The pardons granted by King Abdullah to Abdullah Al-Hamid, Matrouk Al-Faleh, Ali Al-Damini and Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem as well as to a number of Libyans who had plotted to assassinate him show that the nation’s leaders are continuing with the inclusive policy of magnanimity. This move also indicated that there was further optimism about the future of economic and social change in the country. King Abdullah is using his accession as a time to show clemency in order to rebuild relationships and restore harmony, both in the country and beyond its borders.
The Western media which have interpreted the pardons as a first stage in “reform” have misunderstood a fundamental aspect of authority in Saudi Arabia. Consensus is the golden rule for political action in Saudi Arabia — and it means taking everyone with you. In any event, there is already continuity when the new king has in fact been at the helm for the past ten years, actively promoting reform. Political reform was in fact happening throughout the late King Fahd’s reign. The creation of the Majlis Al-Shoura and, more recently, the municipal elections are all part of an ongoing reform process which was always intended to continue. The Saudi leaders have shown pragmatism in leading their country on the path of progress.
There is, moreover, little logic to the theory that the pardons are a first step toward reform. Pardoning someone does not automatically mean that one agrees with them. In this case, the hope is that those pardoned will respond to the generous gesture by changing their ways and beginning to work from within for the benefit of society rather than working against it. It is an act of magnanimity designed to draw a line under the past and close ranks — within the country and within the Arab world — at a time when threats have never been greater.
It is in this sense that the activists themselves and their lawyer have seen the pardon. They thanked the king for his noble gesture and saw in it a signal the opening of a new chapter in the national dialogue to improve governance.
The spread of international terrorism; the attempts by some terrorists to hijack Islam by claiming to act in its name; the way this has fueled Islamophobia in the non-Muslim world; the clear objective of those same terrorists to seize power in Arab and Muslim countries: All these present an unparalleled challenge — to the Kingdom, to the Arab nation and to the Muslim world.
And alongside these challenges, there remains the continuing unresolved agony of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Add to this minefield the looming row over Iran’s nuclear plans and the ever-worsening situation in Iraq — both of which could escalate into new conflicts — and there can be but one conclusion: Unity at home, unity within the Arab world, unity within the Muslim world and a determination to bring about regional and international peace are required as never before. The pardons are a building block to help make that unity happen.
