A few days before Ramadan, a Saudi religious scholar appeared on Al-Jazeera. Known in the past as a hard-liner, Sheikh Ayid Al-Qarni is now, after a period in prison, preaching a more moderate Islam. Even though I was never a fan, his reply to a caller on a television program upset me. As a person who claims to be a sincere follower Muslim, the sheikh’s reply had nothing to do with Islam. The caller — from Saudi Arabia — asked the following question: “I wish you sheikhs would show some good sense in your fatwas. We are in modern times and your fatwas cause us to suffer and endure needless hardships. How can you say that a woman driving a car is sinful in Islam when you say nothing of a woman who rides in her car alone with an unrelated male driver which is clearly forbidden in Islam? Would it not be better if the woman drove her own car instead of being alone in the car with a non-mahram driver?”
The sheikh’s response was: “Here in Saudi Arabia we have as many as 500 tribes and we live by certain norms. Preserving those norms is important. There is nothing wrong with a fatwa being issued from a body of senior religious scholars in response to national discussions on such a matter as this.”
Not only did his reply anger me, it made no sense at all. Before I picked up the phone to call him, I realized the program had been pre-recorded and he was not in the studio at the time of the broadcast. What I would like to ask the sheikh is: Are you a Muslim first and a Saudi second or a Saudi first and a Muslim second?
If the answer is “I am a Muslim first,” then he should know that as a Muslim, he must submit to its teachings and guidelines in all aspects of his life, big as well as small — even if those guidelines do not appeal to his personal taste or are against the social norms he would prefer to be practiced. There is no such thing as Saudi Islam or Egyptian Islam or Kuwaiti Islam or Pakistani Islam or European Islam. Islam is Islam whether in the Gulf, the Middle East or Europe. We cannot change Islam so it meets the social needs and norms which suit us. The opposite is the case: Our social norms must change to meet Islamic requirements — not the other way around.
If we read Islamic history, we will find that Arabs were obliged to give up many norms and traditions which had been part of their lives for centuries. After the Arabs embraced Islam, some of those norms and traditions had to change. As God’s messenger, the Prophet (pbuh) had to persuade new believers to follow new paths and adopt new ways of living. This made them forsake some long-established practices such as drinking liquor and burying baby girls alive. Believers had to submit themselves to God and to the teaching of the Prophet (pbuh), whether they liked it or not. As Muslims, they had to change even though some teachings did not appeal to their tastes and habits. An Arab once came to the Prophet (pbuh) and asked him why Islam forbade adultery. With calmness and wisdom, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “Would you want it for your mother?” The Arab answered, “No.” He was then asked, “Would you want it for your sister?” The Arab again answered, “No.” At that point, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “And so it is with all people.”
The word Islam is derived from the Arabic which means submission — a person’s submission to God and to the teachings of the Prophet (pbuh). The companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and the later Arabs who embraced Islam had to give up their pride in belonging to certain tribes even though that pride was a long-established custom. They learned through Islam, however, that all people were equal before God and that what makes one person better than another is only righteousness.
It saddens me deeply that many sheikhs in the Kingdom still issue fatwas and try to justify religious edicts according to certain tribal norms in Saudi Arabia. Tribal norms have their importance but they are not themselves Islamic teachings and Islamic teachings are what should be accepted and practiced. Unfortunately, some sheikhs do more damage to Islam than the ignorant who attack it.
