RIYADH, 24 December 2003 — In perhaps the first ruling of its kind in Saudi Arabia, a judge in the Rijal Almae Court in Asir has sentenced a man to 60 lashes for accusing a Saudi writer of being “secular”.
The ruling ends a case that lasted for months, with several parties involved trying to persuade the writer to drop the charges. But the writer only pardoned the man after obtaining a judgment against him, sparing the man the 60 lashes.
Ibrahim Shahbi, a writer and novelist who won an award at the Abha cultural festival this year, was accused by another Saudi of being secular after Shahbi led a group of 40 people in Isha prayers.
“I was surprised after finishing the prayer that someone started cursing me, saying ‘secular’, ‘deviant’ and other things. Perhaps he did so because he knew I was a poet, and he maintained it was not permissible to pray behind me,” Shahbi told a local newspaper several months ago.
“So I went to the court in Rijal Almae province and filed suit against the man for throwing such accusations at me. The suit was accepted. But when he came to court he denied everything.” The court then asked Shahbi for proof. But witnesses told him they did not want to testify.
“Some of them said they did not hear what the man said and others said they did not understand,” he told Al-Watan.
But Shahbi persisted.
Shahbi told the paper that in remote areas with a low level of literacy, gossip is rife and rumormongers find willing listeners in the community. He said his accuser most likely did not understand what “secular” meant bearing in mind he had only elementary education.
Once the court found in his favor, however, Shahbi forgave his accuser. He said prominent members of the man’s tribe and his own sat down together to discuss the matter. “The man’s son also took part in the meeting and expressed his regrets,” Shahbi added.
He said what was important was “to get the message across that you cannot get away with making accusations against people that you know nothing about.”
Sahal Yassin, the imam of a mosque in Jeddah, told Arab News: “People’s honor is not something to toy with. Unfortunately in our society, throwing accusations against people is too easy.”
“Secularism is a disease. And accusing someone of being secular is just like accusing him of being an infidel. Doubting people’s intentions, and throwing accusations at others without knowledge is not the characteristic of Muslims,” the imam added.
Abdul Aziz Al-Gasim, the director of a firm of legal consultants, said Islam guarantees a person’s dignity, adding it is not permissible to accuse someone without proof.
“The ruling also shows that a writer is responsible for his writing and should be accountable for any deviant ideas in it. At the same time, the ruling deters others from hurting the pride of other people by throwing accusations at them,” he said
In such cases, the Shariah leaves the sentence to the judge’s discretion, he added.
