JEDDAH, 28 March 2004 — Shoura Council elections in the Kingdom must be based on Islamic principles to ensure that members are qualified, says Dr. Abdullah Omar Naseef, former vice chairman of the council and secretary-general of the Muslim World League for 10 years.
In an interview with Arab News, Naseef highlighted the existing Shoura system’s achievements. “The existing system is Islamic and has been proved productive. We don’t want elections to alter these achievements and this performance,” he said. However, he called for greater popular participation in the Shoura but without the council losing its importance and quality.
“The main advantage of the present system is that you pick the right people who are qualified experts. We have experts in every area — in law, Shariah, economics, science and technology. You will rarely find this in most democracies.
“We can have democratic elections, but selection of people must be done in accordance with Islamic law to ensure the quality of the Shoura members and their integrity. In some countries, even criminals are eligible to be elected to Parliament, but in Islam that is not allowed. We want to take advantage of the Western system and introduce it to our Islamic world in a modified form. Islam is not at all against democracy. If you read history we can see Muslims electing their leaders.”
Referring to the municipal elections scheduled for October, the former Shoura official said: “Such elections are not new in the Kingdom. I saw municipal elections during my childhood,” he said.
Naseef sidestepped a question on women’s driving and physical education for girls by saying, “All issues related to women will be discussed at the next dialogue session in Madinah.”
Dr. Naseef, one of the officials overseeing the national dialogue, said the participants at the two dialogue sessions held in Riyadh and Makkah had recommended elections to the Shoura Council as well as to other organizations and institutions.
He said he did not know when the Shoura elections would take place. “We don’t want to do it haphazardly. We should study the matter carefully and implement it gradually. We should not do things in a hurry as that would have negative results,” he pointed out. “Elections are significant as they will give people a feeling of being involved,” he said.
Dr. Naseef, who is president of World Muslim Congress, the oldest NGO in the Islamic world, said Muslims were in desperate need of change. “Muslims have lost the real spirit of Islam. Islam wants each Muslim individual and group to be active and dynamic and work for the development of society by seeking guidance from God,” he explained.
The lack of willingness to follow God’s guidance and the dearth of good leadership are some major problems facing Muslims, he said. “Each and every Muslim must work to change his life and character in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Whoever rejects God’s guidance will suffer immensely,” said Dr. Naseef in reference to the sad condition of Muslims all over the world. “We should not blame others for our condition. We should blame only ourselves. We have to work hard instead of sitting idle and complaining. We should do something positive for the development of the Ummah.
Everybody is waiting for a miracle to happen. No miracle will happen. The situation is so bad that any positive action from our part will have an effect,” said Dr. Naseef. “The feeling of weakness should not deter us from making progress,” he added.
Asked about the US plan to impose reform in the Middle East, Dr. Naseef said such changes would not bring any result. “Reforms must be homegrown and natural and able to convince people.” However, he said Arabs and Muslims wanted changes in their lives to get rid of the negative aspects. “We should do it systematically because God wants us to and not because America does” he said. “We have to involve wise and capable people in order to bring about changes,” he added.
Naseef expressed his confidence in the recently formed 41-member National Human Rights Association (NHRA). “It will deal with the general situation to make sure everything is in its place without any violations,” he said. The NHRA will coordinate with the government human rights committee, which will be established soon.
Naseef said disunity was eating away at the strength of Muslims and called for a worldwide campaign to strengthen Muslim unity. Asked whether the US plan for the Middle East would change the situation in the region, he answered in the negative. “Muslims are going through a difficult phase today but Islam has always emerged stronger after every crisis. We should be patient and use our wisdom to deal with all situations,” he added.
