Posted by Concuded on 10/5/2005, 17:37:50, in reply to "Saudi Prince Khaled Al-Faisal Against the Islamist Ideology" In a speech given at a cultural conference in the city of Abha, Khaled Al-Faisal spoke about the two important components of Saudi society – Islam and Arabism – and stated that Islam encourages progress and modernization, and that therefore the country's leadership is determined to stay the course of reform: "The Saudi Arab Kingdom was established and founded on an Islamic basis. Its founding king chose the Qur'an and the Sunna as a constitution and the monotheist credo ['There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Prophet'] as a banner. Likewise, he chose the name 'The Saudi Arab Kingdom' … in doing so he emphasized that Islam and Arabism are not separate things. The Arabs have no honor without Islam, and there is no Islam without the Arabs and the Arabic language. The last of the prophets [Muhammad] was an Arab, the last [revealed] book, the Qur'an, is in Arabic, and as has been made known to us – the language of the people of paradise is Arabic. In Saudi Arabia we should be proud that Allah honored us with two things … that he included us in the best nation, the Islamic nation, and [placed us] next to his house [the Ka'ba in Mecca] and next to the mosque of his prophet [in Medina]; and that he made us belong to the Arab race, to which the last of the prophets also belonged… "The country's leadership made a determined resolution to continue in development, modernization, and the introduction of reforms, since it believes that Islam is a religion that is relevant at all times and in all places, and that Islam encourages progress, modernization, advancement, and development. Anyone who stands in the way of modernization and progress is not one of us. If he doesn't think that Islam encourages this path, then he should look for another Islam…" [10] As in the West – Arab States' Strategies Should Be Determined in Think- Tanks Referring to the role of the Arab Thought Foundation, Khaled Al-Faisal said: "We don't determine strategy or solutions. We are preparing the arena and the stage for Arab thinkers and intellectuals to voice their opinions on solutions and strategies. I believe that the Arab nation today must listen to the Arab thinkers, intellectuals and academicians, since if we look at the Western countries and Western societies we will see that all the governmental strategies are based on [ideas] that originated with intellectuals and thinkers in think tanks, in universities, in cultural foundations, or even in the media. These ideas crystallized until in the end they became national strategy. I hope that the Arab countries and the Arabs' ruling institutions will henceforth take into account Arab cultural and intellectual initiatives and will adopt them as the core for strategies that they will present to the Arab nation…". * Aluma Dankowitz is Director of MEMRI's Reform Project. [1] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), December 12, 2003. Poems by Khaled Al-Faisal appear on the internet site: www.khaled-alFaisal.com. [2] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 23, 2004. [3] Al-Arabiya (UAE), July 15, 2004. www.alarabiya.net/Articlep.aspx?P=5030. [4] Arab News (Saudi Arabia), August 14, 2004. [5] Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) and Abu Al-'Ala Al-Mawdudi (1903-1979) are two of the most prominent thinkers of the Islamic Awakening movement, under whose rubric is included the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamic scholar Muhammad Qutb, who is Sayyid Qutb's brother, teaches at Umm La-Qura University in Mecca. [6] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), July 7, 2004. [7] Al-Arabiya (UAE), November 30, 2004. www.alarabiya.net/Article.aspx?P=8451. Khaled Al-Faisal made similar statements in his opening remarks at the conference. See www.metransparent.com, January 13, 2005. [8] Al-Arabiya (UAE), November 30, 2004. [9] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), November 26, 2004. [10] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), July 7, 2004
Khaled Al-Faisal said similar things at a press conference in Marrakesh on the occasion of the Arab Thought Foundation conference, and went on to say: "We believe in mutual fertilization among civilizations, and not clashes among them … every science began in one civilization and continued in another. This is true even in the field language – there is no language in which you will not find words or expressions from others. Civilizations complement each other." [9]
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