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Saudi Festival; compensating radicalism with radicalism!

PNN – Some are trying to make Saudi Arabia a secular country and believe that this change can help consolidate their power.

The entertainment festival “Riyadh Season” for eight days with the slogan “the world’s largest autumn entertainment festival” – including “fashion exhibition”, “music concerts”, “poetry night” and… – started four days ago in Riyadh.

Although Saudi Arabia has included cultural changes in the vision it has set for itself in 2030, and for several years it has been organizing events that are incompatible with the Salafist nature of this country. But these events have never been so radical that a large part of Saudi public opinion reacts negatively and describe the current state of this country as a return to the era of ignorance, this radical move regardless of its goals.

Salafism and its relationship with secularism

Salafism, despite its religious and anti-Western appearance, works along the secularism project and has no other goal than to weaken authentic Islam. Although at first glance, a fundamental contradiction between Salafism and secularism may be seen, historical research shows that the formation of Salafist movements in West Asia was part of the colonial strategies of Western governments. By taking advantage of some religious teachings and distorting them, these currents were used by the colonial powers as a tool to weaken the position of religion in Islamic societies. Two key goals were pursued in this approach: first, by violently portraying Salafism and introducing it as a symbol of Islam, an attempt was made to present a frightening image of this religion and to prevent the spread of Islamism in the world. Second, by creating deep divisions among Muslims by inciting sectarian strife, a ground was laid for weakening their collective power.

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A clear example of this policy is the emergence and strengthening of groups like ISIS, which, using a superficial and radical reading of religion, became a tool to destroy the face of Islam and destroy Muslims.

Compensating radicalism with radicalism

The recent developments in Saudi Arabia show that the government of this country is looking for radical changes to rebuild its global image, even if these changes lead to a clear confrontation with the Islamic identity, this process, after international crises such as September 11 and the emergence of terrorist groups such as ISIS has become more intense. The image of Saudi Arabia has suffered a serious blow, now some people in this country have resorted to measures that are extremely radical and confrontational both in terms of time and nature.

These new policies pursue two main goals: First, creating a distance between the Saudi identity and its long history of supporting Salafism, and second, gaining the support of the West as the main ally in the region.

Gambling in Riyadh

Some Saudi officials want to take Saudi Arabia out of the oil economy and move towards a more diverse economic model, following the economic models of Turkey and the UAE, especially in the field of tourism and the development of recreational infrastructure. In this regard, they try to generate income by holding world festivals, attracting tourists and creating economic free zones, however, there are fundamental differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Turkey in this regard.

One of them cuts Ben’s head!

Some are trying to turn Saudi Arabia into a secular country and believe that this change can help consolidate their power. But the historical experience of the countries that have followed the path of secularism shows that this approach has had severe political and social consequences for its founders in Islamic societies. A clear example of this kind of developments can be seen in the history of Iran, where Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, in order to attract the attention of the West and strengthen his personal power, put radical measures such as the celebration of Shiraz art and cultural changes on the agenda. These efforts were initially aimed at creating a modern and secular face of the imperial government, but ultimately led to strong religious and political reactions, which quickly led to major social and political changes and finally resulted in the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

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