In Saudi Arabia, moderate article on Islam draws death fatwa

The response to threats against Abdullah Bejad al-Oteibi exposes a shifting balance between moderate and extremist versions of Islam in Saudi society.

from the April 29, 2008 edition

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But others, such as Abdul Hamid al-Ansari, former dean of Islamic Law at Qatar University, believe that Saudi religious hard-liners still have the upper hand in the kingdom. "This fatwa," Ansari wrote on the reformist website, AAFAQ.org., must be seen in the context of the intellectual conflict raging between the followers of Salafist – fundamentalist – inflexibility and the advocates of change and reform. It constitutes a most serious attack on the reformists."

Barrak's declaration comes at a time when the government is taking steps to demonstrate its commitment to a moderate, nonviolent form of Islam. Last month, King Abdullah called for an interfaith conference among Muslims, Jews, and Christians, saying that Saudi clerics support the idea. And university officials have announced plans for an international conference of scholars next year to discuss moderation as an Islamic value.

The Saudi government's tolerance of free expression still has limits, however. Popular blogger Fouad Farhan, who had been critical of officials, was released Saturday after almost five months in detention without charges.

"These kinds of fatwas are going out [of style]," Toraifi said of Barrak's declaration. "You don't see a rallying [around it]; it's not like in the '80s and '90s."

The early 1990s were years of increased political opposition as several conservative Islamist leaders, using cassette tapes and formal petitions that drew widespread support, demanded political reforms in the wake of the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

Oteibi, who works for a think tank in Dubai, replied by e-mail to questions from the Monitor. He regards Barrak's fatwa, he wrote, as a sign that the extremist camp, having "found itself under a huge pressure, especially after 9/11," feels "that its domination of society has subsided."

The fatwa, he added, was "the latest weapon they used ... to regain this domination."

Aba Al Kheil, the other Saudi writer, drew rebuke from Barrak for an article questioning the common Muslim view that Jews and Christians are unbelievers.

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