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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In a telephone interview from Bureida, a town north of Riyadh noted for its religious conservatism where he works for the finance ministry, Aba Al Kheil noted that Barrak's supporters appear to be coming under pressure since the fatwa appeared, because they "started making excuses" for the cleric, saying that he wasn't attacking the writers, only their ideas.

Barrak did not mention Oteibi and Aba Al Kheil by name in his written opinion, posted March 14 on his website. But their articles were presented to the elderly scholar by his followers when they asked his opinion.

Aba Al Kheil said the fatwa is evidence "that there are many Islamic intellectual movements in Saudi today." But the response it generated, he added, shows that "there are a lot of moderate people and thinkers out there who are against" clerics labeling their intellectual opponents as apostates, a capital crime under strictly applied interpretations of Islamic law.

The writer was referring to statements denouncing the fatwa from more than 90 Saudi intellectuals and almost 100 other Arab thinkers in Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. "[T]his fatwa is nothing but dark intellectual terrorism" by those who "think that Islam is exclusive to them and that they should be allowed to kill others," the Arab writers' statement said.

"We are trying our best," it added, "to make people understand the difference between Islam ... and some actions of some Muslims who give Islam a bad name."

The Saudi intellectuals called fatwas like Barrak's "a real threat to the modernization movement." They asked "official institutions to take a stern stand against them."

The government did not comment publicly. But Saudi Arabia's most senior religious leader, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, extolled "the middle way" in Islam during remarks at a recent university seminar.

The mufti warned against "preachers of darkness" and said that "fanatical zeal cannot be considered part of religion, even if they [extremists] falsely pretend to be devout," Asharq Al Awsat newspaper reported.

The impact of Barrak's declaration was muted by the fact that he holds no official position in the Saudi religious establishment and is viewed by many as a marginal leader. Aba Al Kheil called the fatwa "merely an opinion of another citizen." Nevertheless, Barrak is revered among his followers, and 20 other clerics declared support for him against attacks by liberals with "polluted beliefs," Reuters reported. Some Saudis also say that Barrak has sympathizers in the ranks of government-appointed sheikhs. Aba Al Kheil and Oteibi both said they will continue to write despite the challenge from Barrak, whom Oteibi called "an old blind Saudi cleric ... [whose] closest students are the most important ideologues of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia."

His fatwa, Oteibi wrote, illustrates that "radicalism [extremism] ... will never accept to be incapacitated." But it will not win the battle for Saudi minds "because those opposed to them are out there and will not be silenced by any means."

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