But Critics Say Saudi Textbooks Still Encourage Violence


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Of the 19 hijackers in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, 15 were Saudis. Since then, textbooks used in schools across Saudi Arabia have come under harsh criticism for teaching religious intolerance that can lead to violence. Now, the country has revised its textbooks and is undergoing a massive education reform program. But critics wonder if those efforts go far enough. Said Mohammad teaches Islamic studies in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. He follows the Saudi national curriculum in his four daily classes, which have 30 students each. "Every class is the same. I teach what the government tells me to teach," he says. Softer Approach To Islam The curriculum changed recently, when the government mandated that certain references be deleted from Saudi textbooks: jihad, or holy war, and walaa wal baraa, the notion that Muslims should be "emancipated from non-Muslims." Mohammad was surprised -- and a little angry. "Ninety percent of all references to jihad have been removed from our textbooks. Now, maybe I am afraid to even mention jihad in class, because I will be punished. Why didn't they ask my opinion about this first?" he says. Saudi officials say the move to rewrite the textbooks came after attacks inside Saudi Arabia, not as a result of 9/11. From 2003 to 2006, a group called Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula launched dozens of attacks against Westerners and Saudis. Nearly 200 people died. Some Saudi officials acknowledged the national curriculum was teaching hatred not only of non-Muslims, but also of Muslims who don't follow a strict line. So they launched a $2.4 billion program aimed at modernizing the Saudi curriculum and softening its approach to Islam. Some Perceive An Attack On Islam But there has been resistance to the reforms, especially from the religious establishment, which controls the judiciary and the ministry of education, says Jamal Khashoggi, editor of a popular, reform-oriented newspaper. The Islamists are on the defensive, he says. "So everyone who comes with a practical idea, they see him with a great amount of skepticism and paranoia, and that is delaying the reform," Khashoggi says. He says religious figures see any attempt at reform as an attack on Islam itself. "It has become an issue of religious Islamic curriculum against nonreligious secular curricula, and that is really very wrong. The issue should be, does our curriculum produce job-ready, university-ready candidates or not?" he says. Seeking Deeper Changes Turning out such graduates is one way reformers are promoting change to the broader Saudi population. Dozens of model high schools have been set up around the country and outfitted with wi-fi access, build-your-own robot sets and laptops for every student. But despite the flashy new technology, the content of the classroom, so far, remains virtually unchanged. Recently during a class at one of these schools in Riyadh, a teacher told students, "The names of God are the fairest names. Be free of those who blaspheme his name. They must be punished for what they do." Resistance To 'Outside' Directives Mohammad, the Islamic studies teacher, says educators are reluctant to implement changes because they are skeptical about where they came from in the first place. Because criticism of the Saudi curriculum originated in the U.S., he says Saudi teachers feel like the changes are being forced upon them. "The problem is that the government is making these changes not from their own minds. They are being pushed to make the changes by outsiders. This makes teachers very angry," he says. The anger, Mohammad says, makes some teachers even more likely to continue teaching jihad and walaa wal baraa -- outside the classroom. Last month, as President Obama visited Saudi Arabia, a group of U.S. Congress members complained that Saudi textbooks still encourage hatred of non-Muslims. Over the past several years, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has made similar complaints about a Saudi-funded school outside Washington, D.C., even though the school has twice revised its textbooks. Real Shift Requires Time Saudi author Yehya al Amir says it is important that Saudis believe the reform is coming from inside the country, not outside. He also says the reform effort needs to go further than investing in new technology and deleting a few words in textbooks. But in a country that for decades has known only one strict interpretation of Islam, Amir says, that change in ideology will take some time. "The solution is not to remove a verse or line or paragraph. It's the ideology. Even if you remove a section of a book, that doesn't change anything. The curriculum must look at a new way of life, a new ideology," he says.

This is the biggest argument against us 'misunderstanding' true Islam..the textbooks.

I have textbook information from just about every muslim country, and surprise surprise, it says exactly the same thing to its readers in Arabic, as I say about Islam in English! Amazing that I have been able to pedal my corrupt misunderstander Islam throughout the Islamic world and get it into their textbooks.

But as muslims have told me, these textbooks I have are zionist forgeries. The real textbooks talk about peace.

Still, looks like there is some pressure on islam.

in the same way abu is met with some "questioning, criticism and resistance" here, so islam is the world over.

It is good to know that some prominent muslims do a step in the right direction. I hope it will take them much less then 600 years to complete the journey.

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Of the 19 hijackers in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, 15 were Saudis

Any news article that still promotes the 19 hijackers myth has to come under serious question (especially if it's government-controlled media like NPR)...

In fact the BBC has reported at least 4 of the 19 are still alive and well.

And another one of them died well before sept. 11th. 2001, as reported by CNN

tallowood wrote on Jul 26^th, 2009 at 9:11pm:

It is good to know that some prominent muslims do a step in the right direction. I hope it will take them much less then 600 years to complete the journey.

It's more about concealing a smoking gun as to their true motives that is easily obtainable by western diplomats than it is about true reform.

abu_rashid wrote on Jul 26^th, 2009 at 10:00pm:

Quote: Of the 19 hijackers in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, 15 were Saudis Any news article that still promotes the 19 hijackers myth has to come under serious question (especially if it's government-controlled media like NPR)... In fact the BBC has reported at least 4 of the 19 are still alive and well. And another one of them died well before sept. 11th. 2001, as reported by CNN

That just means that their identities were used to generate passports and travel.

NorthOfNorth wrote on Jul 26^th, 2009 at 8:04pm:

But Critics Say Saudi Textbooks Still Encourage Violence Quote: ........textbooks used in schools across Saudi Arabia have come under harsh criticism for teaching religious intolerance that can lead to violence. .....He also says the reform effort needs to go further than investing in new technology and deleting a few words in textbooks. But in a country that for decades has known only one strict interpretation of Islam, Amir says, that change in ideology will take some time. "The solution is not to remove a verse or line or paragraph. It's the ideology. Even if you remove a section of a book, that doesn't change anything. The curriculum must look at a new way of life, a new ideology," he says.

ISLAM itself is the problem, NOT [just] Saudi school books.

ISLAM and its foundation documents [the Koran, and the Hadith], ARE THE SOURCE, of the 'ideological' hatred, which is directed at all of those [moslems AND non-moslems] who do not believe what 'rightly guided' moslems believe.

After the Saudis have edited out offending texts in Saudi school textx books, are the Saudis also going to rewrite the Koran, and the Hadith ?

I think that, that, would be 'a bridge to far', for any Saudi reformer, no matter how sincere a reformer he/she was.

Such [sincere] reformers of ISLAMIC hate 'ideology' would merely be killed, by the 'ideology' they were seeking to reform.





The problems still remains, that in the eyes of ALL 'rightly guided' moslems, ISLAM is a perfect philosophy.

And it does not require any reformation.

In the eyes of ALL 'rightly guided' moslems, it is the world which must change, and be re-formed, to submit to Allah and his ISLAM.

All devout moslems believe that the world must change, not ISLAM!!!








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ISLAMIC texts are very clear....
RIGHTLY GUIDED MOSLEMS, MUST MURDER THOSE WHO RESIST, OPPOSE, OR SPEAK AGAINST ISLAM.

The Koran....

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;
Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. "
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/005.qmt.html#005.033
v. 33, 34


"Those who reject Allah, and hinder (men) from the Path of Allah, then die rejecting Allah,- Allah will not forgive them."
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/047.qmt.html#047.034


"....whenever [TRUTH speakers, critics of ISLAM] are found, they shall be seized and slain (without mercy)."
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/033.qmt.html#033.060
v. 60, 61



The Hadith...

"Allah 's Apostle said, " I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' ...."
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/052.sbt.html#004.052.196

"A man came to the Prophet and asked, "A man fights for war booty; another fights for fame and a third fights for showing off; which of them fights in Allah's Cause?" The Prophet said, "He who fights that Allah's Word (i.e. Islam) should be superior, fights in Allah's Cause." "
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/052.sbt.html#004.052.065

"Allah's Apostle said, "Allah welcomes two men with a smile; one of whom kills the other and both of them enter Paradise. One fights in Allah's Cause and gets killed. Later on Allah forgives the 'killer who also get martyred (In Allah's Cause)." "
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/052.sbt.html#004.052.080i

"Allah's Apostle was asked, "What is the best deed?" He replied, "To believe in Allah and His Apostle (Muhammad). The questioner then asked, "What is the next (in goodness)? He replied, "To participate in Jihad (religious fighting) in Allah's Cause." "
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/002.sbt.html#001.002.025





"...If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him."
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/052.sbt.html#004.052.260