Sheikh Abdul Latif Al-Asheikh, president of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia), said in a meeting with reporters that the Haia’s strategy, which is based on showing leniency and mercy to people, is still to be implemented in the proper way.
“We have embarked on a corrective path and could address 98 percent of cases involving individuals in a judicious and secret manner,” he said “We are keen to translate into action the directive of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to adopt such an approach as a compassion to the citizens.”
Taking part in a dialogue session on joint responsibility organized by Okaz daily, Al-Asheikh dealt with a number of topics concerning with the Haia and its activities.
He also replied to queries raised by many prominent figures and reporters and editors who attended the session. Al-Asheikh epitomized the Haia’s ambitious vision as “boldness” to change the organizational mold by showing mercy before harshness and using wisdom and good advice while promoting virtue and preventing vice.
“In future, our emphasis would be on promoting virtue gently and preventing vice without any evil. This is my message in two words and the judicious people would realize it,” he said.
Al-Asheikh said that even though this strategy of the Haia was developed in the past; it was not put into practice. “Hence, we embarked on a corrective path in accordance with a comprehensive strategy. For this, we attract the administrative capabilities of Saudi youths and our experts in the fields of Islamic Shariah, media and IT for developing our administrative sector,” he said while pointing out that the Haia’s field staff members are highly qualified hands, including holders of master’s degrees, who are spreading the culture of transparency and good manners in their dealings with people.
“If we noticed any errors on the part of the Haia men, we are keen to correct them and strive not to repeat them again,” he said.
Al-Asheikh noted that he has already directed the Haia branch chiefs from various regions of the Kingdom to open a new page in the commission’s history. “We asked them to show leniency to people and strive to remove fear and wrong impression about the commission among members of the society. The Haia members have also been asked to bolster their relations with citizens and foreigners through continuous contacts with them,” he said, while urging Haia men to approach the people with a smile.
Al-Asheikh urged Haia members to find time to visit the sick people at hospitals, attend public forums and distribute booklets that are useful for the public rather than just monitoring people adhering to prayer timing. He admitted that some people are frightened of the Haia members. “It is essential for us to break the barrier of fear that is lingering in the minds of people about the Haia.”
Al-Asheikh emphasized that Haia men should be accountable for their high-handedness. “The performance of the Haia staffers would be under surveillance. Those who perform well receive encouragement,” he said.
The Haia chief stressed the need for maintaining reputation of the commission through dignified behavior of its members. “Any member who does injustice to people or commit aggression on them would have no place in the commission,” he warned.
Replying to queries from noted writer Abdu Khal, the Haia chief said that his organization is keen to handle cases of individuals in a judicious and confidential manner. “We don’t want to publicize the errors of anybody, and instead handle them judiciously and advise them privately. The Haia handles nearly 98 percent of cases secretly,” he said adding that there were only six cases registered in Jeddah during the last six months.
Al-Asheikh said directives have been issued to Haia members not to record names of family members or attach copies of their identification while preparing complaints about those caught red handed for violations. The Haia is keen to ensure that no members should commit any human rights violations.
“We are striving to spread the culture of human rights among members of the commission. We always welcome proposals and suggestions with regard to improving the track record of the Haia members with regard to protecting human rights,” he said adding that the commission has established a separate department to deal with this issue. Al-Asheikh called for creating women wing of the Haia, saying that women members are inevitable to fulfill the mission of the Haia among women who represent nearly half of the society.
“Women enjoy respectable position and are capable of holding several positions under the rule of King Abdullah,” he said, while noting the need for protecting women’s dignity and honor, and not subject them to any humiliation or harassment.
He warned the Haia members against high-handedness, especially toward women. “We have doubts about the mental soundness of those who treat women harshly, and consider them as abnormal. I emphasize that those who deal with women should be lenient and compassionate, taking into account the fact that this is the policy of the commission,” he said.
Al-Asheikh stressed that leniency and compassion should be the guiding principle for the Haia men while dealing with those who committed errors.
Replying to a question from columnist Hamoud Abu Taleb about the goal of the Haia whether it wants to create a society without errors, he said that there is no logic in this matter. “A society without any errors is impossible. Our efforts aim at making people not to repeat errors and encourage them to lead a righteous life.”
Opening third session of the dialogue, Izzat Kamel expressed surprise over the strange comments made by some Haia men about sacrilegious incidents that are happening in Makkah and Madinah. Describing such move as damaging to the Saudi society, especially local residents of the holy cities, he asked whether the Haia men would halt engage in such acts?
He responded that the Haia is not responsible for irresponsible acts of some people who misuse the reputation of the commission. Taking part in the dialogue, a number of women reporters, such as Maha Halwani, Rozana Yami, Manal Khayyat and photograper Tharwa, Salam raised the issue that some Haia field staffers do not have sufficient experience in dealing with cases. These end up in some errors and that result in creating wrong impression about the commission and widening the gap between the Haia and the society, they said.
Playing down their apprehensions, Al-Asheikh said that the Haia is keen to hire only qualified hands and give them training to perform their mission in the best possible manner. He also reiterated the Haia’s determination to put an end to incidents of high-handedness involving the commission members. Noted writer Ameera Kashghari opened the last session of the dialogue.
Earlier in June, addressing a meeting of the Haia branch chiefs from various regions of Riyadh province, Al-Asheikh spoke about five red lines and urged the Haia members neither to allow anybody to cross them nor handle the perpetrators privately. The first is related with the Islamic ideology, and there won’t be any compromise or tolerance in this respect. The second is blackmailing men and women while the third is practicing black magic and sorcery or eat wealth of others illegally. He also referred to human trafficking as the fourth one while disobeying rulers is the fifth red line.
The Haia chief warned his members against abuse of power and called it one of the worst crimes. While criticizing those who try to create a wrong impression about the commission, he lauded the efforts of the overwhelming majority of the media organizations in highlighting positively the noble mission of the commission.
