings like David and Solomon made terrible mistakes. The so called virtuous Aurangzaib is one of the worst examples of religion getting involved in the worldly matters. The critics aren’t completely wrong when they claim that this fanatic was the major cause of weakening and finally disappeared of the Moghul Empire. We can clearly see that religious states failed grossly regardless of if these came into existence in the east or the west.
It’s not at all strange that the Arab peninsula quickly lost its central place in the fast growing Muslim Empire and the emphasis was shifted to more advance places like Damascus and Baghdad that were situated in the conquered territories’. The holy land was to become the spiritual center, where house of Allah and two most important mosques lied. The spirit needs less of material for its growth and the opposite holds true and that must have been the divine reason for holding the area poor for centuries in a row. Since the eleventh century the holy land had been administered and ruled by the Sharifs’, more like governors than the kings. They gave their allegiances to the Caliphs and thus came under the rule of Abbasside and Ottoman Empires. Right before the First World War, the Sharif-e-Mecca revolted against the Caliph but the revolt led by Lawrence of Arabia failed but the area became independent as a result of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. A few years later the Sharif was routed by the Al Saud family and the emergence of present royal family became a fact and thus the name The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Royal family emerged as a power factor through its adherence to 18th century reformer Abdul Wahab, who claimed to have come to bring back simplicity and real faith to Muslims. The mystery man avoided the topic of Wahabi sect’s incredible spread in the world and the reasons that made it possible. He was sure that it would bring him to controversies and such he wanted to avoid at all costs. Did House of Saud come into existence due to divine plan or was it a result of a deal with the devil, was on the other hand something he was ready to ponder upon. The Saudi’s coming into power occurred in 1933 and the kingdom at that time was one of the poorest countries in the world, lacking all kinds of resources and riches. Six years later, when the world was to get hit by the devastating war, the Americans found the oil reserves, which were to prove to be the second largest in the world. It was indeed a very interesting coincidence; inciting the speculation that shift of power in the House of Allah was well planned by the Devil, who knew about the oil reserves long before they were announced to the world. These new found riches were to benefit just the royal family and the foreign interests for many decades and didn’t touch the ordinary citizens of the kingdom that were overwhelmingly Bedouins.
In the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, King Faisal used the oil as a political weapon and thus changed the world forever and the days of cheap oil were over. It was that happening that brought about the importance of oil for the world economy to the consciousness. King Faisal had to pay the price for his daring to defy the devil and was murdered by one of the princes but the incomes from oil had increased manifold, making Saudi Arabia a rich country. These new riches were to find their way even to ordinary people and the spiral of developments was to create a demand for imported labour force from poor countries as well. Their riches were to increase their power and influence in the area and they were to play a more important role than they could have ever dreamt of. The mystery man was just telling about the history and yet I had the feelings that he sounded bitter about the country we held close to our hearts and considered as a holy land, where the House of God was situated. What, was he jealous of Saudi riches? Were these not the blessings of God that had turned the deserts into oases and made the kingdom so rich? The discovery of oil and later on the finding of Gold reserves just showed that the holy land was really a blessed one. He noticed my sarcastic smile but didn’t react to that, he must have been aware that in my heart I accused him of being covetous towards our Saudi brothers. He smiled back and went on with his narration of the brief history of KSA.
“Have you been to Saudia?” He asked. No, I hadn’t, I told him briefly.
“I ‘m sure you must have known dozens of people who have been there on pilgrimage or for work. These people always bring some stories from the holy land, which show us what kind of country that kingdom is but I’m not talking about such stories but look at the country from the International point of view. So nothing I tell you has to do with personal evaluations or experiences.”
He took up from where he had stopped and told me that the royal family of Saudi Arabia was more inclined to serve the temporal powers of the world than to serve the living God of the universe. They did everything to please these powers that had made their rule possible, the powers that were strong enough to even sustain them in their esteemed positions. He accused the royal family of being the slaves of the evil. Indeed very hard words being used for the custodians of the holy land. Even if I had reservations of my own, the Saudis were our brothers in faith and had taken care of the most holy places situated in the land, ever since the early days of Islam, so the question was why he accused them of evil doings. I was listening very carefully.
The Saudi royal family was nothing less than an effective tool in the hands of evil, he went on. The weapon of oil had not been used only once by King Faisal in the seventies but had become a permanent feature in manipulating the world and its economy. The invisible hands controlled the pulse of the world economy by the use of Saudi oil. Demand was not the issue any longer as it could be easily adjusted through the supplies. The price of oil could fluctuate and reach the points set by the masters and thus a new oil market could function without any problem, generating huge profits. With enormous oil reserves in hand, the Saudis could be used as a political instrument, economical leverage and a mean for the will enforcement. With huge capacity to produce oil in short term period, the Saudis were able to drive the oil price in any given direction. This magical capacity made Saudi Arabia of great importance to the world and especially for those that controlled these powerful princes of the House of Saud.

[stingingnettle]

Res, I have enjoyed reading the whole series of your submissions under the same title. I feel, I stand educated and I thank you for that.

Saudi Arabia does not control the taps to increase or decrease the supply of oil to the world market - America does. Except the brief oil rebellion of the 70s, oil has always been a weapon in the hands of the Americans not the Saudis. Also the Saudis become very easy to understand when you take the Divine and Holy out of the conversation about the house of Saud. The Saudi Royal family and Holy Sites of Islam are completely and utter distinct and separate entities and this is the point lost on most Muslims especially those overwhelmed with religious emotionality when visiting or talking about Saudi Arabia. There is nothing new or unique about about autocrats mixing their entitlement to absolute rule with religious fervour and this is the common thread in all the nations that have historically suffered oppression and cruelty. This happens in Pakistan too, if you think about it.

[resurrected]