In opposite parts of the world and occurring at the same time during the 18th century, when the United States was borne out of a revolution and developing its Constitution enshrining religious freedom, a religious cleric by the name of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahab forged a relationship with Muhammad bin Saud, a tribal leader, and formed a unity based not on religious freedom, but on an opposite ideology of his own version of religious purity, which resulted ultimately in what we know today as Saudi Arabia.

This pact between the two men is a religious and temporal agreement of mutual support and a power-sharing arrangement between the two families, which gives the religious authority that defines Saudi’s culture to the Wahhabis and his descendants on all matters of state and security to the Saudi family. The pact has survived a span of three centuries.

However, it was not until the First World War and the break-up of the Ottoman Empire that Saudi Arabia with the help of Britain and the United States gained its prominence. In that collaboration, Abdulaziz bin Saud agreed to break ranks with the Ottomans and encouraged tribes to support Britain and America in their war against the Ottoman Empire, with the promise of sovereignty with their own territories.

Since the demise of Abdulaziz bin Saud’s rule, his sons have continued the monarchy, passing the reins of power laterally from brother to brother. Salman, who inherited the reins in 2015, is 80 years old and is one of the youngest surviving siblings — and, naturally, he foresaw the impracticality of succession continuing the way that it had for the past 80 or so years.

He decided to end the lateral transference of the monarchy. He avoided the heir apparent who was the designated grandson and Crown Prince, in essence, abdicated his throne and gave the authority to his own son as the heir under a new arrangement of vertical ascendancy.

Not only did this move of his cause upset among the entire Royal Family, who have been sharing the power of the kingdom — given the recently expressed imperatives of his son, the Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman Al Saud, to modernise the kingdom — but he is likely to run counter to the 300-year pact with the religious leaders of the Wahab ulema as well.

In a very short period, he has consolidated all the power, including the security forces, which means he has absolute rulership under his control. Barring a complete upheaval or an all-out anarchy, he will need to influence and perhaps modulate the religious sector to align with many of the changes he hopes to achieve.

We must keep in mind the unsuccessful Masjid attempted coup d’état in 1979, the rise and resentment of Osama bin Laden, and much of the militancy exhibited by what we term as the religious extremist is all linked to the clash between the Royal Family and the extreme Wahab factions, who have resisted any form of modernism or encroachment of Western ideology into Saudi.

The task before Crown Prince bin Salman is beyond Herculean, it is beyond political and is not antireligious, but indeed is the role of a reformer, if seen in proper context. He will have to end the segregation of religious and secular powers. He will have to assume the right to guide the community along ethical lines consistent with the Koran, but interpreted in the light of what it means in our contemporary world. It would not be the first time in the Muslim world for such approach with regards the interpretation of the Koran to occur and there are bodies of opinion that support that position.

The next months and year will tell whether this move is borne out of expediency or vision. It has the potential of exploding in many directions and it will be of great interest to see what wisdom, if any, the Crown Prince will draw upon to continue in this new phase of Saudi evolution.

There are voices already calling for him to embrace the Muslim Brotherhood and to enforce the Salafi religious approach, which may in part resemble Isis, but from his own words he has expressed a desire to bring a change instead that will level the Saudi population and end the class distinction and superiority of being a member of the Saudi royal household.

It will be a jaw-dropping movement to bring an end to royalty and even more so to engage the populace in a consultative construct. Including the rights of the lay populace to have input and be engaged in the consultation will end similarly the dominance of the clerical class, whose voice alone defines the religious or spiritual direction of the country at present.

With the Middle East already in flames, the movements within Saudi will be critical in defining the new order.