From CDHR
January 11, 2008
Defeat the Wahhabi Ideology
By Ali Alyami
At the heart of Muslim religious extremism and intolerance is the Saudi literally interpreted and piercingly implemented version of the Quran, Shariah, Islamic arbitrary law, and Hadith, the Prophet’s conversation or tradition. The Saudi-Wahhabi population represents less than one percent of Muslims worldwide, which is a miniscule percentage. This number would be religiously irrelevant if it were not for the fact that Islam was founded in the Western Hijaz region, which was annexed by the Saudi-Wahhabi death Squads (the Ikhwan, or Brothers) in 1926. The first thing the Saudi-Wahhabi invaders took part in when they entered Mecca was the destruction of Christians, Jews, Pagans and even Prophet Mohammed’s sanctuary. From that point on, the Saudi-Wahhabi alliance became the sole interpreter, writer, printer and translator of the Muslim holy books to hundreds of languages. After this, the books and other intolerant literature are shipped and distributed free of charge to Muslim communities around the world. The original Quran was written in Arabic only, yet the overwhelming majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic, so they rely on the Saudi-Wahhabi ideologues’ interpretations and instructions.
The largest non-Arabic speaking Muslim country is Indonesia, whose former President, Mr. Abdulrahman Wahid, became the most prominent advocate for defeating the Saudi-Wahhabi-Salafi dangerous ideology. He calls on “Muslims and non-Muslims to unite and defeat the Wahhabi ideology.” While this is one step in the right direction, the way to defeat Saudi-Wahhabi deadly dogma is by creating an international representative Muslim Council to govern the Muslim holy shrines in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, and challenge the Wahhabi monopoly over the interpretation of the Quran, Shariah and Hadith. The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (CDHR), located in Washington D.C., is embarking on a comprehensive research project to explore the possibility of the establishment of a Muslim Council to share the governance of the Muslim holy shrines in Saudi Arabia, and to engage in debate about the interpretation of the Quran, the Shariah and the Hadith, as well as the role they should play in the daily lives of Muslims in the 21st century.