Writing in Asharq Alawsat, Huda Al-Saleh notes that there are at least 10 different religious identities among Saudi Arabians. As a result, it is intellectually dishonest to have one group presume to speak for all. She writes of a new book designed to encourage dialogue among the groups and interviews a variety of imams who note that there can be no dialogue if the starting position is ‘I’m right; you’re wrong.’ Definitely worth reading the whole article.

Saudi Clerics Seek Dialogue among Various Sects
Huda al Saleh

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- The cultural, social, and religious scene in Saudi Arabia is witnessing “symbolic” gestures advocating dialogue and sectarian tolerance. The latest such gesture was a visit by Shiite Sheikh Muhammad al-Saffar to Al-Qasim. He had been invited by the governor of Unayzah in Al-Qasim Province to attend Unayzah’s First Cultural and Heritage Festival. For two days and in the presence of numerous media personnel, government officials, and intellectuals Al-Qasim, a province famous for its salafi character, played host to the first “Shiite turban.” The occasion was reminiscent of the time when the well-known cleric and native son of Al-Qasim Sheikh Salman al-Awdah rode in the same car with Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar following a session of national dialogue.

In the same context several Saudi writers and Islamic intellectuals belonging to various Islamic schools of thought have come together in a book that they called “Doctrinal Dialogue in Saudi Arabia.” It sets a precedent. The book was written in response to a call for a dialogue among the adherents of the different Islamic Schools in Saudi Arabia that Sheikh Abdullah Bin-Manimade during an interview with Asharq al-Awsat on 17 March 2006. The call was promptly supported by Sheikh Salih al-Sadlan, faculty member at Imam Muhammad Bin-Saud Islamic University during an interview of his own with Asharq al-Awsat.
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