Former Saudi minister of justice, Mohammed Bin Abdul-Karim Issa, announced his country would no longer fund mosques in foreign countries.
The minister added, “The time has come to hand over the Geneva Mosque to a Swiss administrative council that represents Muslims in the area. It should have an elected cleric.”
Saudi Arabia is to establish local administrative councils for each mosque, in cooperation with the local authorities, in order to hand over these mosques to “secure hands”.
After oil was discovered, Saudi Arabia has used the petrodollar to spread the puritanical Wahhabi Islam to the world. By 2007, Saudi kingdom had spent close to $2 billion annually on promoting Wahhabi ideology as part of their “soft power” where they fund mosques in several countries, including India, which have Muslim communities.
The heir apparent to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is trying to modernise the country by separating politics and religion which is antithesis of Islam practiced in this region.
