MAKKAH, 30 April 2008 — Western media is deliberately trying to malign the commission for unknown reasons, said the national head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in a wide ranging interview with Arab News.

“Or else, why should a respectable institution be denigrated because a few of its officials committed some judgmental errors?” said Ibrahim Al-Ghaith, the commission president.

Speaking about criticism that the commission goes beyond its jurisdiction and trespasses into people’s private lives, Al-Ghaith said such generalizations were unfair. “Interior Minister Prince Naif recently said that the commission is a governmental department and is prone to making mistakes like other departments,” he said.

“He said that it is wrong to suppose that the commission intentionally commits mistakes and that in other government departments, an erring commission official, not the whole establishment, would be held accountable for his own mistakes,” added Al-Ghaith. “Prince Naif also said that any attempt to inflate a department’s minor mistake would not be tolerated.”

The commission chief also wondered why some sections of the media, particularly in the West, are hostile to the commission, which only aims to persuade people to adhere to their religion and prevent them from morally lapsing.

“Some people are quick to criticize the commission by betraying their ignorance about this noble institution. They are oblivious to the commission’s achievements. They purposefully highlight a few individual mistakes to portray the commission as an evil entity,” Al-Ghaith said.

He added that he disapproves of the term “religious police,” which is commonly used by the Western press to describe the commission. “The official name of the organization is the General Presidency of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” Al-Ghaith said.

In order to clarify its stance and defend itself against negative media coverage, the commission has set up a media and public relations department, said Al-Ghaith, adding that the media department has a chief official spokesman at its head office in Riyadh, and regional directors at its branch offices.

He also said the media department highlights the commission’s aims, objectives and achievements, and publishes a magazine called Al-Hisbah. He added that the Al-Jazeerah Arabic newspaper has a weekly page dedicated to news from the commission, and that the commission participates in programs on Saudi television and radio.

“Our goal is to preserve Islamic values, principles and customs. But, we also have to do everything possible to remove misunderstandings about the work we do,” the commission chief added.

Asked what steps the commission has taken to improve its employees’ conducts when dealing with suspects, Al-Ghaith said the commission has taken a lot of effort to guarantee that its members treat suspects and members of the public respectfully.

“The commission is keen to see that its officials are pious, knowledgeable, wise, moderate and gentle in all situations and, above all, never rude or violent,” he said.

“The commission has been offering special training to its field workers at all of its branch offices,” he said, adding that workers are asked to be gentle and told to improve their communication skills.

He also said that psychologists, sociologists, religious scholars, legal experts, educationists, professors and high-ranking officials deliver the training. “More than 80 percent of the commission’s field workers have attended various training programs. They also attend classes arranged in collaboration with the Higher Institute for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice at Umm Al-Qura University. The commission also supplies books and printed materials containing instructions on how to handle different situations in an effective and discreet manner, he said.

The commission has a central library, which, among others, contains books on the commission’s history and goals. “All this is being done with the sole aim of discharging the religious duty of encouraging people to do good and keep away from evil as taught by the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him),” the commission chief said.

Refuting a frequent accusation that the commission does not handle sensitive issues discreetly, Al-Ghaith said: “The commission always prefers to handle issues with maximum possible secrecy. Recent studies show that the commission handled 95 percent of its cases with utmost privacy within the four walls of the commission’s office and without the public knowing.”

“Only five percent of cases we’ve dealt with were passed on to the police or the courts. The commission members are fully aware that publicity would only worsen the situation and leave ineffaceable social or psychological injuries to the youths involved. The members pass the suspects to legal authorities if only they are repeating the violation or do not listen to advice,” he added.

There are situations, which we cannot condone, he added. For example, if a man and woman are caught in a situation that is clearly spelled out in the Holy Qur’an or Sunnah to be wrong, then the commission has no choice but to hand those involved to the police, he said.