The Saudis have spent billions to spread their understanding of Islam around the world. Now they are paying the price, since the idea of the caliphate that they have so energetically propagated is now challenging the legitimacy of their own state, and bringing the Sunni-Shi’te jihad within its borders.
“Islamic State attack on Saudi mosque kills one: ministry,” Reuters, October 26, 2015:
Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Monday that killed a worshipper and wounded several others at a Shi’ite mosque in Najan [sic] in southern Saudi Arabia.
The attack targeted the “rejectionist Ismailis” said a statement carried by the group posted on Twitter, referring to the Ismaili Shi’ite sect who are a minority in Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has been hit by a spate of deadly shooting and bomb attacks, many of them laid at the door of Islamic State. The militant group is bitterly opposed to Gulf Arab rulers and is seen as trying to stir up sectarian confrontation on the Arabian peninsula to bring about the overthrow of the ruling dynasties.
It has urged young Saudi Sunnis to attack targets including Shi’ites.
Police found a letter by the bomber addressed to his parents confirming his intention of carrying out the attack, an interior ministry statement said.
The attack on the al-Mashhad mosque occurred as people left after attending evening prayers, residents said.
“As the Magreb prayer ended and the worshippers came out of the main door, a man entered the mosque and blew himself up,” Mohammed al-Askar, a doctor from Najran told Reuters, adding that it was the first time a Shi’ite Ismaili mosque had been targeted.
Najran, close to the Yemeni border, is the historic center of the Ismailis, a Shi’ite sect which has long complained of victimization by the prevailing school of Sunni Islam followed by the Saudi state….