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Debate rages on action against Saudi scholar
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10.7.2009 |
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Dubai: Liberals in Saudi Arabia are thrilled with the sacking of Dr Sa'ad Bin Nasser Al Shithri from the Council of Senior Scholars, the highest religious authority in Saudi Arabia.
The 20-member council, which enjoys a four-year term as per law, was appointed by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz some eight months ago and his removal of one of its members is unprecedented in the history of the kingdom.
"The removal of Dr Al Shithri, who openly criticised the curriculum and mixing of the students in classrooms at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), was a move in the right direction. It emphasises the seriousness of the government in the reform plan promised by the king when he took over in 2005," a female professor at the King Saud University spoke to Gulf News on condition of anonymity.
"We have been waiting to see the reform plan unroll in vain. It seems the Saudi government has set its priorities clear at this stage and those who are using the same old tactics to prevent the development of the society will not be allowed to continue," the professor said.
Dr Adel Ahmad Bana'mah, a member of the staff at the Umm Al Qura University in Makkah, however, took a different view of the developments. He wrote that the whole issue of Dr Al Shithri's open criticism of the curriculum and the social environment in KAUST and the reaction of liberal writers in Saudi newspapers and media outlets reflected the level of tension in society.
"Dr Al Shithri was answering a question from a Qatari viewer about the religious opinion on modern curriculum in KAUST and mixing up of the two sexes in classrooms at the university. Allowing the mixing of males and females is prohibited in all public places since the formation of the kingdom in 1932. Al Shithri's views were aired on a special religious programme broadcast by Al Majd Satellite TV on the evening of September 27. It took the liberals less than 36 hours to launch their orchestrated campaign against Al Shithri in different Saudi newspapers and websites," Dr Bana'mah said.
"What is worrying me is not how wrong or right were Dr Al Shithri's views about KAUST, the most important issue in this case is the fact that liberals criticise the government and the figures of fundamentalism in the kingdom, but at the same time refuse to hear the voice of their opponents even if such voices were expressed in a peaceful and dignified manner. This atmosphere is very similar to the MaCarthyism wave in 50's of the 20th century in the US. The victims in Saudi Arabia will not be the fundamentalists alone but the stability in the Saudi society as a whole," he warned.
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Source:www.zawya.com |
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