Here’s something about the crown prince of Saudi Arabia
By: Rayyan Saleem
Tags: Content Writing, Politics, Articles, Content Marketing, International

Mohammed Bin Salman — ( Picture Credits: Alastair Grant/Associated Press )

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia holds prime importance in the Muslim World. Being the birthplace of Islam and the site of its holiest shrines, it has always been viewed with great reverence, a speculation now degrading.

Ever since its foundation, Saudi Arabia has been exerting profound influence in the politics of the region. Establishing deep relationships with the US, it has been serving as the US stronghold in the Middle East.

The kingdom has repeatedly presented itself as the representative of the Muslim world, thanks to it being the home to two of Islam’s holiest sites. But the absurdity is, that despite the Muslims being impotent, the Saudis have always managed to safeguard their own interests. In one way or another, every Muslim failure has ultimately led to a Saudi victory.

Holding the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”, it is expected from the ruling Al-Saud to comply with the Islamic laws, but recent events, especially the actions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known colloquially as MBS) have proved otherwise.

RISE OF MBS:

Politics in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia have never been steady. The kingdom has experienced dramatic shifts in power time and again.

Before 2015, the name Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was hardly known, and the young prince held no significant power. Since the coronation of his father King Salman, he has risen from being a minor prince to becoming the most powerful man in the kingdom. Using his malicious campaigns against his rival uncles and cousins, the current Crown Prince has harnessed unforeseen power.

LOOSENING THE CHAINS:

According to the world bank, the total population of Saudi Arabia is approximately 34 Million. And those under the age of 29 account for two-thirds of the total population.

Saudi Arabia is ideologically linked to Wahhabism-The most conservative strain of Islam. Despite the ostentatious lifestyle of its ruling class, the people of Saudi Arabia have always stuck to ancient styles of living, partly because of the harsh laws of the Wahhabi establishment.

With such a large youth population, yearning for change, it had become clear for the Al Saud that to remain in power, they needed some alteration in their policies.

MBS recognized this and grasped the opportunity. He initiated rapid changes in the kingdom and loosened the shackles of the Wahhabi ideology which had grasped it for almost forever. His steps earned him a great reputation at home and amounted to his rise to power.

BOLD NATURE:

Mohammed bin Salman has the status of being a big gambler in politics. On the journey to his rise, he has made bets that could not only overturn his seat of power but also bring down the stability of the kingdom.

· The decision to sell chunks of the state oil company Aramco, which fuels Saudi Arabia, and to move the economy away from oil was a big bet. Aramco has been the source for the Al Saud’s lavish lifestyle and to maintain their grip on the kingdom. A small mistake could upend the entire Al-Saud regime.

· Introducing Western-styled projects in a kingdom that is highly influenced by Wahhabi clerics could turn into his nightmare. Not even the former Saudi Kings have dared to do anything that could upset the Wahhabi establishment.

· Intervention in the Yemen civil war was a bold step. MBS assured victory in weeks, but the war has now become a mess for Saudi Arabia. But despite some of his plans going astray, MBS still continues to take decisive action every now and then.

MBS’s reforms in the kingdom have earned him popularity in the West, but in the Muslim world, he hasn’t been able to gather the same response. On the contrary, some of his actions have made him a pariah among other Islamic states.

THE KHASHOGGI MURDER:

What tarnishes MBS’s reputation the most is undoubtedly the grisly case of Jamal Khashoggi. Being a dauntless journalist, Khashoggi didn’t comply with MBS’s doctrine of journalism, according to which nobody could even question his decisions.

Seeing Khashoggi as a threat to his autocratic rule, MBS tried to silence him, but Khashoggi retreated to the US just in time. Now in the US, Khashoggi continued with his work and became more and more antagonistic of MBS’s ways.

“In my career as a journalist, I called for everything, Mohammed bin Salman is doing right now,”

Khashoggi gave remarks during a speech in Washington in 2017

“He is doing what we demanded him to do. So why do I criticize him now? Simply because he is doing the right things the wrong way, very wrong way.”

Ultimately, MBS decided he had had enough of the maverick journalist.

In October 2018, while Khashoggi was in Turkey, MBS played his final card. Khashoggi went to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to get some paperwork done before his marriage. What awaited him there, was the kill team sent by the Crown Prince.

Details of the murder found by investigators, later on, were frightful. Khashoggi had been injected with a large amount of a drug, which resulted in an overdose and killed him. Afterward, his body was dismembered, and according to Aljazeera,

“Most likely burned in a large oven at the Saudi consulate general’s residence in Istanbul.”

The killing was a blunt move of MBS. Turkish authorities had all evidence, which pointed out Saudi involvement in the murder. The Saudis initially refuted any kind of involvement, but later on, had to accept their part in it. Unofficially, MBS is considered the culprit of the act, although he and the Saudi government dissent all these claims.

The murder fanned the flames of hostility between Saudi Arabia and Turkey, countries that already share confrontational history. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated:

“Whitewashing such barbarity will, of course, injure and wound the conscience of all humanity,”

Israel and the prince:

Israel has always been an adversary for Muslim states around the world, due to their illicit occupation of Palestinian lands. Whilst his father King Salman has confronted Israeli policies on Palestine, MBS displays a rather different stance. Over the years, the 35-year-old crown prince has repeatedly gestured about thawing relations with the Israeli state.

Officially, Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel, adopting the stance that progress is possible only if Israel withdraws from the Palestinian lands it had occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

In 2018, The Trump Administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that drew criticism from the Muslim community. Saudi Arabia was expected to act against it, and publicly, it did condemn the decision, but less openly, MBS thought otherwise.

Although Jerusalem holds prime importance in the Muslim world, it didn’t add much to MBS’s plans. The crown prince saw many benefits for himself in cooperating with the Jewish state, disregarding the lasting damage it would cause.

According to Israeli media, MBS during a meeting with Jewish groups harshly criticized the Palestinian President and made insensitive comments regarding the Palestinian people.

“In the last few decades, the Palestinian leadership has missed all the peace proposals it was given one after the other,”

MBS reportedly said according to an Israeli senior journalist.

“Palestinians should now take what Trump proposes and come to peace, or shut up and stop complaining.”

Even more recently, word leaked out regarding a secret meeting between the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mohammed bin Salman. Israeli sources have confirmed the news, but the Saudis have denied it constantly. The leaks have derived more criticism onto the crown prince, deteriorating his already stained image in the Muslim world.

WHATS NEXT?

The authority and power equipped by the young Crown Prince undoubtedly make him a key figure in determining, not only the future of the Middle East but of the entire world. The support he has gained from the West and his people, aid him in achieving his ambitions. On the flip side, the rising enmity of the Muslim world against him may prove to be his downfall. The world has yet to see what awaits if Mohammed bin Salman gets the Saudi Crown and elevates the game.