Mick Hartley

A couple of items from MEMRI on Saudis challenging the Islamists…

First off and pride of place to this inspired riposte from the splendid Saudi newscaster Buthayna Nasser to the hard-line clerics trying to stop women appearing on Saudi TV:

Saudi cleric Nasser Al-Huneini: On the issue of the hijab, all religious scholars are in agreement that if revealing a woman’s face might lead to temptation and other things, it is forbidden. In addition, even when they permitted the revealing of the woman’s face, they placed restrictions on this. Even Sheik Al-Albani did so. They stated that only the face and the palms may be exposed. The woman is not allowed to expose her neck or her hair. She is not allowed to appear with make-up or jewelry. The religious scholars have all agreed upon this. […]

Buthayna Nasser: Sir, when I appear on TV, and when I claim my right to play a role in this professional field, I demand that my face, which constitutes my identity, be seen. Under no circumstances am I prepared to allow my identity to be obliterated. […]

Who are these people who wish to decide for me how I should behave? Why do you treat me as less qualified just because I am a woman? Why is there always a male voice deciding how I should behave? The Lord created me equal to you in my duties, punishment, and reward. When you fast, I fast. When you pray, I pray. When you steal, your hand is cut off, and when I steal, my hand is cut off. This is the greatest evidence that I am not less qualified. I know what I am doing, and I know how to maintain my honor. […]

Walid wondered how I, as a newscaster, can describe Saudi society as being brainwashing. There is nothing to be surprising about, Dr. Walid. From the age of six or seven, from elementary school until high school, when we reach the age of 18, and even later, when we go to university – we memorize, memorize, and memorize. Whoever dares to argue or to question anything is called upon to ask for Allah’s forgiveness. He is told that this will get him into Hell. You, who frighten people with Hell, have brought them a hell upon earth. You have banned books of the various intellectual streams. You’ve prevented the mind from operating, thinking, comparing, and choosing, even though it is the same mind that the Creator gave people in order to choose between Paradise and Hell. Our Lord honored Man by giving him the freedom to choose his path in this life, and the consequences are revealed in the world to come. Deeds are measured by the intent, and, as the Great Teacher taught us, good intentions steer our behavior. Yes sir, we are being brainwashed on a daily basis, through schools, through the Koran memorization schools. We always demand that these schools not be places of memorization, but for places for teaching, for interpretation, and for learning the keys to the Arab language, which is the secret to understanding the Koran and mysteries. Enough memorizing like parrots. Yes, we are all brainwashed, except for the few spared by God.

Then there’s this from author Muhammad Al-Mahmoud:

Interviewer: Should the sheiks and imams of the mosques refrain from discussing issues like Iraq and the American invasion, in order to avoid stirring up the youth?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: They should raise these issues with wisdom and political understanding, and with an understanding of the relation between politics and the military and economic aspects…

Interviewer: So they should welcome the Americans?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: They don’t have to welcome them, but they should treat them in a civilized manner. […]

The coalition forces did not come to a democratic country or to a country that is somewhat functional, but to a dictatorial and oppressive country, devastated from within. Therefore, they were justified, even as liberating forces. […]

Interviewer: Is the situation today, following the American occupation, better than it was under Saddam?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: Without a doubt.

Interviewer: I don’t want to… Really?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: The situation is undoubtedly better, if you examine it from an historical perspective, and not just the limited period of five years. […]

Interviewer: What is the reason for the crisis of the Islamic societies, if not the growing distance from religion?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: Their crisis stems from their backwardness.

Interviewer: Backwardness in what sense?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: Backwardness in all aspects – cultural-ideological backwardness, which leads to backwardness in the technological-material sense. They even suffer spiritual backwardness. […]

All the extremist sheiks are ignorant.

Interviewer: In what sense?

Muhammad Al-Mahmoud: They know nothing about their reality. All they have is a recollection, and they are drowning in it. Each one of them has amassed textual knowledge, but textual knowledge and traditions do not constitute thought. They are nothing but a collection of data. A collection of data taken from a book does not constitute the book itself. The problem with them is that they do not limit the texts they memorized to their contemporary context. […]

The real living culture is the Western culture. There is no doubt about it. It is Western civilization that has generated this civilization. Western civilization, from the days of ancient Greece to our times – if we skip the Middle Ages – is the living culture that can breathe life into even backward civilizations, or those that have almost collapsed internally…