Mohammed bin Salman is set to be the next king of Saudi Arabia. But his reform efforts and vow to "eradicate" Islamic extremism may spark the wrath of the country's ultraconservative clerics.
Image: /Getty Images/AFP/F. Nureldine
Advertisement
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country would become more "moderate" and "open" on Tuesday and pledged to "eradicate" radical Islamist ideology from the Gulf kingdom.
"We are returning to what we were before – a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world," the 32-year-old said at a major investment conference in Riyadh.
"We will eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon ... We represent the moderate teachings and principles of Islam," the crown prince said.
In September, the Saudi government issued a decree that overturned a previous ban on women driving. Some officials have hinted the government may soon permit long-banned cinemas.
The young prince has also been the primary force driving "Vision 2030," an initiative designed to wean Saudi Arabia off of its traditional dependency on oil revenues by creating a more dynamic and diverse Saudi economy.
Bin Salman defended the government's reform efforts on Tuesday, saying "we were not like this in the past."
But those comments, together with the young prince's reform drive, threaten the status and opinions of Saudi Arabia's traditionally powerful clerics, many of whom preach an ultraconservative form of Islam known as Wahhabism.
Abdul Majed Jalal, a Saudi journalist, told DW that Bin Salman's promise to "eradicate the remnants of extremism" was directed against the Wahhabist doctrine.
"Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meant Wahabbism when he said that we should eradicate extremism and return to a moderate form of Islam," he said, adding that Wahhabist teachings had caused "difficult cultural problems (in Saudi Arabia) that we still suffer from today."
But Sebastian Sons from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) told DW that bin Salman will find it difficult to completely turn his back on the Saudi religious establishment.
"You can't forget that historically, the royal family would not have had any power without the religious support of the Wahhabists," he said.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has lifted its driving ban on women and made other strides toward granting women equal rights. But progress is incredibly slow, and lags far behind the rest of the world.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Ammar
1955: First school for girls, 1970: First university for women
Girls have not always been able to go to school like these students in Riyadh. Enrollment at the first school for girls, Dar Al Hanan, began in 1955. The Riyadh College of Education, the first higher education institution for women, opened in 1970.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Nureldine
2001: ID cards for women
At the start of the 21st century, women could get personal ID cards for the first time. The cards are the only way for them to prove who they are, for example in disputes relating to inheritance or property issues. IDs were only issued with the permission of a woman's guardian, though, and to the guardian instead of directly to the woman. Only in 2006 were women able to get IDs without permission.
Image: Getty Images/J. Pix
2005: End of forced marriages - on paper
Saudi Arabia banned forced marriage in 2005, but marriage contracts continue to be hammered out between the husband-to-be and the father of the bride, not the bride herself.
Image: Getty Images/A.Hilabi
2009: The first female government minister
In 2009, King Abdullah appointed the first female minister to Saudi Arabia's government. Noura al-Fayez became the deputy education minister for women's affairs.
Image: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
2012: First female Olympic athletes
Saudi Arabia agreed to allow female athletes to compete on the national team for the Olympics for the first time. One of them was Sarah Attar, who ran the women's 800 meter race at the 2012 Olympics in London wearing a headscarf. Before the Games, there was speculation that the Saudi Arabian team might be banned for gender discrimination if they didn't allow women to participate.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/J.-G.Mabanglo
2013: Women are allowed to ride bicycles and motorbikes
Saudi leaders allowed women to ride bicycles and motorbikes for the first time in 2013 — but only in recreational areas, wearing full Islamic body covering and with a male relative present.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
2013: First women in the Shura
In February 2013, King Abdullah swore in the first 30 women to the Shura, Saudi Arabia's consultative council. This allowed women to be appointed to these positions, soon they would be allowed to actually run for office...
Image: REUTERS/Saudi TV/Handout
2015: Women can vote and get elected
In Saudi Arabia's 2015 municipal elections, women were able to vote and run for office for the first time. By contrast, New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, in 1893. Germany did so in 1919. At the 2015 Saudi polls, 20 women were elected to municipal roles in the absolute monarchy.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Batrawy
2017: First female head of the Saudi stock exchange
In February 2017, the Saudi stock exchange names the first female chairperson in its history, Sarah Al Suhaimi.
Image: pictur- alliance/abaca/Balkis Press
2018: Women to be allowed in sports stadiums
On October 29, 2017, the country's General Sports Authority announced that women would be allowed into sports stadiums for the first time. Three previously male-only arenas will soon be open for women as well, starting in early 2018.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Nureldine
2018: Driving ban eliminated
On September 26, 2017, Saudi Arabia announced that women would soon be allowed to drive, causing a flurry of driving courses for women to prepare for June 2018, when they would no longer need permission from their male guardian to get a driver's license or need their guardian in the car when they drive.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
2019: Saudi women to be notified by text message if they are divorced
The new law, designed to protect them from having their marriage ended without their knowledge, will allow women to check their marital status online or visit a court to get a copy of divorce papers. Human rights defenders say the law does nothing to address the fact that Saudi women can only obtain divorces in exceedingly limited cases — such as with her husband’s consent or if he has harmed her.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Ammar
12 images1 | 12
'I am nothing without them'
Earlier Tuesday, bin Salman promised the conference attendees, which included representatives from some of the world's largest companies, that the Gulf kingdom will create a massive economic zone along the country's northwestern coastline.
The project, called NEOM, will spur innovation by creating a $500 billion (€425 billion) city run completely on alternative energy and governed by regulations separate from the rest of the country.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which the crown prince chairs, the Saudi government and multiple international companies will contribute to the project.
Panelists from some of those companies lauded the crown prince for his "vision." But he refused the spotlight, saying he was only "one of 20 million people. I am nothing without them."
