U.S. State Department Announces Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Encourage Religious Practice and Tolerance

on July 31, 2006

On Monday, July 24, IRD president Jim Tonkowich joined other religious and human rights leaders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for a briefing by Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom, John Hanford, about religious freedom in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, which is governed according to Islamic Shari’a law, was first designated by the State Department as a Country of Particular Concern in 2004 under the International Religious Freedom Act.  This designation is reserved for countries that commit “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”  According to the State Department web site, this includes “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom, including violations such as torture, degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, abduction or clandestine detention, or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.”

Saudi religious intolerance is reflected in its school textbooks.  These books are used by schools in Saudi Arabia and are exported for use in Saudi academies all over the world—including Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.  In 2006, Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom published “Saudi Arabia’s Curriculum of Intolerance,” a report of findings related to Saudi Arabia’s educational curriculum.  Writing in the Washington Post, Nina Shea, Director of the Center for Religious Freedom noted:

A review of a sample of official Saudi textbooks for Islamic studies used during the current academic year reveals that, despite the Saudi government’s statements to the contrary, an ideology of hatred toward Christians and Jews and Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine remains in this area of the public school system.

The report notes that, “The history of other wars and conflicts should remind us that education can be used to promote hatred, division, and hostility. Particularly in light of the Saudi desire to play a pivotal role in world Islam, Saudi educational policies should be a source of real concern for the United States and other democratic governments” (p. 22).

At the July 24 meeting, Ambassador Hanford discussed how in light of the intolerance of the text books Saudi and US officials have been engaged in a series of discussions in order to determine what specific steps the Saudi Government must take to end the perpetuation of extremist ideology to schoolchildren.  The policy initiatives “identified and confirmed” by the Saudi Government as a result of the discussions cover a broad range of issues, from education and literature, to religious freedom, to further growth of a Human Rights Commission in the Kingdom.  According Hanford, the Saudi Government has identified its educational curriculum as being one of the major facets through which extremist ideologies are spread and is prepared to make the appropriate reforms.  For example, the Saudi Arabian government will:

  • Revise and update textbooks to remove remaining intolerant references that disparage Muslims or non-Muslims or that promote hatred toward other religions or religious groups, a process the Saudi Government expects to complete in one to two years.
  • Thoroughly review and revise educational materials and other literature sent abroad to ensure that all intolerant references are removed, and where possible, attempt to retrieve previously distributed materials that contain intolerance.
  • Retrain teachers and principals of boys and girls schools to ensure that tolerance of all peoples, and religions is promoted.
  • Promote tolerance and combat extremism in sermons and teachings.

The Saudi Arabian government has also committed to further protecting religious freedom by allowing the ownership and dissemination of non-Muslim religious literature and by holding the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (the religious police) accountable for its actions in order to curb the harassment of religious minorities. The Saudi Government has also pledged to promoted and incorporated human rights into Saudi culture.

In briefing Congress on the same issue a week earlier, Ambassador Hanford said, “I am pleased that the Government of Saudi Arabia has been willing to engage with us in a substantive manner on these critical issues. These policies are significant developments, and I appreciate the Saudi Government’s interest in confirming them publicly so that all interested parties may follow progress made in these areas.”

Saudi Arabia is a highly influential government in the Middle East region.  Its curriculum is used by religious groups and educational institutions around the world; therefore, not only is Saudi Arabia influencing its own new generation, but it is also setting the pace for much of the Muslim world who sees the Saudi position on Islam as being authoritative.  As Saudi Arabia works to reform its educational curriculum and promote more religious tolerance and observance of human rights, surrounding countries would do well to follow in their footsteps.

Ambassador Hanford and his team have done a brilliant job of diplomacy in clarifying the Saudi position on religious freedom.  We certainly hope that the Saudis will be good to their word to expand religious freedom in the Kingdom.

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