Backlash Begins Against Crown Prince's Reforms in Saudi Arabia

It was just a matter of time before the many religious extremists in Saudi Arabia began to speak out against the westernization, or modernization of the Kingdom by Crown Prince bin Salman. If he doesn't reverse his course, and I seriously doubt he will, then his life is in great danger by the Salafists who have held much power for a very long time.

Al-Qaeda warns Saudi crown prince over replacing mosques

with cinemas

People inside the first Saudi Arabia cinema in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on January 13, 2018. © Reem Baeshen / Reuters

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has reportedly warned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman over his reforms, saying that reinstating movie theaters and bringing WWE wrestlers to the country were sinful projects.

The Sunni terrorist group said that Mohammad bin Salman replaced mosques with cinemas and gave up on religious texts in a statement on its Madad news bulletin, cited by SITE Intelligence Group. The influence of atheist and secular views has paved the way for corruption and moral degradation in Saudi Araba, the group said in its statement.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman

AQAP was especially unhappy about the WWE Royal Rumble event, which took place in the Kingdom in April. It said the American wrestlers exposed their private parts and wore signs of the cross before the mixed crowd of Muslim men and women. 

Other signs of degradation include daily concerts, movie screenings, and circus shows, the jihadists added.

Since becoming crown prince a year ago, bin Salman has introduced a range of reforms aimed at the democratization of the ultra-conservative Muslim state, including lifting a ban on female drivers, reintroducing concerts and cinemas, as well as allowing women to attend football games. However, the country’s course was called into question in late May after the arrest of over a dozen mostly female activists calling for the lifting of guardianship rules that require Saudi women to receive permission from a male relative before making important life decisions.

Bin Salman is also responsible for a massive “anti-corruption” crackdown last year, which saw over 200 Saudi princes, ministers, and officials arrested in a move that, analysts say, was actually an attempt to consolidate power and extort money from the wealthy.

Yemen

AQAP has gained momentum due to the ongoing conflict in Yemen, in which Saudi Arabia and its allies became involved back in 2015. Riyadh has been fighting the Shia Houthi rebels with the aim of re-instating ousted President Mansour Hadi to power.

Since then, nearly 6,400 civilians have been killed and over 10,000 injured, the UN said in early May, adding that “the vast majority of these civilian casualties were as a result of airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Coalition.”

After more than three years of fighting, Yemen is facing a massive humanitarian crisis. More than 22.2 million people in the country are in need of assistance, with 60 percent of the population lacking food and more than half left without basic medical services, according to the UN.

‘Historic Step’: Greece Curbs Powers of Islamic Sharia Courts

Islamization in Reverse

Women of Muslim community wait for the arrival of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, near a mosque in the city of Komotini, Greece © Alexandros Avramidis / Reuters

The Greek parliament has overwhelmingly voted to limit the power of Sharia courts among the Muslim minority, seeking greater equality for all citizens. They were introduced a century ago in an agreement with Turkey after WWI.

On Tuesday, Greek MPs passed a new law under which the Muslim minority would no longer be bound by Sharia law. Under the old system, family disputes over inheritance, divorce and child custody would be settled by muftis and Islamic law scholars. But this parallel legal system has been accused of sexism and discrimination against women.

“The government today is taking an historic step by bringing to Parliament the bill on Sharia which widens and deepens legal and civil equality enjoyed by all Greek men and women without exception,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a written statement.

“Respecting in every way the unique characteristics of the Muslim minority in Thrace, the government, with the bill, rectifies past injustices against its members.”

The bill gives priority to Greek courts, and was supported by all major parties except the far-right Golden Dawn, which said it wasn’t clear what powers the Islamic courts would still maintain.

The revision of the law comes after a legal case brought by one Hatijah Molla Salli, a widow from the city of Komotini in Thrace, eastern Greece. Salli was fighting an inheritance dispute with her late husband’s sisters and won the initial case, but in 2013 the Greek Supreme Court ruled that the century-old agreement with Turkey takes precedent. Salli then filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is expected to weigh in on the topic later this year.

After the First World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek and Turkish governments carried out a population exchange in 1923 in which millions of Muslim and Orthodox Christian people were moved between the two countries. Under the deal, the remaining Muslims in Greece would be placed under Islamic customs and law.

Today there are more than 110,000 Greek Muslims, according to various estimates, mostly concentrated in the eastern region of Thrace near the Turkish border. The situation of Greek Muslims is closely watched by the Turkish government, which considers them Turks, although the community also includes Roma and the Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks. During his visit to Athens in December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Greece of not respecting its Muslim citizens.

Greece is one of the few European countries which recognize some aspects of Islamic law alongside its own secular legal system. In the UK, a number of Sharia tribunals operate under the Arbitration Act which allows them to resolve legal disputes as long as this doesn’t conflict with British law.

And, for sure, no-one in the UK is looking too closely at Sharia tribunals for fear of finding conflicts with British law.