THE KINGDOM AND THE CALIPHATE

Cole Bunzel | 19
Saudi Scholars and the Islamic State
With jihadis openly laying claim to the Saudi religious heritage, the Saudi
religious establishment might be expected to engage this threat in serious intellectual
combat. Yet nothing of the sort has taken place.
Instead, the kingdom’s scholars have reluctantly addressed
With jihadis openly laying claim to the
the issue of the Islamic State by issuing only blanket condemnations.
There is little sense of urgency in their words Saudi religious heritage, the Saudi religious
and actions, and absolutely no recognition of the Islamic establishment might be expected to engage
State’s Wahhabi character. Meanwhile, Saudi liberals who this threat in serious intellectual combat.
are clear-eyed about the Islamic State’s Wahhabi character,
along with at least one dissident religious scholar, have
Yet nothing of the sort has taken place.
reignited a debate over Wahhabism in the kingdom. They
want the religious establishment to lead an effort to reform Wahhabi doctrine,
but many of them view the institution as too weak to handle the task.
The Scholars Reprimanded
In mid-2014, the late King Abdullah castigated the Saudi religious establishment
for its silence in the face of the jihadi threat. In August 2014, a month
after the Islamic State declared itself the caliphate, Abdullah fumed at the
establishment scholars during a public gathering at his palace in Jeddah.
Earlier that day he had given a speech warning about the dangers of Islamic
extremism and calling on “the scholars of the Islamic community to carry out
their duty before God and confront those trying to hijack Islam and present it
to the world as the religion of extremism, hate, and terror.” Muslim scholars,
he suggested, needed to do more. Those who “have hesitated or are hesitating
to carry out their historical responsibilities against terrorism for the sake of
worldly benefits or hidden objectives, tomorrow they shall be its first victims,”
he said. 68 At the reception at his palace, the king made clear that those he had
in mind were his own court scholars.
Discussing the “deviants” of the Islamic State, the king decried “how a person
could take hold of another person and slaughter him like a sheep.” Then,
raising his voice, he motioned reproachfully at the scholars seated beside him.
“Your scholars, all of them are listening. I am asking them to expel the laziness
that is around them,” he said, turning to face the men concerned. “They see
laziness in you, and silence in you. And you have a duty. You have a duty [to
defend] your world and your religion, your religion, your religion!” The several
dozen scholars sat stone-faced during the king’s condemnation. 69
The reluctance of the scholars to address the Islamic State was partly because
of their support for the revolution in Syria, which they have cast as a legitimate
jihad. Though adapting their views to suit government policy, the scholars have
remained unwavering supporters of the Syrian jihad. 70 In 2012, the Council
of Senior Religious Scholars, which was created by royal decree in 1971 and is
the country’s highest religious authority, issued a fatwa prohibiting nonofficial