The Washington Post runs this article from the Associated Press on how Saudi authorities are starting to act on last month’s edict that only authorized religious bodies would be permitted to issue fatawa. The article also notes that authorities are starting to crack down on ‘fatwa-by-SMS/text message’.
I do think that the Saudi government is correct in trying to impose some level of control over messages that confuse people, that promote an Islam that is contrary to the mainstream beliefs (even Saudi mainstream beliefs) about Islam. I do acknowledge the potential danger of having only limited channels empowered to speak on Islam, that only one interpretation is being put forth. But I wonder if the task isn’t, as something I read recently stated, ‘Chasing squirrels with a bulldozer’. It’s effective when you catch one, but the catching is pretty hard. Only the slowest, least nimble get caught. The Internet, if nothing else, is very nimble, if one knows how to avoid blockage.
Saudi telecom shuts websites violating Fatwa edict
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator has shut down three websites that were violating a government decree limiting the issuance of religious edicts to the country’s most senior group of clerics, authorities said Saturday.
Saad al-Shihri, an official at the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission, said the regulator began blocking the websites on Wednesday. He said authorities also have drawn up a list of clerics whose services break the decree, and that they have been sent messages “warning them to comply.”
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September:06:2010 - 18:25
Might it not be better if our government engaged in opposite behaviour?
Perhaps if all the bisarre religious edicts from every self-coronated Muslim religious cleric were to be gathered in one internet site?
Then one could see the folly of following anything that is issued under the guise of our religion.
There would be edicts forbidding and simultaneously permitting various things, and a variety of silly edicts.
It would likely be far more effective than the futility.
September:07:2010 - 23:01
The royal family wants to make sure no fatwa that goes against their policies is issued by anyone. They are using religion to achieve their political goals and to control Saudis more.Many scholars have been imprisoned or removed from their positions for simply stating their opinions that go against the government’s.
Muslim Scholars have always had disagreemnts on indefinite matters in Islam and will always do. It’s no one’s right to silence them and take their right of freedom of opinion away.This law actually goes against Islam.
September:08:2010 - 08:00
There is always the danger of that. At present, though, I find a greater danger in the wild issuance of fatwas that engender extremism, illiberality, and general mahem.