Saudi Arabia and the daʿwa Mission: The Role of the Muslim World League and the Islamic University of Medina in Spreading Wahhabi-Salafi Doctrine in the 1960

Abstract

Starting from the 1960s, Saudi Arabia began an international daʿwa campaign with the aim of positioning itself as the representative of the international Muslim community and spreading its religious belief (dīn), identified in the Wahhabi-Salafi doctrine. At the head of the process, controlling the whole system, there were two institutions, the Muslim World League (Rābiṭat al-ʿālam al-islāmī, MWL) and the Islamic University of Medina (al-Jāmiʿa al-islāmiyya bi-l-Madīna al-munawwara, IUM). Focusing on the socio-political and ethical-academic aspects, MWL and IUM tried to exercise their influence over the umma by controlling Islamic institutional, religious, and youth centres globally, and taking care of the ideological formation by managing educational centres, school, and universities; most of the scholars formed in Medina – both professors and students-held positions of high relevance in some MWL-circuit organizations established in different countries, with the aim of disseminating the teachings and playing an active geopolitical role. MWL and IUM represented the primary tools for religious propaganda and worked towards creating an international network that directly or indirectly served the Saudi agenda.