Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last
- 7 years ago
Saudi Arabia’s Arab Spring, at Last
instructed me: “Do not write that we are ‘reinterpreting’ Islam — we are ‘restoring’ Islam to its origins —
and our biggest tools are the Prophet’s practices and [daily life in] Saudi Arabia before 1979.” At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, he argued, there were musical theaters, there was mixing between men and women, there was respect for Christians and Jews in Arabia.
Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which emerged bottom up
and failed miserably, except in Tunisia — this one is led from the top down by the country’s 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and, if it succeeds, it will not only change the character of Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across the globe.
Someone had to do this job — wrench Saudi Arabia into the 21st century — and M. B.S.
B.S.,” who had not spoken about the extraordinary events here of early November, when his government arrested scores of Saudi princes
and businessmen on charges of corruption and threw them into a makeshift gilded jail — the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton — until they agreed to surrender their ill-gotten gains.
I know now that my kids will not be hostages.” Added a 28-year-old Saudi woman social entrepreneur: “Ten years ago when we talked about music in Riyadh it meant buying a CD — now it is about the concert next month
and what ticket are you buying and which of your friends will go with you.”
Saudi Arabia would have a very long way to go before it approached anything like Western standards for free speech and women’s rights.
Op-Ed Columnist
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — I never thought I’d live long enough to write this sentence: The most
significant reform process underway anywhere in the Middle East today is in Saudi Arabia.
instructed me: “Do not write that we are ‘reinterpreting’ Islam — we are ‘restoring’ Islam to its origins —
and our biggest tools are the Prophet’s practices and [daily life in] Saudi Arabia before 1979.” At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, he argued, there were musical theaters, there was mixing between men and women, there was respect for Christians and Jews in Arabia.
Unlike the other Arab Springs — all of which emerged bottom up
and failed miserably, except in Tunisia — this one is led from the top down by the country’s 32-year-old crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and, if it succeeds, it will not only change the character of Saudi Arabia but the tone and tenor of Islam across the globe.
Someone had to do this job — wrench Saudi Arabia into the 21st century — and M. B.S.
B.S.,” who had not spoken about the extraordinary events here of early November, when his government arrested scores of Saudi princes
and businessmen on charges of corruption and threw them into a makeshift gilded jail — the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton — until they agreed to surrender their ill-gotten gains.
I know now that my kids will not be hostages.” Added a 28-year-old Saudi woman social entrepreneur: “Ten years ago when we talked about music in Riyadh it meant buying a CD — now it is about the concert next month
and what ticket are you buying and which of your friends will go with you.”
Saudi Arabia would have a very long way to go before it approached anything like Western standards for free speech and women’s rights.
Op-Ed Columnist
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — I never thought I’d live long enough to write this sentence: The most
significant reform process underway anywhere in the Middle East today is in Saudi Arabia.