Across the spectrum of Political Islam, from Jihadis to the Ikhwan, the role of gulf funding is undeniable, and indeed, decisive.
No one has built more mosques around the world than Saudi Arabia, and no one prints and distributes more religious literature for Da’awah purposes than the Saudis. No one offers more money in disaster relief to afflicted Muslim communities than the Gulf States. There are no Muslim investors who pump more money into the economies of poorer Muslim nations, initiate more projects, or buy more land, than those from the Khaleej. Every independent Muslim charitable foundation in the world exists largely by donations from the Gulf. Remittances of migrant Muslim workers in the Gulf to their home countries often exceed what those countries receive in foreign aid from governments.
All of this has given the Gulf a disproportionate influence over Islamic work globally, over the discourse of Political Islam, and over the understanding of the religion itself. Their money has made them impossible to ignore, and dangerous to offend.
Of course, we are all aware of the Gulf financing (both by private individuals and by the governments) for Jihadist groups in Syria, and in Libya before that; and indeed, this type of activity goes back for decades in battle zones around the world.
But even the International Muslim Brotherhood draws the bulk of its financing, not from members, but from funds channeled to the organization through several international charities, all of which depend on donations from the Gulf.
In business this would be called a hostile takeover. The Khaleej has become the controlling shareholder in the Islamic movement. You will find their money and the influence it buys, from Morocco to Bangladesh, from Syria to Sri Lanka. The Gulf monarchies always hated political Islam, and feared the threat it posed to their power, so, just like a company, they decided to buy out the competition, and they are managing the subsidiaries with the aim of putting them out of business.