Why do so many Muslims misunderstand the Religion of Peace? Why do they all misunderstand it in the same way?

“Violent Extremism in the Maldives: The Saudi Factor,” by Henry Storey, The Diplomat, December 24, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Last week, the Maldives Independent reported some rather startling news. Security services revealed that there are close to 1,400 Maldivians who would kill in the name of Islam. Officials also confirmed that an Islamic State bomb plot was foiled in 2017 and that, since 2013, 423 Maldivians attempted to enter Iraq and Syria – 173 successfully – to fight for the so-called caliphate. This makes the Maldives possibly the highest per capita source of foreign fighters of any nation.

The Maldives provide an interesting case study of how the international proliferation of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabism has contributed to violent extremism and the radicalization of foreign fighters. Although there are many complex factors contributing to extremism in the Maldives, Saudi proselytization is nonetheless an important factor.

The increasing religious conservatism and intolerance displayed in Maldivian society contrasts sharply with the island nation’s Sufi-orientated Shafi’i Sunni Islam. Interspersed with influences from the country’s Buddhist past, this mellow form of Islam emphasized tolerance. Overt signs of piety were relatively rare, as was religious-inspired violence.

Some context is necessary to understand the Saudi drive to export Wahhabism. In a bid to placate the powerful Wahhabi religious establishment, in the aftermath of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Riyadh allowed Wahhabism a more prominent place in public life. Part of this grand bargain was to allow the religious establishment to export their puritanical version of Islam to the world. Wahhabi madrassas – or religious schools – began popping up around the world, as the Saudi state poured an estimated $100 billion into spreading the creed. The other side of the equation, of course, is that the spread of Wahhabism was viewed by some in Riyadh as being synonymous with the spread of Saudi influence. This was seen as vital to safeguarding Saudi Arabia’s place at the center of the Islamic world in the face of the challenge posed by Iran and its alternative velâyat-e Faqih (rule of the cleric) model.

The rise of Wahhabi-inspired Islam in the Maldives can thus be traced back to the 1970s and 1980s, when many Maldivian students returned home from studying at Wahhabi madrasas in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Although not a Wahhabi himself, the Maldives’ then president, the Egyptian-educated Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, moved to emphasis the country’s Islamic identity. Under Gayoom’s 1997 constitution, only Muslims can be citizens and non-Muslims are prohibited from practicing their religion in public….