News about the Kingdom and its citizens continues to dominate much of the media. Newspapers, television and Internet sites overflow with news about Saudis being hunted down in this or that country, Saudis being investigated, Saudi charitable organizations being shut down, Saudis leading militias at training camps in foreign countries, Saudi passport holders greeted with suspicion in places from Cambodia to Cuba and from Belgium to the east coast of Africa.
Saudis were once the most well-traveled people in the Middle East. Even now, they are among the leading clients of international banks and hotels and own large stakes in the entertainment business; they are distributors of leading newspapers and magazines in the Arab world while at the same time investing heavily in satellite television. They were once also known as leaders in the purchase and consumption of perfumes. In short the image is of an affluent lifestyle not common anywhere else. What a contradiction!
How can all these things be true of a people who live in the same geographical location under a single political umbrella, attend the same schools and belong to a social environment that carries more elements of homogeneity than disunity?
The answer to such a question may require a great deal of research and study but it is clear that Saudis face a crisis — one characterized by a lack of ideals and the absence of religious and social tolerance. The Saudi personality belongs to a country in which credit card companies vie to win the lion’s share of the market but which also from time to time issues religious edicts (fatwas) banning women from carrying identity cards. It is a country with record-breaking car sales and road accidents but one whose people continue to argue whether motor insurance for the vehicle they drive — and that can cause so many deaths — is permissible.
It is a country which imports everything from needles to heavy weapons but considers the outside world the abode of infidels who deserve to be killed and their monuments blown up.
The institutions that are supposed to educate people and guide them have failed to reform themselves or change in the way they handle domestic problems. This inaction has been going on since the death of the founder of the religious reformist movement, Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab, in the 18th century. These same institutions failed to join hands with other social bodies to find solutions to problems facing the nation — namely poverty and unemployment. They failed to adopt and enrich universal concepts such as justice, human rights, constructive engagement and inter-cultural dialogue. Debate was absent on vital issues such as the economy, arts and culture and development constraints including corruption. The absence of action on these issues gave way to the ignorant and others who worked secretly, disguised as reformists, to jump in looking for a role. This would have never happened had it not been for the extremely cautious and isolationist approach as well as outmoded and antiquated literature addressed to an audience no longer interested in what they heard.
It would have been much better if those institutions had sought to win peoples’ hearts and minds instead of leaving the matter to leaders in the Tora Bora caves and authors of hostile fatwas. An enlightened Islamic thought and literature would have solved many problems which we are having to confront today.
Arab News From the Local Press 14 June 2003
