For 60 years Saudi Arabia and the US have been close friends promoting mutual interests and the greater cause of world peace.
Some allege that Saudi Arabia hesitates to speak out against terrorism, does not cooperate in fighting this scourge, and tolerates an association between terrorism and Islam. This is false.
The most revered Saudi Islamic scholars including the Grand Mufti and the Chief Justice of the Shariah Courts, as well as leading government officials have repeatedly and categorically condemned harming non-combatants regardless of nationality or religion, and consider those who do so to have renounced Islam. The Saudi Chief Justice described the tragedy of Sept. 11 as an ‘apocalypse’.
The main canons of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia from the time of the prophet unconditionally prohibit suicide and taking innocent lives in any circumstances. High Saudi officials such as the Interior Minister Prince Naif as well as religious scholars have repeatedly emphasized the injunction of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to his military commanders:
Never kill and/or harm non-combatants, children, women, or the elderly.
Have the highest respect for worshippers of whatever faith in their houses of prayer.
Saudi Arabia has suffered terrorist attacks in the past decade and the interior minister has reiterated that terrorism must be uprooted, wherever and whenever it may exist. Terrorists are simply those who premeditate the murder of civilians. There are no good or bad terrorists; all terrorists should be brought to justice.
Then why does Al-Qaeda preach and practice terrorism in the name of Islam, not only against the West, but also against anyone it cannot subdue? Such groups are not unique; they have risen in the past. However, Saudi religious scholars and historians consider Al-Qaeda an apostate footnote in the annals of Islamic history. To most Saudis Al-Qaeda is a web of fanatics that the Afghan tragedy and to — a much less extent — the emergence of Al-Jazeera Television have facilitated.
Terrorists of every kind see themselves as legitimate political opponents. But the form of government they seek to impose is not what Locke, Hume, and Adam Smith envisioned. Their model is the system Al-Qaeda imposed on Afghanistan in the name of the Taleban.
Only when faced with retaliation for terrorist acts, did Al-Qaeda try to pose as the champion of the Palestinians. Saddam Hussein did the same when the world turned against his occupation of Kuwait, in order to try and win support from the Arab countries. Al-Qaeda went further and proclaimed a jihad, calling it a holy war. But jihad does not mean holy war, it means ‘struggle’ — struggle with one’s own conscience or problems. It can mean holy war only when proclaimed by the government leader, and is only justified as a religious war if the whole community of Muslims — the Ummah — is prevented from practicing their religion. As there is no barrier to the community of believers practicing their religion, and no government has proclaimed it, no jihad has been validly invoked: by Al-Qaeda or anyone else.
Do some Saudis sympathize with Al-Qaeda? Of course; it will always find supporters in the Islamic world among the disaffected for whatever reason. This should come as no surprise. Timothy McVeigh also had admirers among white supremacists in the US. But the government and overwhelming majority of citizens of Saudi Arabia reject Al-Qaeda.
Of the other allegations that have been made, the most important point to clarify in the Saudi-American friendship is the charge of lack of cooperation of Saudi authorities in investigating terrorism. The US government never complained to the Saudi government about such a lack of cooperation. These assertions were based on leaks made by biased anonymous individuals, not by US authorities.
What the American public may not know is that well before Sept. 11 the Saudi government was working with other friendly nations to help untangle the ties between various terrorist organizations, and their possible sympathizers. Requests to the US and UK for information about suspected terrorists were often not provided on the grounds that they concerned merely political dissidents. This story was not picked up and reported in the press.
Unfortunately, the media (including the Internet) in the US and Saudi Arabia may not accurately reflect the level of strong cooperation between both countries.
When such assertions appear in the media, many people think this reflects official government views but this is a wrong assumption. Contrary to what many may think, there is no prior censorship of Saudi newspapers before distribution. Saudi newspapers, like many others throughout the world, can, and do, publish stories that are not entirely supported by facts.
Such articles must not be allowed to erode the strong ties between our countries.
Regardless of any temporary misunderstandings, the people of Saudi Arabia and its government remain confident that the ties of friendship and common goals between Saudis and Americans remain as strong as ever.
(Ali Talal Al-Johani is a member of Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia)
