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Indeed. Can you imagine the alternate reality if the Saudi branch of Islam was something more like Sufism instead of Wahhabism, given the number of mosques the

• notsureaboutpg 6y ago
  A lot of people mistakenly believe that Saudi influence is behind the spread of Wahabbism but Wahabbism/Salafism is actually a quite modern ideology which rejects the hierarchical notion of "trusted" scholars for the idea of people discerning rulings on their own. Because of state intervention in religion across the Middle East, scholars who contradict the state often end up silenced. So the "approved" scholars are often not approved of by the people. Salafism allows them to continue practicing Islam without state influence. If Saudi were officially supporting Sufi scholars it would make no difference to the Muslim world (some states in the Middle East do something similar and their effect on Islamic thought is miniscule as a result). Most Muslims (even mainstream ones) are not fans of the kind of Sufism Westerners are fans of. Without Saudi influence Wahabbism would still be a reckoning force in the world today because it solves a political problem most Muslims still face and it reflects most Muslims' honest thoughts on the world today. I say this as a practicing Muslim.