Instant communications have been a blessing in many ways, but they’ve also been a bane. They’ve made it harder to discern fact from non-fact, wishful thinking, or outright lies. Often, the best one has to go on are feelings, not the most reliable of senses. Because feelings don’t have to go through any process of reason, they are particularly susceptible to becoming pure emotion, where hatred and disdain are all too easily communicated.

Gulf News reports on agreement between the Pope and Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti about the caution necessary to avoid the dangers of social networking…

Saudi Mufti, Pope urge caution with social media
Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and Pope Benedict XVI have urged people to “exercise proper discernment in the face of the surfeit of stimuli and data” that they receive on the internet
Habib Toumi

Manama: Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and Pope Benedict XVI have urged people to “exercise proper discernment in the face of the surfeit of stimuli and data” that they receive on the internet.

In Riyadh, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh said people cannot take the social-networking website Twitter as the source of their knowledge if they do not really know who is behind the posted comments.

“Twitter is used to issue fatwas [religious edicts] without evidence or substantiation,” the mufti said. “It is used as a platform to spread lies by some people who seek fame by insulting and denigrating other people,” he said in his Friday sermon in Riyadh.

“People should be well aware of such dangers. The site should not be used to exchange accusations or to misquote people. Muslims should be careful not to be drawn into wrong acts and must instead engage in constructive criticism,” he said.
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I’ve not read the book, but based on the review, it looks to be one worth reading.

The concept of the sacred in modern times
Amir Taheri

The Future of Blasphemy: Speaking of the Sacred in an Age of Human Rights By: Austin Dacey, 208 pages, $15, Continuum, 2012

After decades of being regarded an obscure, if not discarded, concept, blasphemy has made a spectacular comeback as a hot issue with international dimensions. Efforts to criminalise blasphemy are well advanced in the United Nations with talks of an international treaty. The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Vatican have become objective partners in lobbying for such a treaty.

In its convoluted style, the European Court of Human Rights has endorsed the concept.

In recent years, blasphemy has also been at the centre of court cases in France based on lawsuits brought by Catholic and Muslim clerics.

But what does constitute blasphemy?
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Saudi Gazette reports that he’s already instituted a change in the way the Commission will react to reports of misbehavior: It will ignore anonymous complaints.

Hai’a won’t respond to unverified complaints

RIYADH – The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) will not respond to reports unless the person making the complaint identifies himself or herself and the information is verified, said Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif Bin Abdulaziz Aal Al-Sheikh, General President of the Hai’a.

He also said that the Hai’a will only deal with reports that fall under its jurisdiction.

Hoaxes and false reports were the main cause for criticism of the performance of the Hai’a staff, Aal Al-Sheikh said in a statement.

He said the Hai’a was striving to change its image, adding that he sought the cooperation of all Hai’a staff in achieving this objective.
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Back to Asharq Alawsat, where Hussein Shabokshi see Al-Sheikh as a breath of fresh air inspiring the Commission, an organization that the majority of Saudis believe necessary to their society. He compliments him for taking action in barring volunteer mutawwa as a critical step in fixing the organization’s image and function. He notes, too, that the Sheikh is aptly named, too. Abdullatif means ‘Servant of the Kindly’ [God] while his surname indicates his descent from Muhammad ibn ?Abd al-Wahhab, eponymous founder of the conservative trend of Islam followed by the Saudi majority.

Shabokshi writes that as Saudi Arabia finds its way through a period of major reforms, in society as well as law, it’s critical to have leaders capable of dealing with change. He squarely puts Al-Sheikh in this column.

A new chapter in the history of the Hesba
Hussein Shabokshi

Talking or writing about the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice [CPVPV] in Saudi Arabia is an extremely complex and thorny issue due to the common understanding that criticizing – or even expressing an opinion about – this organization represents an objection to religion itself. Hence, whoever ventures to discuss this matter is exposed to a volley of accusations, as is often the case. The CPVPV, or the “Hesba” as it more commonly known, is an organization that is unique to Saudi Arabia. With a few exceptions, no other country in the world has a similar institution or organization. This organization was established shortly after the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and soon became part of the state’s administrative tools regulating public affairs.

The CPVPV has undergone various phases of development and expansion to its mandate. Saudi society has changed over the years, witnessing a sharp increase in its population, as well as different lifestyles appearing on the scene. In addition to this, the youth have begun to interact with public life; women have become more open to the idea of employment, whilst there has also been a sharp increase in the proportion of foreign labour. Accordingly, demands were made for these new developments to be taken into account, and for a change in how the CPVPV dealt with such issues. The CPVPV was previously a sitting duck for anyone wanting to criticize Saudi Arabia. Violations committed by certain members of the CPVPV would be viewed as part of a general flaw in Saudi society, whilst the most common description of the CPVPV in the western media is “religious police”, with all the unacceptable scornful connotations attached to this.
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[NOTE: Just for the sake of clarity: The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has several names used in common speech. The more common ones include: The Commission, Haya or Ha’ia, mutawwa/mutawwaeen or mutawwa’in, and religious police. Disfavored by the organization, but widely heard nonetheless, is ‘vice cops’. In his article, Shabokshi uses a term, Hesba, which I’d not previously encountered. Its meaning is clear enough, though. It’s an alternate spelling of hisba, the principle of ‘enjoining virtue and forbidding what is wrong’ through which the Commission draws its raison d’être.

‘Insulting and defamatory’ articles about individuals or government officials are banned. I’ve no problem with ‘defamatory’; false statements that paint someone in a bad light should be sanctionable. But who is to decide what is ‘insulting’? Where is the line between ‘insulted’ and ‘hurt feelings’? If ‘insult’ is to be criminalized, then it needs to be very closely defined in a manner that avoids subjective judgment.

Also banned are articles ‘that violate Islamic law.’ Which Islamic law/s? Who decides whether that law as been broken? Here again, a tight definition is necessary.

What about articles that complain about the actions or inactions of a government bureaucracy? They are not ‘defamatory’ if true, though they certainly could lead to more hurt feelings. More clarity would be helpful.

What about defenses to allegations of defamation? Are there affirmative defenses that bar legal proceedings against a writer or publication? If there are, the report does not mention them.

Perhaps this lack of clarity is due only to incomplete reporting. If that is so, then better reporting is called for. If the report is complete but the law is lacking, then it needs to be fixed in order to avoid chilling media discussion of issues of public importance.

Shoura approves anti-defamation law for media

RIYADH – The Shoura Council has approved amendments to the media and publications law which prohibits publishing insulting and defamatory articles about individuals and government officials.

This took place here at the 78th session of the Shoura Council, chaired by Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Aal Al-Sheikh, Speaker of the council.

The amendments approved by the council include changes to five articles ordered under a Royal Decree issued last year.

Aal Al-Sheikh said the changes outlaw the publication of any article that violates Islamic law and the country’s Basic Law of Governance.

He said the Royal Order protects individuals and officials from being insulted and their public service work demeaned.
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It does not address the issue of the true vigilantes, though, those who pretend to be members or otherwise seek to impose their idiosyncratic morality on others. The government may want to look into strengthening laws and increasing punishments for the individuals who, under religious cover, interrupt book fairs, lectures, entertainments, and the like which are fully authorized by the government.

Hai’a no longer needs volunteers: Al-Sheikh
Hazim Al-Mutairi | Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — The new chief of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) has said that non-Hai’a volunteers will no longer be allowed to serve in the force.

“We thank all members who cooperated with the Hai’a for their keenness to promote virtue. But the Hai’a will perform its duties and will live up to the expectations of the leaders,” said Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif Bin Abdulaziz Aal Al-Sheikh.
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How Aramco got us in trouble
ABDULLAH AL-ALAMI

Our national achievements records show that we owe our development to that industrial, rebellious and tireless institution lying on the banks of the Arabian Gulf.

Saudi Aramco’s achievements during the last 20 years have by far exceeded all expectations.

Once in a while, Aramco’s men and women get us into hot water for very obvious reasons. Many of their achievements can be visibly seen in both upstream and downstream operations in many parts of the country. The company’s successful negotiations with major international institutions are yet another example of implementing the corporate vision to “secure energy for future generations.” This vision resulted in major economic and social achievements. Aramco’s has a simple commitment: To remain the world leader in the production of petroleum-based energy. Aramco also believes that it can make a difference wherever it does business by investing in innovation and entrepreneurship, creating educational opportunities, powering economic progress, increasing environmental awareness. I wish the business community “outside the fence” learns how to draw similar visions.

To be honest, the way the woman and her family were treated by social services and the police in Ohio is remarkable in its own right. Most victims of domestic abuse do not meet quite the generosity she appears to have received. Still, it is what it is.

‘I wish I was American’
TARIQ AL-MAEENA

The plight of abused women in this country is swept under carpet

Not so long ago, hard-liner turned-reformed cleric Ayed Al-Garni wrote a piece entitled, “I wish I was American” on the plight of a married Saudi woman caught in an abusive marriage and far away from home.

The story revolves around a Saudi student who went to the United States to work on his MBA. He was accompanied by his wife and two children, a daughter aged 8 and a son who was 6 years old. The family initially settled in Richmond, Virginia not far from where the husband had to pursue his studies.

It was not long after that the husband’s abusive nature toward his wife began to display itself, first with words and then physical assault that on more than one occasion caused bodily harm. The wife’s cry for help during such times would invariably draw the attention of their neighbors, married Saudi couples themselves, who would try to intervene and play the peacemakers, demanding that the husband refrain from such violence toward his wife. They even contacted the wife’s parents in Saudi Arabia to put some pressure on the husband to ease his aggression.
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The cleric did two wrongs. He smeared all students with partaking of behavior of the few. This is exactly what happens when, say, a Western commentator smears all Muslims with the behavior of extremist. Second, the cleric committed an act of lèse-majesté in trying to curtain the scholarship program, a personal project of the King by blackening its reputation.

The writer is correct that the government almost never comes to its own defense (in public) when it and its actions are unfairly maligned. This does give the impression that such messages are ‘tolerated’ as the writer says. But that’s not a bad thing. Government should tolerate criticism. It should not remain quiet, though, in the face of unfair criticism of its efforts to reform. That is, in fact, one of the reasons reform projects get slowed down or even cancelled. The government allows a false idea to grow and gain support. In this instance, the issue could have been resolved by a brief public statement – from the Royal Court, from the Ministry of Higher Education, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – and the reputation of both students and the King would have been protected.

I do not think that the solution lies in instituting a foreign service branch of the religious police to go abroad to monitor students.

Drugs and alcohol scholarships
EISSA A. BOUGARY

According to a well known religious figure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it seems that Saudi students are using the scholarships provided by their country to indulge in alcohol and drug use. He later denied this statement.

It was said that he suggested students be subjected to alcohol and drugs tests at airports around the country upon their return. Of course, this should be taken as a joke.

However, what worries me is not this absurd suggestion, but the fact that it comes from a well-known religious figure with more than half a million followers on Twitter, and millions more outside the online community. Even more worrying is the lack of official response from the government condemning such outrageous, ridiculous, borderline criminal and very public behavior. This gives the wrong idea that such announcements are tolerated by the government which sends three completely wrong messages.

One, religion can be used in the worst way to rally people behind the caprice of any individual without repercussion.
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The perils of focus on Shariah and Arabic are several. First, graduates unable to find jobs for which they are qualified get angry. They’ve wasted time, and sometimes money, earning something that is little valued. Next is the problem that these unemployable graduates create for both the national economy and society. They end up being a drain on both government and parental coffers because they are unable to produce anything worthwhile.

Perhaps the most insidious problem, though, is that having been educated in a narrow field, these graduates have a tendency to view the world through the lenses crafted by that field of study. There’s an adage that goes, ‘Everything looks like a nail to a hammer.’ It applies here as well: viewing the world solely through the eyes of Shariah law or historic Arab culture (the goal of Arabic language studies as taught) necessarily misses out on the broader aspects of life. Diversity of thought or behavior is certainly not promoted or valued; in fact, they are seen as dangers, capable of disrupting the ideals of a ‘golden age’ that never was. Further, given the way critical analysis has been deprecated in Saudi education, we end up with a situation wherein precious nuggets of false history are protected like a jinn’s treasure. And thus, the machine to produce better educated religious police gets fed. They’re ‘better educated’ in that they now hold degrees, but they are worse educated in that they know less of the world, of mankind, than almost any other field of study would produce. The only jobs they are competent to fill are those artificially created by government in the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

I think it clear that these jobs are not productive. They may have social value – Saudi society continues to feel a need for them – but they add nothing to the national economy. To the contrary, they interfere with efficient operations by mandating ‘separate but equal (and twice as expensive)’ sexual segregation in the workplace. They inhibit women’s ability to drive, thus creating an artificial need for foreign drivers and another drain on the economy.

I am not calling for a major change that puts students into the hard sciences. There, too, one finds limited opportunities for jobs, though perhaps not as serious a bottleneck. Instead, I think, Saudi education should start incorporating more comparative studies within the liberal arts. These courses should demonstrate that there are manifold ways of doing things successfully; that every decision has benefits and costs; that history can have direct application on contemporary matters.

Saudi parents as well as the jobless graduates know there’s a problem. They’ve been calling for reform but have been thwarted by religious and social conservatives who fear change. ‘Modernization without change’, the mantra of the conservatives, is impossible. It is far better to accept that change is inevitable and seek to moderate its hazardous or ambiguous consequences.

‘Too many Arabic and Shariah graduates’
Naim Tameem Al-Hakim | Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — There are too many Arabic and Shariah graduates in the market currently, according to Dr. Mefrij Al-Haqbani, Deputy Minister of Labor.

Al-Haqbani said these graduates rarely get the jobs they were trained for, and often have to settle for jobs paying as little as SR2,000 a month.

However, there are plans to upgrade the training and courses of colleges offering these diplomas and degrees. This is being carried out by various government agencies, including the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) at the Ministry of Higher Education.

Some graduates are bitter about not being able to find jobs. Muhammad Al-Qerrni said he graduated from a faculty of Arabic language two years ago, but has not found a job to suit his qualification. He eventually accepted a job for SR2,000.
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Ministry ready if govt okays cinemas: Khoja

RIYADH — The Ministry of Culture and Information will be ready to support the opening of cinemas in the country if the government gives the go-ahead, Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, has said.

Khoja made the remark in the presence of media representatives while visiting King Saud University here Tuesday.

“When Prince Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Ayyaf, Mayor of Riyadh, said we are in the process of setting up cinemas, he would not have said this unless he has definite information in this regard. At the Ministry of Culture and Information we are ready to cooperate,” the minister said.

In statements earlier, the Riyadh mayor said: “About 230,000 tourists from the Kingdom went to the United Arab Emirates in the summer of 2010 simply for the sake of watching movies. It shows that cinemas in the Kingdom have become important.”
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