In February 2021, Joe Biden’s administration released a long-awaited declassified intelligence report on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post, had fled Saudi Arabia and was living in the US. He was killed in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Turkey, where he had gone to collect his marriage papers. The intelligence report confirmed what many had suspected: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill him.
Last week, Prince bin Salman visited Washington and addressed the press along with his host, President Donald Trump. A journalist working for ABC, one of America’s major TV networks, asked Prince bin Salman a question that must have made him very uncomfortable.
She said: “US intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. Why should Americans trust you?”
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Prince bin Salman did not respond to the question, but Mr Trump immediately leapt to his defence, saying: “As far as this gentleman is concerned, he’s done a phenomenal job. You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen.”
And with those few words, Mr Trump had effectively got Prince bin Salman off the hook—at least in the Oval Office.
Saudi Arabia, like its neighbours Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is a deeply religious country. The Saudis pray five times a day. The call to prayer at Saudi mosques scattered around the country is hard to miss unless you are deaf or hard of hearing.
What is more, Saudi Arabia is home to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, where the Hajj—the annual Islamic pilgrimage, a mandatory religious duty for all physically and financially capable Muslims—is performed at least once in their lifetime, serving as the fifth pillar of Islam.
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But Saudi Arabia is arguably the world’s leading abuser of human rights. Where countries like Uganda enact draconian laws against homosexuals, Saudi Arabia just decapitates them.
Some Ugandan women who went to work in Saudi Arabia as house helps have been brought back in coffins. In 2015, the Guardian published this lengthy article that tells you everything you need to know about Saudi Arabia’s zero respect for human rights.
What does Saudi Arabia’s conduct tell us about countries and people who project religiosity all the time? Religion does not and cannot make countries and people moral. It is used to get away with murder—pun intended.
🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.