The participants, who were of both genders and from across the Kingdom, made the comments while speaking at the forum — entitled “Tribalism, Regionalism, Intellectual Classification and Their Effect on Nationalism” — organized by King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue.
The issue of tribalism and regionalism was touched upon on the forum’s first day on Tuesday. The focus of the event’s second day was on intellectual or ideological classification and its effect on nationalism.
Siham Al-Qahtani, a member of the Jeddah Literary Club, stressed the need for society and the government sector to be more open to other ideological mindsets, including those considered secular or liberal.
A number of speakers criticized the media and blamed the press for promoting specific intellectual beliefs and favoring them over others. Asmaa Al-Assaf, a professor at Princess Nora University, called for more control over the media.
Mona Siraj, the managing editor of Sayidaty magazine, said that while some feel that liberals dominate the media industry in the Kingdom, she believes this is because they are stopped from preaching at mosques.
“Every group has the right to discuss their beliefs without any bias and instructions not to deviate from religious boundaries and without insulting others,” she said.
Dalal Aziz Dia, an adviser at the Ministry of Information, said beliefs such as those adopted by terrorists who planned to kill Saudi intellectuals can be harmful. “If there is no control on the speeches that the younger generation listen to then that could lead to extremism,” she said.
The classification of people into liberals or secularists might be a result of these people criticizing individual interpretations of religious texts, said columnist Amal Zahid.
“The interpretations of religious texts are not holy and subject to criticism. What is holy is the original religious texts,” said Zahid, who criticized the call from some participants that the ideologies of writers should be exposed.
Eman Tunsi, a faculty member at King Abdulaziz University, said such classifications have affected the Kingdom’s cultural scene. “Classifying people according to their ideologies has resulted in the same names appearing over and over again at cultural events inside and outside the Kingdom,” she said.
Abdul Rahman bin Khalaf, a member of the Tabuk Literary Club, said that there are heated debates between the liberal and conservative groups in the Kingdom, and the gap between the two is growing with time.
“There is no exact definition for liberalism in the Kingdom. The term is still vague and is not even enjoying any recognition in the country. The main conflict is about the criticism that the conservative group is receiving. Any criticism of religious talk is directed at individual interpretations and not at the religion itself,” he said.
