The rising tide of violence has triggered introspective thinking about Saudi Arabia's political future, writes Muqtedar Khan* I have just returned from Saudi Arabia where I attended an international conference on terrorism (20-22 April) at the Imam Muhammad University in Riyadh. Imam Muhammad University is the factory where Wahhabism, a conservative sect of Sunni Islam, is produced and serviced in Saudi Arabia. A large number of Saudi clerics are educated and trained here. Nearly 20,000 students study the core teachings of Abdul-Wahhab, the founder of the Saudi Salafi (traditionalist) movement. In my previous visits in 1992, 1997 and 2000, I had found Saudis to be proud of what they had become. They had covered a distance of nearly seven centuries, on a wave of oil, in less than 30 years. They were confident and sure of themselves and their place in the Muslim world and on the global stage. Today many Saudis are confused, unsure, hesitant, apologetic and more willing to accommodate. Some are belligerent, even bellicose. But most people that I encountered -- students, political elite, scholars, businessmen, professionals and cab drivers -- are perplexed by terrorism within Saudi Arabia and by Saudis. For a society that was so remarkably free from the culture of self-criticism, I found the Saudi Arabia of today, more willing to listen; and that is the best news I have. The conference itself revealed the extent and depth of rethinking taking place within Saudi Arabia. I was extremely critical of Wahhabism as well as Saudi policies in closed-door sessions, and found the Saudi scholars and various ministers who were in attendance open and willing to listen. Sometimes they were in agreement. Sometimes they were baffled. They were never offended. Some even encouraged me to speak more. There were of course the usual number of sycophants and apologists, but even they seemed apprehensive and willing to question their own beliefs. Several American and British scholars lambasted the lack of critical thinking and openness in Saudi education and we were all pleasantly surprised when the Saudis asked for help in introducing critical thinking into their pedagogy. When I ran into a member of the Majlis Al- Shura (Consultative Council) at a TV studio where I recorded a one-hour interview on Islamic democracy he berated me for not being more critical than I was. I listened to him lambaste the university and Wahhabi clerics for being the source of the problem behind terrorism in Saudi Arabia. "All they teach," he said, "is to hate those who are different." "We are a country that is economically in the 20th century and intellectually in the 14th century." I advised him to speak publicly as he spoke in private to me, as often as possible and as loudly as possible. The House of Saud has long relied on the Wahhabi movement for legitimacy and on the US for international security. But after 11 September, these two allies of Saudi Arabia are being perceived as antagonistic. The House of Saud could not have both as allies anymore. The kingdom is determined to maintain its relations with the US and the ruling House of Saud is actively seeking to reform Wahhabism and reconstitute the domestic basis of its rule. Saudi society is composed of two types of elite: the conservative and religious elite and the liberal political and economic elite. For decades the latter had focussed on retaining political power and milking the oil cow. In exchange for the freedom to become rich, the ruling elite allowed the religious elite the freedom to preach. Without a culture of internal criticism, without an engaging alternate elite, without the emergence of self-critical and reflective voices within the religious establishment, the spectre of Wahhabism has grown and now is out of the hands of those who nurtured it. Wahhabi ideas are now so deeply embedded that neither the ruling elite, who had abdicated their normative responsibilities until now, nor the religious elite who are afraid of what they have created, can rein it in. Any attempts at sudden reform may upset the delicate balance within society and empower those who have decided to use terrorism to replace both types of elite. Saudi Arabia needs to push both social and political reforms without undermining domestic and regional stability. It must fast track its social reform and maintain steady progress towards political reform. The promise of municipal elections must be kept and the momentum towards more representative and accountable governance must be sustained. It is time that Saudi Arabia stopped looking backwards for guidance and started looking forwards. Those who drive by looking in the rearview mirror only are destined to crash. Terrorism by extreme Wahhabis, for whom the clerics and the royal family are not sufficiently Islamic, is once again forging a new social contract between the religious and the ruling elite. The House of Saud can no longer afford to nurture Wahhabism but is treading carefully, trying to dismantle militant Wahhabism and replace it with a self-critical, open, more moderate and softer form of Salafi traditions. But before that can happen the moderates within the religious establishment must prevail over the extremists and be prepared to make significant compromises -- maybe even deviations -- in the Wahhabi doctrine and in Wahhabi institutions. The extremists will then be isolated and can be fought both in the realm of doctrine as well as in the battlefield. The staging of the terrorism conference at the Imam Muhammad University and the seriousness of the dialogue, its high degree of openness and criticism, have definitely raised expectations. Let us hope that Saudi Arabia can make the transition without trauma. * The writer is a fellow of the Washington-based Brookings Institute.
