Saudi Arabia Exports Salafism to the War-Torn Region

"... We sat on plastic garden chairs inside his makeshift library of Islamic jurisprudence and history. Books lay in heaps on the floor and on shelves running the length of the walls. A book on the Saudi royal family was displayed proudly. I asked him why Salafism was suddenly gaining popularity in Kashmir. “Before, we didn’t have the support that we have now,” he said. The Saudis provide free literature to anyone who cares to read, and they distribute the Salafi message over the Web, cell phones, and satellite television. One popular video clip shows Tauseef u Rehman, a Salafi cleric in Pakistan, attired in the style of a Saudi sheikh and calling for the implementation of Islamic law in all Muslim societies—a perfect synthesis of strict, old-time religion and modern technology...."