Islamic tourism against Saudi terrorism, two gifts of two different kinds

While the duty of Hajj and performance of religious rituals by Islamic countries, has led to the growth and prosperity of the "tourism industry" in Saudi Arabia, the gifts of Saudis for Islamic countries have been of a different kind.

Every year, millions of Muslims go to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj Umrah, this is one side of the Hajj coin that is recommended and emphasized in Islam, but the other side of this duty is its economic aspect in the field of "tourism industry" for a country like Saudi Arabia, which has an oil-based economy, and without it, the country would be bankrupt and collapsed.

Official reports indicate that due to the growing demand of the Hajj and Umrah economy, in terms of transportation, commercial stores and expansion in small and medium businesses, Saudi Arabia's revenues from Hajj this year will reach more than 150 billion dollars.

In this regard, Mohsen al-Sharif, a member of the Saudi Real Estate and Investment Committee, says: The economic aspects of Hajj cannot be ignored, because considering the great challenges that the Saudi economy is facing, it can bring a high profit margin for this country and have a significant impact on the economic growth of Saudi Arabia.

After oil export, "pilgrimage industry" or "tourism industry" is the most important industry in Saudi Arabia, which constitutes 7% of the total non-oil GDP.

Commenting on Saudi Arabia's income from Hajj, the newspaper "Times of India, writes: “Hajj will soon be the new oil for Saudi Arabia.”

This newspaper continued to write: “Vision 2030 unveiled by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, looks to boost the kingdom's non-oil economy with pilgrimages at the centre.”

According to the Makkah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), the average cost of each pilgrim in Mecca is $5000-6000 dollars. Meanwhile, 25 to 30 percent of the income of the private sector of Mecca and Medina is dependent on Hajj.

MCCI announced that in 2015, pilgrims spent 20 billion Saudi Riyals to buy gifts.

The Business Today also stated that in 2018, 2,400,000 Muslims traveled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah, adding that: Hajj al-Tamattu and Umrah add about $1 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP every year. That's why the Hajj industry or tourism or pilgrimage industry is one of the most valuable industries for creating money in Mecca and Medina in particular and Saudi Arabia in general.

Therefore, it can be said that the gift of the Islamic world and Muslim countries for Saudi Arabia is the growth and development of the tourism industry of this country, which brings economic growth and development for this country, but the question is: What has Saudi Arabia brought to the Islamic world and Muslim countries?

The military attack on Yemen and the genocide of the homeless Muslims in this country, attempt to dominate the countries of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, promoting arms race in the region, the aid to the American arms companies and the endless killings in the region, including in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, promotion of extremism, whose manifestation is evident in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and other countries of the region, are the most important gifts of Saudi Arabia for the Islamic world and Muslim countries in return to the contribution of these countries in strengthening the tourism industry for Saudi Arabia.

But the Saudis' investment in the "industry of terrorism" is another story. It is an undeniable fact that terrorist groups cannot survive alone without the support of the spy and intelligence services of a country, and in order to advance their goals, they are in dire need of financial and logistical resources and of course political support.

Saudi Arabia, despite its official denial and even announcing its distance from terrorist groups, has always supported and tried to support regional and extra-regional terrorist groups, who are in line with its foreign policy.