SAUDI ARABIA: Protests 'contradict' Islamic law and are banned, Interior ministry declares [Updated]

After demonstrators staged protests demanding the release of political prisoners, and activists urged sweeping reforms in Saudi Arabia, the ultra-conservative kingdom appears to have decided to put the lid on street-based calls for change.

[Updated at 9:25 a.m.: The headline on an earlier version of this post said demonstrations by Shiites were deemed to contradict Islamic law. The interior ministry said all demonstrations, not just ones by Shiites, were contrary to Islamic law.]

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia's interior ministry reportedly issued a statement deeming all sorts of protests in the kingdom illegal with the explanation that demonstrations are not in line with Islamic law and values of Saudi society.

"Regulations in the kingdom forbid categorically all sorts of demonstrations, marches and sit-ins ... as they contradict Islamic Sharia law and the values and traditions of Saudi society," said a ministry statement published on the official SPA state news agency.

It added that Saudi police are "authorized ... to take all measures needed against those who try to break the law."

A day earlier, several hundred people from Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority community marched in towns in the eastern province, demanding the release of an arrested cleric and political detainees. Last month, more than 100 Saudi activists and intellectuals called on King Abdullah to set up a constitutional monarchy and implement sweeping reforms in the Sunni-dominated country.

There are also activist calls on Facebook for a "Day of Rage" on March 11 in the austere kingdom and for a "Saudi revolution" on March 20.

--Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Photo: Activists have called on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to enact sweeping reforms in the kingdom. Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[roshan]

Didn't Karl Rove use the church to get Mr. George Bush elected. Once in office he often used faith to justify wars. In the same way once you are in power and in this case if you look at the way the kingdom was created by the British it speaks for itself. Mostly there are double standards and if you are of a certain creed you are favored. Special interest lobbyst get away with anything. It's amazing that mostly we are only interested in their resources - nothing else.

[Chris Lucca]

Saudi Arabia = Satan's Arabia; enough said!

Qu'ran states that the Beduin's are the most hypocritical of all Muslims and were the most likely to pervert the teachings of the Holy Book. Saudi's are a walking example of the truth and fulfillment of this book.

I personally reverted back to Christianity after having a Saudi take me to do UMRA to gain my confidence and then steal thousands from me; I found it hard to stomach. Nevertheless, I cannot generalize.

To be fair though, the nicest family I ever met in my life was a Saudi so I don't want to generalize, and I do believe the Royal family realizes that rich oil elite are purposely trying to destabilize the government in order to dramatically increase the price of oil. I applaud the Saudi Government for all their proposed reform efforts. Nevertheless, its ironic how they say its against islam when Forest Gump would know that isn't the case, and that its this fear of protest which has pushed these reform efforts.

The Saudi Government has it backwards. Their duty is to God (Allah) 1st, the People 2nd, and so on. They exist to set an example for the Islamic nations. The perversion of Islam at the hands of 100% of the Islamic nations is driving people away from Islam not towards it.

Regardless if you believe in the Bible or not; one thing is for sure. You cannot worship 2 Gods - Allah & Mamon (God of Money). Any leader or person who does, is incapable of saying they are worshiping or doing the work of God.

God (Allah) is about freewill. God doesn't want an ignorant slave, but an enlightened soul. I pray for all the Muslims out there. All Jews, Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters. That is what the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) taught. Islam is a beautiful religion and some of the nicest people I have ever come in contact with, but the hedonistic, idolotrist society of Saudi Arabia is destroying Islam, working counter to God's Teachings.

[fay]

i honestly dont know how to start. or what to say. all i know is this must stop. my family is in riyadh. my mom, dad and brothers and sister. and i'm stuck here in the pilippines. im only 16 and because of what's happening i can't stop thinking about my family and their safety. and a couple of hrs ago i found out that all flights to saudi arabia will be suspended on march 11. i was palnning to go back home on march 27. i cant understand why must this happen. saudi has been like this for decades and we were fine with it. why is there a sudden change of mind? ive lived and saudi and philippines. philippines is an open country. women get to drive. go out without abayas or tarhas and even wear whatever they want. yes. saudi is different. but honestly id rather live in saudi. why? simply because i know im safe with all the religious and caring people around me. im not saying that philippines is unsafe or something. my point is though saudi is way too strict with women while in the phil women could do anything they want, id really choose saudi. its my home. its where i grew up. though im not saudi i still love this country. and i honestly have no problem with the government or with women not allowed to drive. i'm absolutely postive that Mohammad (S.A.A.W.) is not happy with what is happening to our beloved country. may Allah guid us in every move we make. i sure hope that there'll be peace as soon as possible.

[Razov]

OMG! The people who themselves rised against the Caliph (of Sunni Islam, seated in Turkey) are now making protests illegal and by the same old tactic i.e. in the name of Allah & Islam. So custodian of two mosques is afraid of protests. And where are their American pals, may be they have a very good interpretation of this. Iraq is good for democracy, Iran is also good but KSA, UAE, Baharain etc are not & why because their govts are puppet of US. Where is EU & US consmotorium the great champions of democracy, liberty & human rights? Why don't they show courage nad criticise their pal? If it would have been against Islam to hold demonstrations, marches and sit-ins then probably Iran would have issued such law long ago; but may be this fatwa has come out from spindle of lie from like of Abu-Huraira after all wahabis are freat fan of such tale weavers.

[Reza]

It is thier law that you can not protest!!!!! WOW and they are our friends. When our Government will aknowledge that they are the source of problem across the ME? Selling guns and gunships to a country that her law is against human right is WRONG.

[R]

This is a farce! what's even more disgusting their using the name of Mohammed to protect their personal assests.
You ask me to respect your culture? you have none, your mentality is that of goat herders, you enslave the Mothers of your children by refusing to allow them independance. While your men dress in frocks and kiss each other all day.
Please explain why a women (of course this doesn't apply to the wealthy females) must cover their faces in public? did Mohammad write this? why can't a women be educated with men? Why can't they drive?
I see selfish wealthy self centered women who enslave the poor, beat them and treat them like goat herders wifes, they have no class and do not care for the disadvantage...is that the law of Mohammad? and you call yourself a culture! lastly my apologies to the goat herders , your profession is noble, however I'm not confident your educated to be able to read this.
Your "society" is not applicable to my moral up bringing and thus I decline to ever visit or embrace your religious teachings.
Also I question how many American lives have un knowingly died for your "kingdom".

[Esther Haman]

Now, where did these Wahabis pull that LAW out of?! Prophet Mohammad was a demonstrator himself. He did not stand for the idle worshipers before Islam to store their statues and idles in Kaaba and he destroyed them. he marched from Mecca to Medina with his followers and he stayed in desert for years defying the tribal laws and his enemies. I call these acts Demonstration, would not you?

These Wahabis have to go.

Get real.

[PersianGulf]

Arabian Peninsula must be freed from Suid’s family. It is insulting to people when a single family put his name on the country and calling it Suad’s Arabia. Women must be allowed to vote, Drive cars, and get any job they deserve. The right policy for Washington is to take people’s side and helps promote democracy.

[Piran]

Saudi Arabia is a puppet regime who came to power with the help of British Empire and created a country with its name based on the family of Saud. Islam is pro-democracy and even the earliest rulers of Islam were not appointees but had come to power using a system very similar to parliamentary system. Dissent is part of Islamic scripture too. The Saudi claim that protests are un-Islamic is laughable. The only thing that is un-Islamic is being a puppet. There is massive discontent in Saudi Arabia whose population is very very young. Sooner or later Saudi Arabia will fall and will become democratic. When that day comes, it is better for west to have been on the side of people rather than being on the side of a dictator family because right now, west is on the side of dictator family.

[Lou Rafterman]

But... uh oh... the Saudi's are our proxies, whoops, I mean "friends", over there. The Bush families bosom buddies, the Bin Ladens (I'm not making this up folks - do a little lookin', it ain't that hard to find) are a big big old rich family there and the leadership are all pals, too, big pals of Poppy's Carlisle Group... are we going to help them enforce Islamic law against the protestors? They have their hands on the oil tap... it's a bit uncomfortable for us freedom lovers, huh? Time to put up or shut up, flag wavin' lovers of liberty.

[Fahad]

The problem is that you show a huge lack of information about Saudi Arabia. At the beginning, you need to understand it is a different culture where religion plays a major role in it. For those who pay lip service by saying that we refuse using Islam to assist political agendas, I just want to tell them the following: first, the Saudi Constitution was built solely on Islamic law, and if you please could find me a demonstration like case happened during the prophet’s time, or an indication of approving going in demonstrations against the ruler in public at the Holy book, I would rise the flag, and say you are right. The sources of Islamic laws are either the holy book or what the prophet said. That is not all; Islam gave a big space of freedom to the true scholars to legislate for the new stuff that didn’t happened in earlier times, which gave Islam lifeline to survive for 1400 years. Second, in the Islamic law, it is encouraged for anyone who wants to suggest any kind of reforms, has a grievance, or request to meet the ruler (or his representative) directly or indirectly, which can take different forms, and discuss such thing. Thus, why we would want to fruit this right and go out in the streets chanting our demands, which might not be answered, than meeting the officials themselves. Third, Islam based on giving priority in benefits to the people and push away harms; consequently, a major concern of protesting is that it is going to create chaos not matters how organized it would be, simply, because of the different agendas that might occur among those who organize it. For God seek, what is the value of sit-in streets, blocking shops, damaging public utilities, spreading fears among innocent people, and you name it. Forth, if we could be more precise, democracy as we see it in West is not applicable at Saudi Arabia, not only because it has so many things that are against the Islamic laws, but also the Saudi demographics is not suitable for such a tool. For example, voters will never vote for those who serve them well; on the contrary, they will vote for those who share the same tribal relations seeking dominant for one tribe against others. Take Kuwait as an illustration, in the last five years, how many times their parliament was dissolved. In the same period of time, how much the development process has been disrupted in the bickering between the parliament and government. Fifth, we (Saudis) have a good life that anyone in the whole world can wish. Now, I don’t want to picture us as angels who live in heavens; that isn’t what I am trying to say. We do have our own problems that we (ourselves) are capable to resolve, and we don’t feel shameful to ask for help when it is that complicated, but we will never tolerate Third-party solutions imposed on us because, simply, we are a sovereign state.
The word reform is by itself a flexible word. If you go and ask those who ask for reforms, you would find plenty of answers and demands depending on their different agendas. Just to make myself clear, I am not betraying anyone as much as saying the majority of them want to rule; therefore, the seek of power is what really they look for, and they use whatever legitimate or illegitimate means that can make them achieve their goals.
When I travel to any place in the world, I do respect their systems and regulations, because, simply, they are different from where I came. Then, to understand Saudis, you need first to realize they speak from a different background than yours. And it is not fear to judge them according to Western prospective. Accordingly, one might be able to understand the differences.
For our brothers Shiites, I am really wondering what it is you want. You work in major places in government and private sector. There are many key positions in the government that are occupied by Shiites (senior officials, ministers, ambassadors, engineers, doctors, teachers, etc.) They occupied these key positions because of their qualifications not based on their denomination. So what else you want? Give me an example of one senior official in the Iranian government who is Sunni? Sunnis are oppressed in Iran, and no one says a flange. My advice to you is to prime the voice of wisdom, and don’t be the tool that is used by Iranian regime to achieve their goals. It is not a secret to know that Iran since to what is called Islamic revolution, they openly talk about the grate Persian State that extend to the whole Arabic Peninsula and include Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israeli. Not to mention their tireless efforts in spreading their ideologies in these areas, in pursuit of them, to change the demographic of these area to be in their favorite. We lived for centuries like brothers, and you really don’t want to turn against your brothers.
Finally, we love our king. This is a tribal society that is ruled by one tribe (AL Saud), and all other tribes in the kingdom paid loyalty to Al Saud’s tribe, in line with the principles of Islamic legislations. You really need to understand this. Come and see the prosperity we, the Saudis, live in, and then judge. Yet, don’t give your ears to biased media or writers who clearly serve different agendas. Again, we do have problems, but at the same time, we do work in solving them. Simply Saudis are different culture than West, would you please respect that?

[Anamika]

I am very certain that Islamic jurisprudence in no way states that protests against the government are forbidden. Islam in it's earliest days broke away from dynastic monarchy and selected their leaders by counsel (sunni view - the Saudi monarchy and the Wahabbis are sunnis).
I am reasonably certain that the Quran would not support the views of the government.
I am sure that the govt. declaration proves me to be a lot smarter than the rent-a-mullahs that the Saudi govt. has on retainer. And all this with no action on my part. lol.

[Al Amrewee Salah Al Din]

Assalamu Alaykom (Peace be upon you), As a Moroccan I speak on behalf of my Moroccan and Saudi patriots and demand:

a. The Moroccan and Saudi Constitutions must be re-written,
b. The king must become symbolic without any political
powers,
c. A Prime Minister or President must be democratically
elected by the people
d. A Parliament must be democratically elected by the people
e. All Saudi and Moroccan people must have the right to
form political parties and run for office
f. Every Saudi and Moroccan citizen must have the right to
become a Prime Minister or President
or member of Parliament,
g. The Saudi and Moroccan regimes must stop terrorizing the
people. The raging wave of democracy will not stop
untill the Saudi and Moroccan people are FREE

The Time For Justice Is Now: No One Is Below The Law and No One Is Above The Law.

Assalamu Alaykom, Je suis Marocain et je parle pour tout les Saudiens et Marocains lorsque je demande:

A. Les Constitutions Saudienne et Marocaine doivent changer
b. Les Rois de L'Arabie Saudite et du Maroc doivent etre
symboliques sans pouvoir politique
c. Les Saudiens et Marocains doivent electer
democratiquement un Premier Minister ou President
d. Les Saudiens et Marocains doivent electer
democratiquement tout les membres du Parliament
e. Tout les Saudiens et Marocains doivent avoir le droit de
former des parties politiques
f. Chaque Saudien et Marocain doivent avoir le droit de
devenir Premier Minister ou President et membre du
Parliament,
g. Les regimes Saudien et Marocain doivent stopper de
terroprizer les peuples Saudiens et
Marocain. La vague democratique furieuse ne s'arretera
jamais jusqu'a ce que les peuples Saudien et Marocain
sont LIBRES.

Le Temps De La Justice Est Aujourd'hui: Personne N'est Au-Dessous De La Loi Et Personne N'est Au-Dessus De La Loi.

[hvkhoury]

Saudi Arabia is not an exception.The currentrevolution sweeping the Arab World will knock the fragile Saudi doors.

[John Cruiserj]

Wow, wasn't sure if this article was about Saudi Arabia or the Republican party

[madsircool]

Ruski...the lefty governments used psychiatry and gulags to control their masses. Whats the difference?

[Ahmed]

I'm a Muslim and I refuse to use the name of Islam to scare people from protesting. Since when is protesting prohibited in Islam if it is for the right reasons?

[Ruskinite]

Well there you have it, folks. If you ever needed an example on how totalitarian governments, monarchies, and conservative politicians use religion as a means of controlling and duping the masses -- this is it.

[Paul Espinoza]

What is really meant is that to protest against the Saudi king is against the Quran/Koran/ (No disrespect, but just how do you spell it anyway).

Using religion to further political agendas is just plain wrong... in most religions.

Am I an extremist in this regard?