The equation of religion and politics in Saudi Arabia: Is the alliance of the prince and the imam over?

The Wahhabi religion is the main thread in the Saudi political and social fabric. The Saudi state itself invested a lot in the Wahhabi movement, until it became, next to the oil wealth, the most important element of its power.

He used the Wahhabi call in the Saudi version as a tool for political recruitment. In addition, Saudi Arabia considered itself a representative of the Sunni movement in the Islamic world, as it embraces the two holiest spots in the Islamic world; Mecca and Medina.

Religion remained an effective weapon in the hands of the royal family, used to guide public opinion through political fatwas in line with the directions and policies of the state, and could be used to silence and suppress opponents if necessary.

In the last century, Muhammad ibn Saud Al Muqrin took advantage of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s call, of British-Masonry origin, to establish the foundations and pillars of his rule. The official Salafism in Saudi Arabia was built on the alliance of the sign and the state, a contract between the imam and the prince. The Wahhabi Salafist Imam Muhammad bin Saud participated in the establishment of the first Saudi state by giving way to the power of “tawhid” as a religious and political call to unite the tribes around a leadership capable of overseeing the follow-up of the religiosity of society, led by the founder of the new religion called Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab.

The strong alliance of Saudi Arabia.

Those who follow the history of the Wahhabi movement and its relationship with the rulers of the House of Saud will note that had it not been for the alliance made by Muhammad bin Abdul-Wahhab with Prince Muhammad bin Saud, which was described as the meeting of the proponent of the call with the owner of the thorn, this movement would not have existed, Muhammad bin Saud stipulated several conditions on him, the most important of which is to stay with him. and his followers to protect his movement and its victory.

Stéphane Lacroix says in his book (The Time of Awakening): “During the first seven decades of the twentieth century, the Salafist call helped to establish the religious legitimacy of the state, and to abandon the political field of the Al Saud family, and the dynamics of the state and governance were subject to the principle of sharing political and religious roles between the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud and the descendants of Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab.

An alliance was established between the duo to achieve a mutual interest, so it was agreed between them that the first and his descendants after him would have the temporal authority, i.e. the rule, and the second and his descendants after him would have religious authority.

Imam Muhammad bin Saud allowed the arrival of Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab as his guest. So he came to him and nodded his hand and said to him: “I want you to pledge that you will strive for this religion, leadership, and trust in you and your descendants after you. The sheikhdom and the caliphate in the religion are mines and my family after me.” The Diriyah Agreement is considered a pivotal turning point in the history of the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The jurists of the Kingdom used to give religious legitimacy to the decisions and policies of the Saudi regime by issuing religious fatwas, especially on controversial issues, such as crushing the rebellion of the Muslim Brotherhood (the ideological army that contributed to building the Saudi state) in 1927, the recruitment of American soldiers during the Gulf War, and participation in Arab peace negotiations – Israeli and other thorny files.

During the period of King Faisal, he worked on employing the Wahhabi discourse to strike the Nasserist discourse marketed abroad through the establishment of the “Voice of Islam” radio station in response to the “Sawt al-Arab” radio, and Islamic universities and institutes were established that made the Wahhabi trend a social and cultural force that permeated Saudi society in an image comparable to that. The power of the House of Saud politically, as Muhammad Abu Ruman points out in his book (The Struggle over Salafism).

The religious establishment in Saudi Arabia is a part of the government. It has its power and prestige within the state. The alliance with the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia was the only historical formula for maintaining political stability and protecting absolute rule in Saudi Arabia. The alliance between the House of Saud and the religious establishment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aims to protect the internal cohesion in the Kingdom and shelter from three challenges:

The first: taking shelter from democracy and civil rule, which knocks on the door of Saudi Arabia from its Arab neighbors, so the official religious establishment has always chanted songs of loyalty to the monarchy and the House of Saud.

The second: confronting Iran and the Shiite tide, where the relationship between the House of Saud and the religious establishment was further strengthened after the Iranian revolution in 1979, which generated a conflict about religious legitimacy in the region and the Islamic world, especially in the face of Iran’s power and the presence of Shiite minorities in the countries of the region, which enhances Tehran’s opportunities to spread Shiites in the region.

The third: It is represented in the Brotherhood challenge, with the rising power of the “Muslim Brotherhood” and the influence they exercised on the regime in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as a movement that adopts a religious discourse critical of absolute power.

The official religious forces are represented in official institutions, which are:

• Senior Scholars

The Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, the most prominent governmental religious body representing the Wahhabi religion, was established in 1971. It includes a committee of religious figures, all jurists, and its head is the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia with the rank of minister, Wahhabi Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-sheik.

In the sixties and seventies, the influence of the “Council of Senior Scholars” began to expand through the “official religious institution” and its biggest symbols, Abdulaziz bin Baz and Muhammad bin Uthaymeen. This approach consists of paying attention to the religious, advocacy, and ideological aspect, and avoiding engaging in politics.

• The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice

It is an independent government body, established in 1940.

The Commission represents one of the wings of the religious institution and has set several tasks for it, including closing shops during prayer times and fighting all forms of showing love for the Prophet Muhammad such as celebrating his birth and others.. etc.

Later, it became subordinate to the prime minister in the Kingdom, i.e. the king, after it was administratively affiliated with the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces, i.e. the Ministry of Interior.

The commission controlled three vital areas: education, justice, and preaching, but education has recently been withdrawn from it.

In April 2016, a decision was issued to strip the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice of the majority of its powers through a new organizational decision regulating its work. In this organizational decision, the members of the commission do not have the right to stop people, chase them, or ask for their documents. Rather, their role is limited to informing the police of those they suspect, and they are obligated to present their identities to the people.

• Islamic universities

Among the most prominent of these universities are the Islamic University of Madinah and the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. They are administratively and financially affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education. The current tradition was to take into account the opinion of senior scholars when appointing their administrative and academic leaders.