Saturday, November 17, 2001
Saudi Prince calls for restraint in sermons
By Kesava Menon
MANAMA (BAHRAIN), NOV. 16. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdelaziz, the effective ruler of the country, has urged the Ulema to be restrained in their sermons during the month of Ramadan. He has warned them against giving exaggerated interpretations of the state of the world, especially the condition it is in since the beginning of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism. There has been a strong tendency in West Asia to treat developments after Sept. 11 as a continuation of the West's hostile policy towards the world of Islam. The swift condemnation of and retaliation against the terrorist atrocity on the U.S. is usually set against the tardy response by the West to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory and the harsh measures being implemented in conjunction with it. In a context where the media is far from free and where only the Al-Jazeera television channel (a channel not looked on with favour by any of the regional Governments other than Qatar where it is headquartered) provides an avenue for open discussion, sermons delivered at mosques shape public opinion to a great extent. Saudi Arabia faces a particular predicament. The monarchy adheres to the Wahabi interpretation of Islam and in fact draws moral authority from it. At the same time, the monarchy is very closely tied to the West economically and depends on Western forces as the ultimate source of protection. In the postulated setup of a state of hostility between the West and Islam Wahabiism and its off-shoots stand for the most vociferous critique of Western ways. Therefore the Saudi monarchy finds itself right on the fault- lines. The monarchy's position currently is even more delicate since a strong section of the religious have turned against the monarchy and equates the corruption of the royal family on par with what they perceive as the overall state of corruption in the world. While the Kingdom's authorities have been very efficient in crushing open signs of rebellion, they are also overtly sensitive to the need to maintain a semblance of normality and calm. In one respect, the Saudi monarchy and the other Governments of Muslim majority states have been fortunate in that the outcome of the war in Afghanistan appears to have been decided before the onset of Ramadan today. Television images of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan and of the plight of refugees was causing outrage to mount. But over the last few days, as the Northern Alliance has swept through Afghanistan, those images have been replaced. It is difficult to maintain that fellow Muslims are being tormented by the West when anyone can see that the Afghans are so happy to have been released from the clutches of their Taliban tormentors.
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