A nation in transition

Mistake of spawning madrassas the world over

In a system as closed as Saudi Arabia’s, if someone in authority comes forward and outlines a vision of the future in the modern idiom, two conclusions are inescapable: Saudi Arabia is in transition, the process having been aggravated by September 11, and the person engaging you in conversation will have a role in navigating this transition.

Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud, 50, already holds an imposing job — chairman and governor of the Saudi Investment Authority. With ample informality, he sits cross-legged at one end of a large, semicircular sofa set against the wall decorated with camel-and-sand designs knitted on to large panels of jute.

“These panels were made by an artist in Ireland.” He is not showing off. This is his way of pointing out the absence of any handicraft in his largely nomadic country. The prince had his early education in a public school in England where he proceeded to complete his masters in engineering.

People forget that prior to the huge increase in oil revenues in the seventies, “We actually lived very modest lives.” Considering that his mother is the King’s real sister, it does seem unreal that Prince Abdullah has childhood memories of a mud house.

Sophisticated enough systems were not in place to monitor the wealth and make shrewd investments. “And we made serious mistakes.” Not just Prince Abdullah, even others in the Saudi hierarchy admit to having invested huge sums in religious institutions — thousands of madrassas across the globe imagining that all of this was benign, charitable work in the name of Islam.

“Don’t forget in the seventies we forged a strategic relationship with the Americans against the Soviet threat.” Since Islam in those days was seen as a possible bulwark against communism, the strengthening of Islamic institutions, the growth of Islam served a Western purpose as well. Saudi pride in Islam became an anti-Soviet tool for the West. And since “we too were vehemently opposed to Soviet communism, our relations with the West were based on solid mutual benefits”

I asked Prince Abdullah how the Iranian revolution of 1979 had affected Saudi-American co-ordination. Since the Kingdom’s relations with Iran have improved enormously, the Prince was cautious in tackling this subject. I approached it differently.

“By simple opposition to the West on the Palestinian issue, Iran has created a huge constituency in the Arab street.” I said “How do capitals like Riyadh and Cairo intend to cope with this alienation since they are seen to be totally dependent on American patronage and hopelessly ineffective in influencing Western policies on Palestine?” Prince Abdullah sat up, almost defiantly. “I don’t agree with your assumptions. First, if one society is not good at external public relations, it does not mean it is not doing the right things. And for this reason the perception can be worse than reality. Unlike some others, we do not have a political agenda. All we want is to develop a society into a positive entity within the international community. We would not like to be negative (against the West) simply to achieve some shallow instant popularity.”

But he added that the “Saudis will be essential” to the global programme of “exploring the causes of the conflicts from the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and all the way to other parts of Asia.

Prince Abdullah like other Saudis is still in a state of shock at the events of September 11. “As human beings and as Muslims hosting the holy places we are all in shock and even though we don’t know all the facts as yet, we are told that some of the hijackers and perpetrators of violence may have been from the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. It is mind boggling that they can appear on the media and admit that what they had done was in the name of Islam”. He added, “And they have been using problems in the Middle East to mobilise popular support.”

Saudis have been shaken beyond belief by the barrage of media criticism in the West. So far the media has been considerate of the Saudis for their stout support during the cold war and the Gulf War. What has gone wrong?

What is bothering them particularly is that they are under severe pressure on the one hand from their own clergy and population and on the other from the Americans who are seeking greater co-operation in choking off funds that might be flowing to terrorists.

In fact, the very day I arrived in Riyadh, Crown Prince Abdullah, Deputy Premier and the all-powerful commander of the National Guard held an extraordinary meeting with the country’s leading clergy and Islamic scholars. Among those who attended was Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah al Sheikh, president of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars. The purpose of the meeting was to mollify the clergy in a state of agitation at the occasional anti-Islamic edge to the global discourse since September 11.

“I would like to assure you that there will not be any bargain or change in policy in matters related to religion and nation.” Also in attendance was Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defence who briefed the clerics on the contacts he had had with President Bush.

“By they way, have you seen the new construction, the markets we have built?” I told him that we had been advised not to film anything outdoors. He stood up abruptly, in a huff. “Who has told you that?”

The ministry of information, I said. He began to nod his head. “I don’t believe it,” slapping his side in anger, “I don’t believe it.” He then calmed himself, lit a cigarette. After a long pause he said, “well, I promise you that things will change — we must open up.”

What has rattled Saudis in particular is the comprehensive list Americans have handed to Riyadh demanding freezing of various accounts allegedly linked to terrorists. Every major Saudi business house finances some Islamic charity. The Saudis find the evidence unconvincing. But what disturbs them more is something else. If all charitable funding of Islamic institutions is brought under Western scrutiny, the reaction will be unacceptably strong among exactly the sort of clergy the Crown Prince was trying to mollify.

A Washington-Riyadh spat could be messy. Gen Anthony Zinni’s arrival as Colin Powell’s emissary in the region has given hope to some in Saudi Arabia, including Prince Abdullah, that matters may be defused amicably. For India there is an opportunity in an unexpected way. After all there are 1.5 million Indians in Saudi Arabia sending home four billion dollars annually. The Saudi leadership looks to India for more investments and political interaction, themes that foreign minister Jaswant Singh is all too familiar with after his recent visit to the Kingdom.

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