In this world, especially where power is concerned, the brilliant sanity of an idea almost always seems to be in inverse proportion to its likelihood of ever being adopted, implemented, realized. And so, on sighting such an idea, the heart always soars, and then sinks. If only . . . but, no.

In this case it’s Ali Eteraz’s idea of Vaticanizing Mecca (and as a commenter, Sufi novelist Irving Karchmar, suggests, Medina and Jerusalem as well).

Basically, Ali is saying — with scholarly and poetic chops, and with his unique system of checks and balances between reverence and irreverence — well, hell. Let him say it himself:

In the context of the modern nation-state, the centrality of Mecca to all Muslims has been the cause of immense trouble. It has meant, that whether Muslims like it or not, the House of Saud is now the presumptive leader of Islam. Why? Because they have dominion over Mecca. Out of respect, the balance of Muslims in the world cannot decry the House of Saud, for they are the “Guardians of The Two Holy Mosques.” The majority of the Muslim nations simply consent to the notion that the House of Saud is our presumptive leader and neither break away from its propaganda and disinformation, nor prevent its scholars from trampeling them under foot. The deep-seated respect for Mecca provides the House of Saud with religious legitimacy in the entire Muslim world, such that everything that comes from Saudi Arabia is considered to be the truest expression of Islam (even if it is clearly anti-Islamic). It is not Saudi oil which sells Wahhabi theology. It is the weight of Mecca which gives it gravity. Take away Mecca and the theology of regression follows suit.

Yet, as noted, it is virtually impossible to challenge those who control Mecca unless that challenge stems from Mecca. The Ottomans were the only rulers in the history of Islam who took Mecca from outside, and it was a stroke of luck. Otherwise, Mecca has always given itself over to another on its own. Abdul Wahhab, who launched the offensive to take Mecca back from the Ottomans was an Arabian. The House of Saud, which finished what Wahhab started, was Arabian. This means that unless the House of Saud fails internally, or if it voluntarily abdicates, Mecca will belong solely to the Saudi, and that means that the Saudi influence over the world will have no reason to recede. This is the challenge of the nation-state. The pre-nation-state world was flexible. Boundaries shifted and lines could be redrawn and things if not conquered, could be purchased. Now, with lines that can’t be erased, and nations that cannot be disunited, and embassies that are profligate, and passports that must be issues, and a little thing called citizenship, things are different. There can be no challenge to the dyad that the House of Saud and Mecca have become.

Ali tells why it is important to see Iran’s strategy in the light of the primacy of Mecca, and then:

The only possible solution is for a collection of Muslim nation-states to begin a movement using international legal remedies and diplomacy to make Mecca (and Medina) either independent nation-states unto themselves (as is the Vatican), or to have them rendered international protectorates, the task of their protection and maintainance falling upon the Muslim world jointly. [ . . . ]

More than anything, the Muslim needs a Mecca that belongs to everyone equally. Only when Mecca belongs to all can Muslims say that Islam belongs to all. Only when Islam belongs to all will Muslims be able to say that the best Islam is the Islam that is most righteous instead of having to concede that the Saudi Islam is the best because it bears the authority of Mecca. I am certain that when Muslims compete over which Islam is most righteous as opposed to which Islam is most Arabian, the Muslim world will shake off its regressive theologies and advance. [ . . . ]

We need one able Muslim leader to start agitating for a free Mecca (and Medina). . . .

Read it and weep. Can you imagine this actually happening? White Saudi knuckles being pried off the edges of the great Cube? The House of Saud’s ace in the hole — can you see them being persuaded to share it?

If only.

David vs. Goliath. The puny, brave power of an idea confronts the lumbering reality of power.