A jurisprudence dilemma in Saudi Arabia

The climax is not, however, in this story, but rather in another one told by a man born to a Saudi father and an American mother who later divorced. The man, now married with children, recounts that every time his mother visits him his daughter breaks into a crying fit while kissing her grandmother’s hand and saying, “Granny! You are going to hell and we won’t see you with us in heaven.”

At the end of the Gregorian calendar, the world celebrates two occasions that the consumerist culture makes the best of so that one finds oneself surrounded by all manifestations of these celebrations. Globalization makes of these occasions universal ones so that trees, gifts, and postcards are everywhere and fireworks are seen across all skies. The first of those occasions—Christmas—is a religious one while the second—New Year’s Eve—is about bidding farewell to one year and welcoming another. However, fatwas make no distinction between the two and place them both in the same basket. True, not all clerics issue fatwas that prohibit season’s greetings to non-Muslims, but many people are now only reassured by ultra-conservative scholars and moderate ones are sometimes seen as not knowledgeable enough.

The lack of moderation on non-religious issues has become commendable so that hostility towards Christmas is now a form of jihad as if it is not a religious occasion, but just a day on which the U.N. celebrates the environment. It is noteworthy that this extremism is no longer confined to clerics and has now become a characteristic of many average people. A man recounted that he was an extremist in his youth and that he once lashed out at a mosque imam who preached about the “international tree day” and the necessity of caring for trees. At the time, the man, who snapped at the Imam for mentioning the day of the tree, thought he was saying the truth and fighting tyranny and injustice.

Why do people tend to be extremists? Is this is a genuine attempt at perfection and piety? Or is it a psychological trait that finds in the culture what enhances it and adds fuel to its fire?

*This article was first published in al-Hayat on Jan. 9, 2013. Link: https://alhayat.com/Details/469806

(Dr. Badria al-Bishr is a multi-award-winning Saudi columnist and novelist. A PhD graduate from the American University of Beirut, and an alumnus of the U.S. State Department International Visitor program. Her columns put emphasis on women and social issues in Saudi Arabia. She currently lectures at King Saud University's Department of Social Studies.)