Would the Crown-Prince Ibn Salman Witness the Collapse of his Saudi Kingdom?
The Holy Quran and the Destruction of the Al-Saud Family
Published in October 28, 2017
Translated by: Ahmed Fathy
Firstly: a summary of the Quranic rules of smiting and destruction of nations, countries, and states:
1- These rules are valid and applicable before and after the descent/revelation of the Quran; thus, they can apply to Al-Saud royal family: "How many generations have We destroyed after Noah? Your Lord is sufficient as Knower and Beholder of the sins of His servants." (17:17); "How many a guilty town have We crushed, and established thereafter another people?" (21:11); "There is no city but We will destroy before the Day of Resurrection, or punish it with a severe torment. This is inscribed in the Book." (17:58).
2- Injustice is the reason for destroying these nations: "Your Lord would never destroy the towns unjustly, while their inhabitants are seeking reform." (11:117).
3- This injustice is embodied when an affluent minority confiscates and monopolizes wealth, power, and authority, in contrast to impoverished, deprived, and impecunious vast majority of citizens. The members of the affluent class compete with one another in building grand richly furnished palaces, whereas the impoverished vast majority suffers lack of basic facilities, and this is the image of grave injustice portrayed in this verse about destroyed nations: "How many a town have We destroyed while it was committing injustice? They lie in ruins; with stilled wells, and lofty palaces." (22:45).
4- This minority class of the affluent ones is commanded by God to adhere to justice, but it stubbornly refuses reform and it increases its injustices and sins until their nation is destroyed by God: "When We decide to destroy a town, We command its affluent ones, they transgress in it, so the word becomes justified against it, and We destroy it completely." (17:16). Thus, they are destroyed because of rejecting reform and upholding justice: "Never did We destroy a town, but it had warners. As a reminder-We are never unjust." (26:208-209); "Your Lord would never destroy the towns unjustly, while their inhabitants are seeking reform." (11:117).
5- Typically, the affluent, corrupt ones insist on keeping the status quo and to stick to inherited conditions that have enabled them to monopolize wealth, power, and authority: "If only there were, among the generations before you, people with wisdom, who spoke against corruption on Earth - except for the few whom We saved. But the unjust ones pursued the luxuries they were indulged in, and thus became criminals." (11:116).
6- The affluent ones make the traditions and inherited notions and conditions as part of their earthly religion because this way, they protect their financial interests, high social stature, and political influence and power; this is why they reject the celestial messages of God and stick to traditions of their forefathers. This habit is repeated in history of ancient nations before the Quran and it persists in the eras after the descent/revelation of the Quran: "But they say, "We found our forefathers on a course of an Umma, and we are guided in their footsteps." Likewise, We sent no warner before you to any town, but the affluent among them said, "We found our forefathers on a course of an Umma, and we are following in their footsteps."" (43:22-25).
7- Such centuries-old inherited falsehoods and traditions are deemed as tenets of the earthly religion because sinners among the unjust, affluent ones assume wrongly that they will enter into Paradise through myths of intercession of saints/deities and indulgences; thus, they disbelieve in the Last Day that is based on Absolute Divine Justice. They have fashioned a last day that is a jest serving their whims and tailored as per their tastes by imagining they will enter into Paradise and avoid Hell however sinful, corrupt, disbelieving, and unjust they have been on Earth: "We sent no warner to any town, without its affluent ones saying, "We reject what you are sent with." And they say, "We have more wealth and more children, and we will not be tormented."" (34:34-35).
8- God describes the moments when the unjust, corrupt nations of ancient eras were destroyed and tormented in this world: "Then, when they sensed Our might, they started running away from it. Do not run, but come back to your luxuries, and to your homes, that you may be questioned. They said, "Woe to us; we were unjust!" This continued to be their cry, until We made them silent ashes." (21:12-15).
Secondly: how these Quranic rules apply to Al-Saud family in our era now:
1- The Al-Saud family did not practice extravagance or lead an affluent, luxurious lifestyle in the first and second Saudi states; they were well-off but their affluent lifestyle began only after the soaring oil prices after the 1973 war. This radical change transformed the Al-Saud family from Bedouin simplicity to affluence and extravagance without any gradual stages of civilization. Bill Gates and other billionaires in the West who have formed their wealth with hard work lead a simple lifestyle. In contrast, Al-Saud family members spend extravagantly on their luxuries from the oil revenues that come easily and should have belonged to the inhabitants of Al-Ahsa region. This is the corrupt and corrupting affluence that will bring about God's destruction to the Saudi kingdom.
2- The Saudi affluent ones include retinue members who serve the royal family; this is in contrast to the vast majority of citizens who live in poverty. There is a thin, weak layer of middle-class members who do not own the houses they live in. The extremist Wahabi sharia laws torment the Arabian nation as they are imposed forcibly on them and they never reach beyond the walls of palaces of the affluent ones!
3- The Al-Saud family members own countless luxurious palaces, yachts, and planes inside and outside the Saudi kingdom, whereas Jeddah drowns annually in sewerage water and rain. This means that facilities provided for the poor ones are dilapidated, whereas facilities and electricity are provided for free for palaces of the affluent ones. Poverty spreads all over the Saudi kingdom, and silence is imposed on this fact. The West media is filled with stories, which make the West people flabbergasted, of palaces, luxuries, expenditures, and journeys of Al-Saud princes outside the Saudi kingdom and how they spend money without limits. The West people do not realize how these princes moved suddenly from Bedouin lifestyle to an extreme form of affluence and how Wahabi clergymen justify their crimes and dance in their processions.
4- Among the miracles of the Quran is that the Quranic rules for destroying unjust nations apply exactly to Al-Saud family – their destruction is imminent if they do not apply reform soon enough. Details of this fills many volumes; suffice it here that we mention the huge abyss between the poverty of the vast majority and the wealth of the affluent ones inside the Saudi kingdom.
Thirdly: the affluent Al-Saud family members and the confiscation and monopoly of wealth:
1- WikiLeaks documents mention that the wealth of the Al-Saud family members is more than one trillion US$, and this is about the double of the GNP of the Saudi kingdom (600 billion US$). The oil revenues are confiscated by only six Saudi princes, and the Treasury of the Saudi State provides monthly salaries of the royal family members and spends 40 billion US$ annually on their marriages and building their palaces (and all facilities)
2- The Al-Saud family members as conquerors who annexed regions of Arabia assume that they have the 'right' to own all lands inside the Saudi kingdom, even if these lands are owned by some citizens. It often happens that a Saudi prince would confiscate stretches of land and provide facilities to them for free (as part of governmental facilities) and then sell these stretches of land in return for exorbitant prices. The crown-prince, Ibn Salman, has confiscated a 160 million km2 stretch of land. Most Saudi princes have earned their wealth through dishonest means and corruption by confiscating stretches of land owned by the poor and to sell them to the Saudi government in return for exorbitant prices! This is why universities professors and any middle-class members do not own stretches of land or houses. In fact, 80% of Saudis do not own their houses. Some Saudi princes borrow millions from Saudi banks and never settle such debts; they consider such money as their part of their 'right' to own the Saudi kingdom! in 1966, 10 billion US$ disappeared mysteriously from the Saudi state budget without being registered or recorded! This is not to mention bribes taken by Saudi princes in deals of selling weapons. These bribes reach 35% of the prices of such weapons.
3- The amounts of money of old Saudi princes are not known except after their death when their sons dispute over the inheritance shares. For instance, the whole world was surprised to know that the wealth of the late prince Mashal Ibn Abdul-Aziz reached trillion and 430 billion SR, distributed among his two wives and seven sons. The late prince Sultan Ibn Abdul-Aziz was 'poor' when he died; his wealth reached only 270 billion US$! The late king Abdullah was even 'poorer', as his wealth reached only 21 billion US$ As per Forbes Magazine. The wealth of the late king Fahd (1982:2005) reached 190 billion US$, in addition to assets, shares, companies, buildings, palaces, etc. King Salman is rumored to have only 18 billion US$! The real wealth is never known except when king Salman dies and the inheritance shares are distributed.
4- The sons of kings and old princes compete for hoarding more wealth; M. Ibn Nayef has 16 bank accounts in Switzerland and there is 4 billion US$ in his HSBC bank account in Geneva. The wealth of Abdul-Aziz Ibn Fahd has reached 100 billion SR and rumors have it that the real number is 10 billion US$! Each of the sons of the late king Fahd has inherited about 20 billion US$! We wonder about the amount of wealth of the former Saudi ambassador in Washington, prince Bandar Ibn Sultan, who has made several deals to buy weapons!
Fourthly: the poverty and impecuniousness of the vast majority inside the Saudi kingdom:
1- About unemployment in Saudi Arabia, the WORLD FACTBOOK of the CIA mentions that the Saudi kingdom is no. 85 in the list of countries in terms of unemployment rates. The last Saudi official percentage of unemployment is 10.9%
2- The Guardian and Washington Post have published a report about the riches of the Saudi kingdom that hide the ascending problem of poverty, as oil revenues are confiscated by the Saudi royal family members while more than one-quarter of Saudi citizens live in abject poverty. The report mentions a woman who live in a garbage dump few kilometers away from a spacious mall in Riyadh, and she is jobless and has no money, but she has five children below the age of 14 and a chronically ill jobless husband. This means that initiatives of employing Saudi citizens and to provide subsidies for them failed; the Saudi population has increased from 6 million in 1970 to 28 million now.
3- The Saudi authorities hide and deny that poverty exists inside the Saudi kingdom. For instance, in 2011, three bloggers were imprisoned for two weeks because they have uploaded their movie about poverty inside Saudi Arabia. A female university professor writes about impoverishment and development inside the Saudi kingdom, asserting that the Saudi authorities intentionally hide images, movies, and footages about the poor and that the affluent elite members never care about the hungry citizens. There are estimations that at least 4 million Saudi citizens live on less than 530 US$ per month; this is less than 17 US$ per week, and this is the poverty line inside the Saudi kingdom. Unemployment and poverty rates increase every year exponentially, especially among the young people. More than two-thirds of Saudis are less than 30 years old, and three quarters of them are unemployed, as per official governmental statistics.
4- The UN asserts that there is 70 thousand persons inside the Saudi kingdom considered as (Bidoon); i.e., stateless persons, a social class of people who never received the Saudi nationality, and thus deprived of citizenship rights. Most of the Bidoon persons are among Bedouin tribes who live in areas that used to be parts of several countries; such vague legal conditions make it difficult for them to get governmental subsidies.
5- King Salman has paid hundreds of US$ billions to please (and appease) the American president. This has caused a huge deficit in the budget of the Saudi kingdom, making its economy on the verge of collapse. This lead the Saudi authorities to impose exorbitant fees on extensions of stay for foreign workers and to inflict austerity measures and policies on the suffering Saudis to reduce the budget deficit. Such policies are never imposed on the Saudi royal family members, who are thousands of persons who spend extravagantly and live luxuriously.
6- This is about the wide abyss between the affluent ones and the impoverished ones inside the Saudi kingdom. But what about the sins and immorality of the affluent ones? We tackle this topic in our next article.