CORRUPTION IN
THE HEART OF
ISLAM
Saudi Arabia and
the House of Saud
Welcome to
Faith Presbyterian Church
Questions?
tim@faithcapecoral.org
Islam notes are on the web site:
www.FaithCapeCoral.org
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“If an election were held in Saudi Arabia today,
Osama bin Laden would be elected in a landslide …
why? Not because the Saudi’s want to wash their
hands in the blood of those who died on
September 11, but simply because bin Laden has
dared to do what even the mighty United States of
America won’t do: stand up to the thieves who
rule the country.”
“Saudi Arabia is a mess; and it is our mess. But
sometime soon, one way or another, the House of
Saud is coming down.”
Robert Baer, “The Fall of the House of Saud”
Atlantic Monthly, May 2003
OUTLINE
Saudi Arabia and Islam
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792)
The House of Saud (1927 – ‘full independence’)
The Marriage of Saud, Wahhabism, and Oil money
The Madrasa
Osama bin Laden
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SAUDI ARABIA AND ISLAM
570
610 – 633
622
630
631
Muhammad is born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad receives Qur’an in Saudi Arabia
The year of Muhammad’s flight to Medina,
Saudi Arabia, marks official ‘beginning’ of Islam
Muhammad marches on Mecca, Saudi
Arabia, and destroys the idols in the Kabah
Muhammad dies and is buried in Medina,
Saudi Arabia
Pillar #5 of Islam is the Hajj – all Muslims whose health and
finances permit, must travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, once
in their lifetime.
Saudi Arabia is Holy Land – birthplace of Muhammad and Islam
1998
“A Declaration of the World Islamic Front
for Jihad against Jews and the Crusaders”
Printed in 1998 Arabic newspaper in London
signed by bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian
United States troops are occupying the holiest land in Islam –
Saudi Arabia – and humiliating its people.
The Declaration ends:
“By God’s leave we call on every Muslim who believes in God
and hopes for reward to obey God’s command to kill the
Americans and plunder their possessions wherever he finds
them and whenever he can…American devils…helpers of
Satan.”
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9 – 11 – 2001
15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian
"They came in the name of God. They came bent on murder and
martyrdom. It was as if they rode to earth on the fierce breath
of Allah himself, for the sacred scriptures that had nurtured
these murderous young men are steeped in images of a violent
and vengeful God who wills life for the faithful and horrific
torment for unbelievers."
"Yes, the Koran speaks of mercy and compassion and calls for
ethical living. But such passages are no match for the ferocity of
instruction found there for waging war for God’s sake. The
scholar Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer carefully traces this trail of holy
violence in his important book, Is Religion Killing Us? [Trinity
Press International, 2003]. He highlights many of the verses in
the Koran that the Islamic terrorists could have had in their
hearts and on their lips four years ago as they moved toward
their gruesome rendezvous."
Bill Moyer, September 9, 2005
How
SAUDI ARABIA
became the home
of militant ISLAM
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Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab
‫ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﻮهﺎب‬
(1703-1792)
• Theologian in Arabia who in 1744 launched a
campaign for “purification and renewal”.
• Ottoman Empire in decline – seeks ‘rebirth of
Islam’ by taking the Qur’an literally (against the
popular analytical reasoning of Qur’an).
• Married wealthy woman, when she died he had
money to fund his ‘fundamentalist vision’ of Islam.
Al-Wahhab
Against:
•Supplications (and emotion) at graves
•Erecting monuments at graves
•Invoking a saint or angel in prayer – God alone
•Celebrating feasts for dead saints
•Wearing of charms and believing in their healing
power
•Practicing magic
•Any changes in worship
•Oppose all pictures or depictions of Mohammed –
oppose celebrating his birthday
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Al-Wahhab
(con’t)
Goal: pure and authentic Islam of the
Founder.
John Wesley with a difference –
the end justifies the means
“ ... enforced their beliefs with the utmost
severity and ferocity … slaughtering large
numbers of men, women and children
who failed to meet their standards of
Islamic purity and authenticity.”
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab
Wahhabism opposed any other teaching of Islam
(any other ‘school’, opposed Shiites and Sunnis)
Islamic fundamentalism is an unfortunate term, but
we don’t have a better one. “The literal divinity
and inerrancy of the Qur’an is a basic
dogma of Islam, and though some may
doubt it, none challenge it.”
Bernard Lewis, Crisis of Islam
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SAUDI ARABIA
and the HOUSE OF SAUD
Two major developments in 20th century made
Wahhabism a major force in Islamic World.
1. Expansion and consolidation of the Saudi Kingdom as
it wrestled power from other tribes - by 1927 it is
granted full independence. Wahhabism embraced by
Saudi rulers, promoted it with armed force. Truce –
House of Saud remains in power – Wabbhism remains
official version of Islam.
2. May 19, 1933, an agreement between the Saudi
minister of finance and a representative of Standard Oil
of California.
“Let My People Go”
“Today, it seems impossible to challenge the
Wahabbi Pharaohs as there is no Moses
among Muslims, committed enough, to ask
the Saudi Pharaoh to let his people go. The
Muslim will have to realize that the
liberation of Mecca and Medina is more vital
for the rehabilitation of Islam’s true image
than any dispute over Jerusalem. The issue
of Jerusalem is only a ploy to keep the
Muslim mind filled with hatred against other
faiths.”
Tashbih Sayyed
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Women Under Wahhabism
• Males are superior
• Children belong to the fathers (not mothers)
• If a husband dies, his brother or closest male relative
becomes head of her family – he alone decides how
family shall live and who daughter(s) will marry
• If a woman does not bring forth male children
“chances are” that she will be divorced by three times
the husband proclaiming himself divorced
• That young girls are taught at a young age to accept
their inferiority is “truly the most abominable feature
of this slavery”
Women of Arabia by Jacques Benbasset
Also of note: Princess – memoirs of a Saudi princess as
told to Jean P. Sassoon and The Torn Veil by Carmen
bin Laden, a Swiss girl who married one of Osama’s
brothers.
“These are not necessarily the rules of Islam,
but those of the fundamentalist ‘Wahhabi’
brand of Islam, enforced by Mutawa, the
religious police whose members can even
cause trouble for members of the Saudi royal
family.”
“… nowhere in the Qur’an is the veiling of
women from head to toe required, nowhere is
she deprived of her parental rights.
Saudi/Wahabbi extremism uses and misuses
religion, clads itself in religious respectability
to enforce very ancient abusive rules in a war
of the sexes …”
Women of Arabia by Jacques Benbassat
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How Bad Is It?
The Princess (memoirs of a Saudi Princess as told to
Jean P. Sassoon) – the princess relates that while
she was in a luxurious Saudi clinic awaiting the
birth of her child, occupying a room across the
hall from her, awaiting the birth of a child
conceived in the course of a gang-rape, was a 14
year old girl. When the child was born, “the
sobbing young mother was taken away by
policemen to be stoned to death in a public place.
The boys who had raped her had gotten together,
agreeing to testify that they had been ‘provoked’
by her wiles. The testimony of four males suffices
under Islamic law to pass sentence.”
The Price of Once Cheap Oil?
“Americans have long considered Saudi Arabia
the one constant in the Arab Middle
East – a source of cheap oil, political
stability, and lucrative business
relationships. But the country is run
by an increasingly dysfunctional
royal family that has been funding
militant Islamic movements abroad
in an attempt to protect itself from
them at home.”
Robert Baer (former CIA operative)
Sleeping with the Devil
Atlantic Monthly, May 2003
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Dysfunction
• A healthy prince sires 40 – 70 children during his
lifetime, each receives a generous stipend. The House
of Saud now has 30,000 members – number projected
at 60,000 in next generation. Known for lavish
spending ($5 million a day on visits to the palace at
Mirabella on the Spanish Riviera), Prince Bandar’s
50,000+ square foot home in Aspen, Abdul Aziz $4.6
billion palace and theme park outside Riyadh.
Meanwhile, as the royal family spends, per-capita
income fell from $28,000 in 1981 to $6,900 in 2001;
cash reserves estimated at $120 billion in the 1980s
worth $21 billion today. [Atlantic Monthly]
• The Royal family is despised by Osama bin Laden and
his supporters as corrupt and an apostasy to Allah.
Consider . . .
• Saudi Arabia transferred $500 million
to al Qaeda over the past decade.
(source: UN Security Council)
• The kingdom pledged
$400 million last year for
the support of ‘martyrs’ families.
(source: the Saudi Embassy web site – Schwartz)
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SAUDI ARABIA
and the HOUSE OF SAUD
Wahhabi Islam now rests on solid
economic foundation
Descendents of Abdul Wahhib still head the Saudi
religious establishment. They successfully resisted
the introduction of ‘heathen’ contraptions such as
radios, cars, and television, relenting only when
the king promised to use those new media to
promote the faith. Alcohol and women driving are
forbidden, no freedom of religion, no separation of
church and state, public apostasy is a crime
punishable by death…Islam is the religion and all
citizens are Muslim.
House of Saud + Wahhabism + Oil Money
= Militant Islam for Export
Madrasa – classical madrasa was center for higher
education, scholarship, teaching and research;
predecessor in many ways of the great medieval
European universities.
“It has come to denote a center for
indoctrination and bigotry and violence
Bernard Lewis
Lewis: imagine the KKK, backed by incredible Texas
oil wealth, took over all education in the State of
Texas and taught its brand of Christianity.
Madrasas throughout the world preach hatred, bigotry
and extremism!
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Terror for Export
• Madrasa schools are a breeding ground
for militant Islam … House of Saud
finances these schools as ‘protection
money’ (Robert Baer)
• The Wahhabi lobby (the Saudi-backed
extremist network), largely controls
Islam in America (source: Stephen
Schwartz, The Two Faces of Islam: The House
of Sa’ud from Tradition to Terror)
American Mosques Infiltrated with Hate?
A new (2005) study entitled “Saudi Publications on
Hate Ideology Fill American Mosques” released by
Freedom House makes the following conclusions:
• “… American mosques are filled with Saudi
publications that promote hate.”
• “… these publications advance a ‘dualistic
worldview’ in which there are two antagonistic
realms or abodes that can never be reconciled.”
• “… these publications pose a grave threat to nonMuslims and to the Muslim community itself.”
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American Mosques Infiltrated with Hate?
Writes Junaid Afeef (attorney and activist and
writer in the U.S.):
“If this study’s conclusions are accurate, then
the American-Muslim community
needs to undertake a monumental
overhaul of its institutions and the
management of its resources and
infrastructures.”
A Figment of our Imagination?
On June 26, 2003, Stephen Schwartz testified before the
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism Technology and
Homeland Security, chaired by Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz). His
topic was “Wahhabism and Islam in the U.S.”
Schwartz writes:
“I outlined the outrageous degree to which Saudifunded Wahhabi extremists, who are supporters of
terrorism, have come to dominate Islam in the U.S.
My testimony was not greeted with enthusiasm by
James Zogby (Arab American Institute) who claimed
of the Wahhabi sect, that its ‘existence is a figment of
the imagination of extreme Sufis, Westerners, and
others who feel threatened by authentic Islam.”
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“Osama is the product of the Wahabbi doctrine,”
writes Carmen bin Laden about her brother-in-law:
“ […] a great majority of Saudis share his convictions
in every detail. In their eyes, no one can be too
religious. They feel an inextinguishable anger
towards the western world and its countless
temptations. They refuse to evolve, to adapt. For
them, it is easier to squash these temptations, to
destroy them, as a juvenile delinquent would. I
hope I am wrong, but alas, I am convinced that
the fundamentalists, fed by Saudi oil, are not about
to be dislodged. I am afraid that if we Westerners
are not sufficiently vigilant, there will be no end to
their terrorism.”
From The Torn Veil
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OSAMA BIN LADEN
Who?
Saudi financier who recruited and led Arab volunteers for
the ‘jihad’ against the Soviet invaders in Afghanistan.
Since that war he has sent his ‘Arab Afghans’ to fight in
Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir and other conflicts. He has
declared ‘jihad’ against the U.S. declaring “it is the duty
of all Muslims to kill American soldiers and civilians”. He
is also accused of authoring a number of attacks against
the US – 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa, prime
suspect in the attack against the U.S.S. Cole, and of
course, 9-11. In order to kill 12 Americans he was
willing to kill 200 Africans in the attack, many of them
Muslims. Interesting to note that even after bin Laden
took responsibility, Saudi Arabia continued to fund the
Taliban from where he launched the attack.
OSAMA BIN LADEN
What does he want?
That all Muslim countries should be ruled according to
Islamic Sharia law thus pitting himself against all prowestern regimes in the Middle East. The governments
of Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are particularly
loathsome.
ƒ After 9-11, four out of five hits on the clandestine
Al Qaeda web site came from within Saudi Arabia
ƒ Most of the 650 Al Qaeda prisoners at
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba - ‘the worst
of the worst’ according to Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld – are rumored to be Saudis.
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OSAMA BIN LADEN
How does he operate?
His organization, Al Qaeda, is based primarily on Arab
volunteers who fought in Afghanistan and were
either unwilling or unable to return home. The
Afghan ‘jihadists’ have developed links with other
Islamic extremists in countries ranging from Algeria
to South Africa and the Philippines. The goal – to
link all disaffected Muslims into an ‘Islamic
International’ to fight a global war against the west
(U.S.)
“We should see the new hatred dressed in
religious garb for what it is: a war against the
very order of contemporary life … it would have
been nice to think that in the new lands of the
West, a more tolerant version of Islam might
have taken root. Instead, a neurotic zealotry
has made its appearance.”
Fouad Ajami, US News and World Report, July 15, 2005
“Most Muslims are not fundamentalists, and
most fundamentalists are not terrorists, but
most present-day terrorists are Muslims and
proudly identify themselves as such…make no
mistake, the destruction of Western Civilization
is the goal.”
The Rise of Terrorism, page 137
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