Posted by Pt-2 on 10/5/2005, 17:37:29, in reply to "Saudi Prince Khaled Al-Faisal Against the Islamist Ideology" "[The extremist ideology] is a very large problem that needs to be studied. After studying it, a strategy and a program should be proposed that would obligate all government staff and all official and non-official institutions … there should be a national offensive against the terrorist ideology, in which the state, the citizens, the official institutions and the civil institutions should participate … the agency should look for the causes of the spread of this ideology and who is responsible for disseminating it in the country. One shouldn't concentrate only on the question of how it came to us and who brought it; we must look for who is disseminating it inside the country… "When [the terrorist attacks] started, Saudi society and the Saudi people were shocked that they occurred, and didn't believe that among their sons there were people who were ready to kill and commit suicide at the same time in the streets of Riyadh, Jeddah, Qasim, Khobar, and other cities in the kingdom. Afterwards came the stage of confusion, and the [people] didn't know what to believe. At present I think that the citizens from all corners of the kingdom are united against this violent extremist way of thinking, which accuses [Muslims] of apostasy…" [3] Those Claiming to Belong to the Wasatiya Movement are Inciting the Youth Against the Arab Regimes In a speech given at a cultural conference in the city of Abha, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal spoke about those who portray themselves as belonging to the wasatiya ["the middle path"] Islamic school – and claimed that they are the very ones who in the past disseminated radical ideas, and that, in addition, they are currently inciting against the Arab regimes. According to Khaled Al-Faisal, "the pioneers of the wasatiya movement in Saudi Arabia, who today accuse the traditional [religious] establishment of encouraging violence – meaning by this the Al-Sheikh family and the Al-Saud family – they are the very ones who disseminated the thought of Sayyid Qutb and Al-Mawdudi, and they are among the students of Muhammad Qutb [5] … Today they speak about wasatiya, but they don't mention bin Laden by name when they talk about acts of destruction, and they don't mention Al-Qa'ida by name when they talk about acts of destruction and terrorism. "Go to the internet sites of those who talk about wasatiya and read the attacks that are published there against the Arab and Islamic regimes and leaderships. Listen to their cassettes which are still wailing away in the schools, the faculties, the vocational schools, and the mosques; listen to what they say and how they describe the Arab rulers. They describe them as tyrants and the Arab governments as dictatorships that must be brought down. They themselves exhort the youth to fight against every government and regime in the Arab and Islamic world… "We are no longer in the era of slumber as we once were, and things won't return to how they were in the last twenty years. We will not by any means allow this kind of thinking to continue…" [6] The Arab World Should Initiate Reforms In an interview on the Al-Arabiya TV program 'Personal Encounter' on the occasion of a December 2004 Arab Thought Foundation conference, titled "The Arabs: Between the Culture of Change and the Change of Culture," Khaled Al-Faisal, who heads the foundation, said: "The topic of change and reform is the topic of the hour in the Arab world. There are those who think that the Arab nation faces two options: either it reforms itself and begins to change, [which would lead] to progress … or else it puts itself in danger of change being imposed from outside. If change comes from outside, it won't be merely to reform the present situation, but in order to change our culture. Can we agree to that? Will the Arabs agree that change be imposed upon them that will influence their culture, their heritage, their history, and first and foremost their religion? Or do the Arabs possess a culture that allows them to initiate reform of the current situation and to introduce changes… I, of course, believe that the Arabs must initiate reforms from within, put their own house in order by themselves, and develop themselves… We shouldn't close ourselves off to the world, and we shouldn't reject everything [that comes from outside]. We should accept that which is beneficial to us, but [at the same time] we must reject disavowing our identity and faith…" [7] In answer to interviewer Hasan Al-Fateh's question why there is now a pressing demand for change, Khaled Al-Faisal answered: "International conditions created this situation. It is not only in the Arabs' hands, and not even in the hands of others outside the Arab nation… there are many reasons for this – political, economic, and cultural – but what is clear is that the Arab nation today needs to take the initiative and must not allow initiatives to come only from outside… "Change always comes in response to demand. It is the nature of life to evolve, and life does not allow stagnation. If you follow history you will see that it is all about development … in my opinion, civilization is one single human civilization that has arisen on the shoulders of other civilizations. There is no Eastern civilization, Western civilization, Arab civilization, or non-Arab civilization; civilization is human, and every nation established its civilization on the shoulders of the one preceding it. True civilization is human civilization." [8]
In response to the question what can be done to fight the phenomenon, Khaled Al-Faisal answered: "The spread of the extremist ideology cannot be stopped just by the treatment and the initiative of each official [working] alone. There must be a governmental strategy to fight this ideology. I think it is necessary to establish an agency for fighting the terrorist ideology, and not just for the fight against terrorism, [that is] the terrorism in the streets. I think that the government ministries should only supply security personnel … the Ministry of the Interior should supply the agency with information, but the other members of the agency – ten or more – should be chosen from among specialists … researchers in the fields of political science, economics, administration, religion, and law…
In an address delivered at the prize ceremony of the Abha national competition in various cultural events, Prince Al-Faisal said that the Saudis would stand united in the fight against terrorism. He said, "More than 60,000 men and women in Saudi Arabia have signed a declaration, which says 'No' to terrorism and destruction... and 'No' to tarnishing the image of Islam through extremism and killings." It should be noted that the prize for best research was won by the Arab News columnist Suraya Al-Shehry and by Dr. 'Ali Fayez Al-Jihani, whose research focused on the causes of terrorism and on ways to tackle it. [4]
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