Today, the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” – the current official title of King Salman and later his son, Mohamed Bin Salman – still reigns in Saudi Arabia. Several years ago, this country’s foreign policy became attention to the whole world because of its actions in the neighboring land of Yemen and more. Despite being the birthplace of Islam – and the place for Muslims to do its holy pilgrimage – some people argue that it gave Islam a bad name. This piece of writing will highlight some of the basis for why people defy the Saudi regime.
First is the case of Yemen. Starting in 2015, Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition that mostly comprises the Gulf countries to fight the Houthi armed groups in order to bring back the Saudi-backed Yemen's de jure president, Abdarabbuh Mansour Hadi. They said that the "intervention" was supposed to last a few weeks. However, it continued for years. According to the United Nations, the Saudi war on Yemen has resulted in 377,000 deaths, both directly and indirectly. The Saudi and Emirati bombing campaign has killed over 100,000 people and caused severe starvation.
Some ulamas from the Middle East even boycotted the Hajj pilgrimage because of Saudi rulers’ political decisions. In June 2018, a senior Tunisian ulama from the "Tunisian Union of Imams" also made a statement. He claimed that the money sent to Saudi authorities isn't used to help the needy, but rather to kill and displace Yemenis. A year later, The Grand Mufti of Libya, Sadiq al-Ghariani, who is also a part of the organization of Muslim Brotherhood, issued a fatwa that was also aired on Libyan television Ean Libya, urging all Muslims not to travel to Saudi Arabia for hajj, claiming it would be "a sinful act rather than a good deed," and that the hajj revenue is used by Saudi rulers to commit crimes against our fellow Muslims. He went on to say that the money would also contribute to financing the massacres of Muslims in Yemen, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and Algeria.
As of now, al-Ghariani has not lifted the fatwa and remains to oppose Saudi Arabia by releasing a fatwa on the optional Umrah travel. In a widely shared video, he requests Muslims to prioritize helping the Gazans over other good deeds like the Umrah pilgrimage. "If you gave Umrah's money to the people of Gaza, it would be hundreds of times more rewarding than going for Umrah," he added.
Second, Saudi likes to put their hand on another Arab state’s affairs. In Egypt, they supported a coup. Saudi Arabia assisted in the 2013 Egyptian coup that deposed Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president. Saudi Arabia supported the coup launcher, the Armed Forces of Egypt, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, current Egypt's president for more than ten years. According to Egyptian Ghad Party leader Ayman Nour, Saudi was the planer of the coup. On this basis, this argument has been proven by Saudi Arabia being the first Arab country to congratulate the coup. In Syria, they also attempted to topple Bashar al-Assad. Alongside the Saudi intelligence, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia helped to fund terrorist rebel militias such as Jaysh al-Islam and Noureddine Zenki faction.
Third is the Qatar blockade. A land, air, and sea blockade was enforced on Qatar between 2017 and 2021 by Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The four nations claimed that Qatar was closely associated with Iran, meddled in their domestic affairs, and provided support for terrorism. One of the people who was accused of supporting terrorism was the late Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group Saudi opposed for a long time.
It is clear that Saudi Arabia's foreign political record has been disastrous. Their involvement in Yemen has misery, with thousands of people dying as a result of bombardment and hunger. Furthermore, their interference in other Arab states' affairs, backing for coups, and sponsorship of rebel groups create more chaos in the Arab world.
