What’s happening to Islam?

A suicide bomber blew himself up near the Grand Mosque in Mecca as police disrupted a plot to target the holiest site in Islam. The Interior Ministry said it launched a raid around Jiddah, as well as two areas in Mecca itself, including the Ajyad Al-Masafi neighborhood, located near the Grand Mosque on June 24.

The building collapsed, injuring 11 people, including police officers. Five other suspected militants have been taken into custody.

The Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque is the largest masjid (mosque) in the world and surrounds Islam's holiest place, the Kaaba, in the city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. One of the Five Pillars of Islam requires every Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the largest annual gatherings of people in the world, at least once in his or her lifetime.

The Grand Mosque has been the target of militants before, in part because it represents a symbol of the ruling Al Saud family's clout in the Islamic world.

The Saudi monarch bears the title of the "custodian of the two holy mosques." In 1979, some 250 militants seized the mosque and held it for two weeks as they demanded the royal family abdicate the throne. When Saudi troops stormed the mosque, the official death toll was 229, including extremists and soldiers.

Deadly attacks

Since late 2014, Saudi Arabia has faced periodic bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).Most assaults have targeted the country's Shia minority and security forces. In July 2016, four security officers were killed in a suicide attack near the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. Saudi Arabia is a member of a US-led coalition fighting IS and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.

Analysis

The disrupted attack comes at a sensitive time in Saudi Arabia. King Salman earlier this week promoted his son, Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman as the next heir to the throne.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the plot to attack the mosque, but the Islamic State group, which wants to establish a theocratic caliphate ruled according to strict Islamic law, had in the past carried out attacks in the kingdom.

Most assaults have targeted the country's Shia minority and security forces. In July 2016, there was a suicide attack near the Prophet's Mosque in Media. Saudi Arabia is a member of a US-led coalition fighting IS and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.

Assessment

Our assessment is that the Islamic Umma, once a flag- bearer, of knowledge, thought and civilisation has relapsed into weakness and backwardness.  Islam is going through a very difficult phase. As in the case of all great religions, it is perhaps now at a tipping point before a cataclysmic change. Perhaps there will be a reformation in Islam similar to the one that took place in Christianity after the dark ages. As its core Islam advocates peace, however militant and jihadist groups have misused its tenets to spread violence instead.