The real novelty that the 2011 revolutions introduced is not the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia but, rather, the confirmation of the Sunni crisis

After the Casablanca attacks in 2003, the Moroccan monarchy has promoted an updated version of traditional Maliki Islam. The attempt has had to reckon with much resistance and many red lines. But it is pressing ahead

In his reformist vision, Muhammad Bin Salman is promising to return to the “moderation” that preceded 1979. It is definitely too soon to talk about the Kingdom’s de-Wahhabization, however: its ulama have always been masters at adapting to change

Having returned to the Middle-Eastern religious and political centre stage, Muslim clerics are split between supporting rulers, on the basis of a shared hostility towards political Islam, and contesting authoritarianism in the name of an Islamic democracy

In Sunnism, there can be no infallible interpreter of revelation after Muhammad’s death. The result is an interpretational pluralism that the ulama have tried to mitigate but not eliminate