The Fourth National Forum for Dialogue was held in the Eastern Province two weeks ago; it dealt mainly with issues concerning youth in Saudi Arabia. Keeping in mind that 70 percent of the Saudi population is under 21, the forum was both timely and apposite. For three consecutive days, the press reported candid, lively discussions from male as well as female participants. My sister-in-law Dr. Bothayna Murshid, who is assistant dean in the Nursing College of the National Guard Hospital, was one of the participants and she, along with others, spoke frankly about the concerns of young Saudi women, how they should not be excluded and how they should have a say in public matters. At the end of the forum, the participants met Crown Prince Abdullah who received its final recommendations. Though many people have lost interest in the national forums for dialogue since they have not seen any of the recommendations implemented, I remain optimistic.
There is fortunately a lesson we Saudis are learning from these forums, something we were previously ignorant of: How to sit down and discuss our differences and concerns in a civilized way. Another equally important lesson is that it is all right for people to have different opinions and for us to respect those opinions.
For many years, dialogue and different views on a subject have not been part of our culture.
Our education system teaches pupils that there is only one possible interpretation of the Holy Qur’an and that there is only one correct school of thought. Most students do not even know until they are in college that there are at least eight tafseer books (interpretation of the meaning of the Holy Qur’an), and that there are other Islamic schools of thought.
Some do not even know that differences in opinion, even in religious matters, are considered “merciful” in the Islamic world. Many of those who attended the earlier Second National Forum where the theme was “Education” recommended that our school curriculum be amended to stress this fact.
A failure to respect our right to follow different schools of thought, however, is not the only obstacle to the development of Saudi society. Another urgent matter remains to be addressed — our acceptance of others. According to what I understand, this will be the main theme of the coming Fifth National Dialogue.
In our midst are millions of non-Muslims who are followers of other religions. They are guests here in Saudi Arabia. Some have lived here for decades and consider Saudi Arabia a second home. I believe the message that should be stressed in the coming dialogue is that we should respect, not despise, followers of other religions. We should not teach our children that followers of a certain religion are automatically our enemies and so teach them to hate; we should instead teach our children to respect those other religions and faiths. We should stress the fact that they are free to choose their faith and we should make the point as strongly as possible that our religion, Islam, is based on tolerance and acceptance of others and not on hatred and discrimination.
Along these lines, an interesting article appeared in one of our Saudi newspapers a few days ago. The writer, Abdullah Al-Fawzan, questioned whether Muslims should pray for non-Muslims or pray against them. He argued that since the very dawn of Islam, the teachings of Islam have been that Muslims should pray for non-Muslims and ask the Almighty to guide and lead them. Unfortunately, many of our mosques are filled with sermons opposing this and our curriculum still teaches our children that non-Muslims are the enemy.
I was shocked and saddened to read a letter to the editor in one of our newspapers. The letter was from a Christian and it described how some Saudi children had thrown stones at him because he was a Christian. Even though it was an isolated incident, it is very sad that such intolerance took place here in the birthplace of Islam.
Respecting and tolerating others should not be limited to those who follow other religions. We must also respect, and be tolerant of, the many people in the Kingdom who come from very different backgrounds, nationalities and cultures.
It would be interesting to find a discussion in the next forum on the discrimination and intolerance which sadly exists among Saudis themselves. Many of us are obsessed with purity and judge others immediately according to their origins. The question — “Where are you originally from?” — is the first thing that springs to certain lips when a nontribal Saudi is met. While other nations take pride and draw strength from diversity, we discriminate based on a person’s origins. It is long overdue for us to admit and accept that we as a nation come from many different backgrounds. All of our grandfathers took part in building this country — whether from Jizan, Hejaz, Najd, Al-Hassa, Al-Qatif, or Asir.
A Saudi’s loyalty and allegiance to his or her country and its leaders should not be questioned on the basis of background. At the end of the day, progress depends without exception on every citizen’s participation. I hope that the fifth National Forum for Dialogue will maintain its boldness and candidness in discussing the issues that concern Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the 21st century.
