PRESS RELEASES
Islam and Western Thought
Saudi Arabia's Response
By: Dr Abdullah Al-Rshoud
As you are no doubt aware, long before the world witnessed the horrors of terrorism on the 11th September, Muslims have been the constant target of such heinous crime. Unfortunately, however, the world has turned a blind eye to the fact of Islam as a religion and misjudged its followers in general.
Relations between the West and the Islamic world have been tense. The West has shunned Muslim ‘fundamentalism’, while many in the Islamic world say their religion is being discredited by the actions of a small minority of extremists.[i]
The discourse of Islamic activists may reflect a problem associated with Islam as a notion in dominant Western discourse. The term ‘Islamism’ is commonly understood as Islamic fundamentalism, especially in the West.[ii] The association of Islam with this term or the term ‘terrorism’ makes it easier to dismiss such terms quickly rather than to begin to understand the full meaning of the phenomenon.[iii] Although “Fundamentalism” is known as a description of Protestant movements, and “terrorism” is a description of a particular kind of activity, they both have become phrases with political imputations.
However, there is some consensus among Muslims that any conflict in the Muslim world is caused by a Western conspiracy, some of these conflicts are the establishment of the Zionist State, overlooking its transgressions in the region, and ‘containment’ of some Muslim countries. Thus, among Muslims in general the West is criticised for maintaining different rules for Muslim and non-Muslim countries. The Western media are described as an “evil demon” and America as “The Great Satan”.[iv] Some scholars have condemned such irresponsible portrayals:
“…many in the Muslim world, like their counterparts in the West, opt for easy anti-imperialist slogans and demonization. At its worst, both sides have engaged in a process of ‘mutual satanization’ ”.[v]
In the Muslim world, the ideological tenets of Islamic activists, which usually depend on their social conditions, are pursued as causes opposing the current status quo. Although it is sharply condemned and dismissed by the Ulama in Saudi Arabia, the question as to whether violence is a legitimate means to further the Islamist agenda remains unresolved by some groups in the Muslim world, such as al-Qaida Organization.
However, Islam in terms of a ‘social text’, as described by Maudoodi, is drastically different from Islam as a religion, as a written text of supreme importance, and as living and accepted spiritual force. Islamic traditions, or what Maudoodi refers to as “islams” (without capital letter), are those incorporated in the lives of individuals, but not in terms of a lofty state ideal.
While Muslims number in total around one billion, there is some little disagreement within the Muslim world regarding what the proper practice of Islam requires. Interpretations of Islam vary from one group to another, and from one culture to another. As Muslims, we find no perplexity regarding divergence of the practices, the obstruction is the misinterpretation of Islam that directly damages Islam itselfe and ultimately distorts Muslims reputation, exactly as the case of Taliban when they harbored the terrorists and ignored the rights of their starving populations.
The events of September 11, the Middle East crisis, and the asylum-seekers from Iraq and Afghanistan have all become associated with a view in the West that Muslims as a group represent a threat to the Western values and institutions.
This is based on the assumption that all Muslims, regardless of ethnic or cultural background, or of their commitment to Islam or lack of it, are part of a single, homogeneous entity that thinks and acts in exactly the same way.
The majority of Muslims shun and reject ideas and practices (adapted by some Muslims) that they see as fanatical, extremist, anti-modern or irrelevant to life in a normal society. Another problem is the misunderstanding of Islam, raised widely in the Western countries that put these different people into one basket labeled “Islamic culture”. In the same time, most of the positive attitudes of this culture towards social life, stability, modernity and modern Western institutions is neglected.
More than fourteen centuries ago, Islam has absolutely condemned and strongly denunciated terrorist acts and inflicted harsh punishments on their perpetrators. Needless to say, that the acts of September 11, against the United States are ugly crimes, committed by criminals, had neither principles nor beliefs in faiths or human rights.
Saudi Arabia, the land of the two Holy Mosques, in which the interpretation of the Shari’ah principles “Islamic constitutions” has traditionally been the exclusive domain of the regime, has condemned the criminal acts in consider that they were contrary to Islam and its values and civilized concepts. This is brought about predominantly by certain adjustments to Islam. The system in the country is adjusted to Islam, not in order to become Islamic; rather, Islam has adjusted to support the state.
Under this arrangement, the Quran acts as the moral code of the regime and the King asks the Ulama for careful advice to explain the state’s policies. The Ulama perform this function in line with the assumption that the Shari’ah regulates all human activities, and have devised the system of qiyas ‘analogy’ and ijma ‘consensus’ to address modern-day problems in relation to the centuries-old codes.
Islam in Saudi Arabia therefore plays a vital role at the level of formal and informal structures. Moreover the Saudi nation plays a role in global ‘Islamic’ culture as custodian of Islam’s holy places.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was one of the first states to express its absolute condemnation and strong denunciation of what happened in America. This stance of the Kingdom is in harmony with its adherence to Islam and its constant and continuing policies against terrorism and sabotage. The Kingdom itself has suffered from terrorism, this is why it has cancelled all of its National Day celebrations scheduled around the world for September 23, in sympathy for the victims, out of hope for the injured and out of respect for all the people of the United States of America.
In his message to the President of the United States of America, the king underlined his strong denunciation and condemnation of such acts. He also conveyed his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the friendly American people. He confirmed Saudi Arabia's solidarity with the international community in standing in the face of terrorism and fighting it in all its forms and manifestations. He expressed the full cooperation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the American government in all its efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The condemnation of these criminal acts was expressed by all segments of Saudi society which realize that such explosions, the acts of plane hijacking, frightening peaceful people, and unjustly killing people, are forms of aggression and oppression which the Islamic Law does not condone, considering it a major sin.
The Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council in the Kingdom noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns these brutal acts and considers it anathema for Muslims to commit such deeds or protect such criminals. He also noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has declared, through its religious leaders, and before any Saudi aircraft was ever hijacked, that such acts are criminal, regardless of whether the passengers were Muslims or not. They considered such acts oppression and that aggression against people and terrorizing them are the greatest of sins.
However, as this is the right position of Islam, the institutional bodies and news media are urged to avoid linking terrorist acts with Islam or any particular religion, putting in mind that terrorism knows no ethnic group or specific religion. This is the fact that we should accept if we are serious in effectively combating terrorism.
Those ignorant who arbitrarily accuse Islam, in an attempt to link it with some negative phenomena, such as terrorism and fanaticism, intentionally overlook the fact of Islam that rejects such terms while promoting tolerance and cooperation. In other words, this accusation means that such people mistrust God who invented Islam as a religion. Islam prohibits terrorism because God Almighty cannot be but just, and He prohibits injustice against human beings. Killing the innocent is a major sin: it is considered similar to perversion on earth and destruction of crops and progeny.
This is why, the Qur’an, in which we believe, has given the state, in which the terrorist acts take place, the right to pursue the wrongdoers, to arrest them and to put them on trial. The objective of such punishment is to eradicate all forms of terrorism, and not revenge.
Holy Qur’an has ordered the Islamic State to impose capital punishment on those who commit the crimes of terrorism and random sabotage. "If anyone slew a person unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole people."
Moreover, it is malicious and ignorance of history when we falsely accuse a religion or a specific nation of terrorism. Some biased media repeat unjust hearsay about Islam, chewing Islamic terrorism, Islamic threats and Islamic bombs. It is as if terrorism is committed only by Muslims. Terrorists are found among every sect and religion, and among all human societies.
Further more, some writers are trying to point fingers at Saudi Arabia either directly or indirectly, simply because, the prime suspect behind the crime was once a Saudi. However, Saudi Arabia does not want the world to see Osama Bin Laden as a Saudi or even a dissident. He is simply a criminal, an outlaw, who has had nothing to do with Saudi Arabia since his nationality was extracted in the early of nineties.
However, terrorists do not represent any religion or any society, they represent nothing more than sabotage and evil. Timothy Mackfai of Oklahoma does not represent Christianity or Americans nor Port Arthur of Tasmania represents Australians, the case is the same with those who had committed the bombardment in New York and Washington and before in Saudi Arabia.
As I mentioned earlier, Saudi Arabia has suffered from terrorist acts, therefore, and has exerted all efforts for a long time to combat this dangerous phenomenon. It has always taken appropriate measures on all levels, internally and externally. It has enacted laws that punish perpetrators of terrorist acts. It adhered to numerous United Nations conventions about terrorism. It is about to join the international convention on terrorist bombings, and the convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism.
Saudi Arabia is aware that any kind of terrorism violates the objectives and principles of the United Nations, threatens international peace and security and endangers friendly relations among states, as well as inhibiting cooperation among them.
International law should be the basis of dealing with terrorism and of deciding what measures to take against it. All faiths and creeds must be respected and cannot be tarnished under the pretext of defending freedom of speech. Issues of human rights should not be politicized. And attempts to impose some values on other nations, which might contradict its beliefs and principles, should cease. No double standards should prevail in dealing with international problems. Therefore, international laws and legitimacy should be respected.
The world should start to look at the areas of peace and security with a just perspective. That is necessary to protect the interests of the people everywhere because now the problems of any area in the world have become part of the internal problems of the world not just the United States.
It is an opportunity for us to change these painful events into a way to strengthen understanding between the Muslim world in general and the United States and the West. Saudi Arabia is the land of the two Holy Mosques and the cornerstone of more than one billion Muslims in the world. It has been a leader in the area of the world cultures. Saudi Arabia will continue to play a prominent role throughout the current circumstances and after as a force of moderation for all the Muslims.
* A Seminar on Islam & the West, Conflict or Cooperation, International Terrorism and the World Responses Australian National University Canberra - Australia
[i]Saikal, Amin, Signs of Modern Muslim Politics. International Hearald Tribune, 7 March, 2000, p. 7.
[ii]Esposito, John, The Islamic Threat. New York, Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 171.
[iii]Ibid.
[iv]Akbar, Ahmad, Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise. London, Routledge, 1992, pp. 221-222.
[v]Esposito, John, op. cit., p.172.