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| Arabia | ||
| Saudi clerics set limits on reforms | ||
| 2004-01-27 | ||
When Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority ruled this month that Islam forbids men and women to mix in public, he reset the boundaries for reformists pushing for women’s rights in the ultra-conservative kingdom. No one, not even the royal family, which derives legitimacy from the clerical establishment, could challenge his verdict. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh’s ruling opened a debate on whether Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy is capable of carrying out reforms and moving the country into the modern age with a powerful clerical establishment stuck in an 18th century mind-set.
"Saudi Arabia is a country founded on religion. It is a tool for anyone who is controlling Saudi Arabia, without it it would be fragmented into tribal society," said Islamist lawyer Mohsen Awaji, jailed for four years in 1994 for demanding reforms. Analysts say the House of Saud has for years turned a blind eye to Wahhabi teachings which are now blamed for breeding militancy, but cannot repudiate them without harming its own legitimacy. "The men of religion and politics traded many benefits over the years. The rulers gave the clergy influence to implement its ideology and the clergy protected them with edicts (supporting their rule)," said Saudi analyst Khaled al-Fadely. "The religious leaders helped for a long time in safeguarding thrones, whether in Saudi or elsewhere." Most citizens of Saudi Arabia have been brought up under this strict code of religious conformity which is intolerant of other forms of Islam and other faiths. Some analysts and academics say the country was not always so restrictive, pointing to a period of liberalism in the 1960s when Saudi Arabia had a Shura (advisory) council, municipal elections and women could work and mix with men. They attribute the change to the 1979 takeover of the Grand mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, by a group of Sunni fanatics who opposed modernisation in the birthplace of Islam. A disconcerted royal family empowered the clergy to bolster the validity of its rule; the House of Saud bases its legitimacy on safeguarding the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina. Wahhabi clerics then waged a campaign against art and other pleasures of life. Music was banned from public places and the few cinemas closed. Religion hijacked most of the school curriculum with students having less time for other topics. No one expects sudden change in a country where religious diktat intervenes in every detail of life. But some officials now acknowledge that religious dogma, which instills bigotry and hatred of the West, has helped create a militancy which led to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Reformists say those attacks, carried out by mainly Saudi followers of Saudi-born al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has put Saudi Arabia and its religious establishment under pressure to reform. The royal family, not likely to change the order on its own, is now being pressed by its ally Washington to take bold steps to check the rising influence of al Qaeda and prevent the world’s leading oil exporter from sliding into turmoil. "Our country is being forced to reform. If it is left for their choice they would not move," Awaji said. No significant changes in the kingdom, from the introduction of telephones and television to the start of education for girls have ever gone ahead without fierce resistance from the clerics. This time, reformers say, the royal family has to decide whether it wants to face that challenge. "Since 1990 we’ve been saying the same thing — that reform is essential but that we are not ready. When are we going to be ready then?" asked Qusti. Crown Prince Abdullah has pledged to press ahead with reform but said change would be gradual and in harmony with Islam. "This country is either Muslim or nothing at all," he said. Many analysts doubt that determination at the top will be enough this time. Some believe the monarchy could exert pressure on the clerics by curtailing their lucrative benefits. The government, however, remains cautious about the pace of reform, anxious to minimise any backlash. As one official told Reuters: "Change does not come in a day or a night. We have to start and keep the momentum and we have to prepare the mind-set of people for change to accept it. You cannot ram reform down their throats just like that." "It was the mistake of the government to allow them (the clerics) to expand their influence," said al-Fadely. "The state gave them power and the magic turned against the magician." | ||
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #9 like an alcoholic swearing off wine coolers Shhhhhhhhhhh...... I got six months of peace with that one. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-1-27 3:40:25 PM |
| #8 8th century is the time when islam spread across the mideast and north africa. 18thc is the time when wahabism was born and became allied to the House of Saud. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2004-1-27 1:38:56 PM |
| #7 "without it it (Saudi Arabia) would be fragmented into tribal society," He says that like that would be a bad thing. |
| Posted by: OminousWhatever 2004-1-27 1:10:11 PM |
| #6 Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh’s ruling opened a debate on whether Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy is capable of carrying out reforms and moving the country into the modern age with a powerful clerical establishment stuck in an 18th century mind-set. I think that was a typo and should have read 8th century mind-set. 18th century would be quite a leap for these people. |
| Posted by: Lil Dhimmi (JC) 2004-1-27 10:58:13 AM |
| #5 Crown Prince Abdullah has pledged to press ahead with reform but said change would be gradual and in harmony with Islam. "This country is either Muslim or nothing at all," he said. I do not have a problem with that statement. Where is that 40km strip exactly? |
| Posted by: john 2004-1-27 9:54:46 AM |
| #4 Limit on reforms - like an alcoholic swearing off wine coolers. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-1-27 7:27:26 AM |
| #3 "The mixing between men and women is totally forbidden under sharia (Islamic law) and highly punishable. It is...the root of every evil and catastrophe," said the mufti, As far as I know, these evil muftis never ever criticize Moslem men who travel abroad and mix with women there or who import prostitutes for orgies. These evil muftis never ever criticize the Saudi male aristocracy that has earned a reputation as the world's most profligate patrons of prostitution throughout the world. Not one such word of criticism ever from these evil muftis! All their preaching and suppression are aimed at the females who were unfortunate to be born into Moslem societies, into the mean and brutal control of these evil muftis. |
| Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-1-27 7:26:26 AM |
| #2 Muslims are REALLY damaged, how sad. |
| Posted by: Miguel 2004-1-27 4:48:27 AM |
| #1 "Urk!..." |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-1-27 1:22:28 AM |