Two on Saudi Arabia

I wanted to draw your attention to two posts on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the first post Egyptian Tarek Heggy attempts to put the Saud-Wahab connection into context and issues the following challenges:

The House of Saud, which is not ideologically implicated in the ideas of Wahhabism and the Ikhwan, is today called upon to do the following:

1- Stand up to extremist elements in the country like their father did eight decades ago.

2- Remove Wahhabi and Ikhwan zealots from influential positions in the institution of education.

3- Remove Wahhabi and Ikhwan zealots from influential positions in the Ministry of Wakf, [religious endowments] Da’wa [the call to Islam] and Hajj.

4- Abolish the system of state-sponsored religious vigilantes like the motawa’een and the al-amr bel ma’rouf wal nahy ‘an al-monkar who patrol the streets and mete out instant punishment for any perceived violation of strict Islamic practices, in total contradiction with the concept of the modern state.

5- Reduce the huge budget allocated by the Kingdom to the religious establishment [nearly three billion US dollars] and reallocate it to the fields of education and health [after all, those sporting short robes, shaven mustaches and untrimmed beards can contribute nothing of value to a modern state – the only role they are qualified to play is a destructive one].

6- Encourage moderate professors of Islamic jurisprudence to set a timetable for introducing their students to Hanafi, Maliki and Shafite sources in place of the Hanbalite sources now exclusively in use so that in time the people of Saudi Arabia reach a stage of religious maturity in which they recognize that the doctrine of Wahhabism is not the only, or even the major, model of Islam. Indeed, as I have already pointed out, ibn-Hanbal, ibn-Taymiyah and ibn-Qaiym Al-Juzeya were minor figures in the pantheon of Islamic jurists.

7- Launch an offensive against the Ikhwani obduracy on such issues as the appointment of women ministers, the inclusion of women in the Shura Council, allowing women to drive, allowing male teachers to teach female students and female teachers to teach male students, in order to promote a climate favourable to enlightenment and progress in place of the current reactionary climate that has no equivalent on earth.

8- Given that hundreds of the Islamic centers established by Saudi Arabia throughout the world have become a breeding ground for fanaticism and extremism and crucibles for violence, blood lust and terrorism, an alternative plan must be laid down to transform them into community service centers rather than allow them to continue disseminating obscurantist ideas that spawn a mentality of violence which has distorted the image of Islam in the eyes of the world over the last few decades.

The other post is by blog-friend and fellow OTB associate blogger John Burgess, guest-posting at Foreign Policy Watch. The post is the first in a two-part series on reform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

‘Reform’ and ‘Saudi Arabia’ are words that don’t appear together very often. The last big reform the area went through was back in the 18th C., when Abdul Wahhab reformed Islam. We know where that led some people. Today though, Saudi Arabia is actively going through a process of social, economic, political, and yes, even religious reform. Just how will it play out? It’s a little too early to tell, but there are positive signs.

I see these posts as complementary. I look forward to John’s second installment.