Page 132 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

116 Dubai & Co.

agencies, such as the Ministry of Endowments (which oversees
the mosques) and the unique Authority for Enjoining Good
and Forbidding Evil, are inherently religious institutions.
Additionally, religious scholars hold significant popular sway
over the Saudi people through their lectures and lessons in
mosques and elsewhere. While the media has become a great deal
more liberal, giving Saudi readers and viewers a much broader
set of perspectives with which to view the world, religious scholars,
who have generally remained conservative and traditional, con-
tinue to speak with authoritative voices on the public and satellite
airwaves.
Religious extremism is a serious problem in Saudi Arabia. In
addition to several Saudi nationals having been involved in the
9/11 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, and to Osama
bin Laden being a renegade Saudi, domestic terrorism has become
a major issue. Contrary to the perception of many outsiders, the
extremists’ core target is not foreigners; it’s locals who are seen to be
compromising their values and the national interest. The Saudi
government, which itself is a major target of terrorist activity, has
every incentive to crack down on extremists and is doing so. The
religious establishment is also intent on confronting Islamic
extremism, as it misrepresents Islam, discredits religious education,
and puts legitimate religious scholars at risk.
In recent trips to Saudi Arabia, I have personally noticed the
effect terrorism is having on public life and the public discourse.
Parking lots of many five-star hotels have been closed for fear of
bombings. Metal detectors stand at the doors of hotels. The front
pages of newspapers show photographs of terror suspects being
hunted, and one particularly graphic cover showed a series of
photographs with “X”s over the photos of suspects who had been
apprehended. Editorials in the Arabic press discuss the need to
understand the “true Islam” and to denounce the violence. On
evening television, I saw a religious scholar discussing how “our
brothers from Afghanistan” who were resorting to terrorism had
misunderstood the religion and needed to be guided. Privately, an
insider confided to me how surprising and painful it had been for
Saudis to see their youth—”and they are from us” he explained—
taking extremist views. He interpreted this as an embarrassing
failure of elders and educators.