Page "Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia" Paragraph 6

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest contributors of development aid, both in volume of aid and in the ratio of aid volume to GDP.

As of 2006, the country has donated £ 49 billion in aid in the previous three decades, but exclusively to Muslims ( except for one donation amounting to the equivalent of £ 250, 000 ) This aid has contributed to the spreading of Islam of the sort found in Saudi Arabia ( Wahhabism ) rather than fostering the traditions of the receiving ethnic groups.

The effect has been the erosion of regional Islamic cultures.

Examples of the acculturizing effect of Saudi aid can be seen among the Minangkabau and the Acehnese in Indonesia, as well as among the people of the Maldives.

The Wahhabi form of Islam is also perceived in the West as being a source of Islamist extremism-see below.