Participants of the preliminary session of the 5th National Forum for Dialogue in Abha on Wednesday. (SPA)

RIYADH, 24 June 2005 — Participants who gathered in a preliminary session of the 5th National Forum for Dialogue which is to be held in Abha, have asked that the word “infidel” be substituted by “other” in all religious and media speeches in the Kingdom when referring to non-Muslims.

They also called for better upbringing according to universal Islamic teachings of children, where youngsters would learn how to properly deal with “others” and called for religious institutions in the Kingdom to acknowledge their mistakes and correct them in this matter, whether they were in the judicial system or during sermons in mosques. Furthermore, they said that the hatred taught about non-Muslims in the educational system and in the media should stop and called for a definition of “religious standards” on how to deal with non-Muslims.

Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, deputy head of the National Forum for Dialogue who attended Wednesday’s preliminary session in Abha, said that efforts must be exerted for permitting what he called “an open channel” where citizens would express their concerns and discuss matters of interest at all levels.

Dr. Naseef also stressed in his opening speech the importance of how we deal with others and others’ feelings about us. He also said it was important to know our shortcomings in our dealing with others, adding that it was equally important to improve the way we deal with others, no matter where they were or where they come from.

Abha’s preliminary session to the 5th National Forum for Dialogue under the title “We and the others” which will be held in several months time in the same city, was attended by some 50 male and female participants from different educational backgrounds, among which were religious scholars, thinkers, young men and women, and local residents.

Discussions held by the participants also shed light on the need to define who the “other” was before engaging in a dialogue with the other party.

One participant said that “before engaging in any conversation with another party, it is important to know what the other party knows about us and how he thinks about us,” adding that it was important to “reconstruct society and provide the chance for its citizens to educate themselves in a way that would be beneficial to everyone on how to deal with others.”

Another female participant said it was important to recognize the existence of others amongst us, referring to foreign workers in the country, since they are the first people whom we interact with directly. She also said it was important to respect them, not disregard them and also to give them their rights while at the same time learning from their experiences and expertise.

“Conveying a bright image of ourselves abroad — which is important to many who want to know about us — begins with how we deal with foreign workers in the country, and whether or not we are nice with them or not,” she said.

She also said it was important that a law be designed to protect foreign workers by specifying punishments for those who misuse the system and violate the rights of these workers.

Dr. Ali Al-Shaabi said in his introduction that Saudi society should refrain from using the term, “special status” when referring to culture or ourselves. He said that this was a grave mistake and that Saudi culture is like any other Muslim culture, adding that it was difficult to convince others to engage with dialogues with them when our dealing with others in the Kingdom gives an opposite image of what we preach.

Mahasin Abu Talib, another participant, said that the fact that we forbid others to practice their religious duties in private created a psychological wall that could make them feel hatred toward Islam.

Yet another participant, Dr. Ali Al-Moussa, said that many Saudis have used religious speech to promote their own ideas of rhetoric and hatred toward others, especially since many of them have not been educated well enough in religion and tend to abuse the term “sheikh” to spread wrong messages in the community.