Editing Mosque (section)

===Saudi influence===
Although the Saudi involvement in Sunni mosques around the world can be traced back to the 1960s, it was not until later in the 20th century that the government of Saudi Arabia became a large influence in foreign Sunni mosques.<ref name="money-trails">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13266-2004Aug18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714144918/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13266-2004Aug18/ |archive-date=July 14, 2018 |title=U.S. Eyes Money Trails of Saudi-Backed Charities |date=August 19, 2004 |access-date=February 24, 2007 |last=Ottoway |first=David B. |page=A1 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Beginning in the 1980s, the Saudi Arabian government began to finance the construction of Sunni mosques in countries around the world. An estimated US$45 billion has been spent by the Saudi Arabian government financing mosques and Sunni Islamic schools in foreign countries. ''[[Ain al-Yaqeen]]'', a Saudi newspaper, reported in 2002 that Saudi funds may have contributed to building as many as 1,500 mosques and 2,000 other Islamic centers.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/031215/15terror.htm |title=The Saudi Connection |date=December 15, 2003 |access-date=April 17, 2006 |last=Kaplan |first=David E. |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616161452/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/031215/15terror.htm |archive-date=June 16, 2006 }}</ref>

Saudi citizens have also contributed significantly to mosques in the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]], especially in countries where they see Muslims as poor and oppressed. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1992, mosques in war-torn Afghanistan saw many contributions from Saudi citizens.<ref name="money-trails" /> The King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California and the Islamic Cultural Center of Italy in [[Rome]] represent two of Saudi Arabia's largest investments in foreign mosques as former Saudi king [[Fahd of Saudi Arabia|Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud]] contributed US$8 million<ref name="money-trails" /> and US$50&nbsp;million<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kingfahdbinabdulaziz.com/main/m4506.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020108064304/http://www.kingfahdbinabdulaziz.com/main/m4506.htm |archive-date=January 8, 2002 |access-date=April 17, 2006 |publisher=King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz |title=Islamic Center in Rome, Italy }}</ref> to the two mosques, respectively.