Saudi Arabia says revamping education to ‘eradicate any trace of Muslim Brotherhood’

[shahbaz baig]

Saudi Arabia says revamping education to ‘eradicate any trace of Muslim Brotherhood’

Education minister declares country will dismiss anyone working in sector who sympathises with the banned group
By REUTERS
Mar.21,2018

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is revamping its education curriculum to eradicate any trace of Muslim Brotherhood influence and will dismiss anyone working in the sector who sympathises with the banned group, the education minister said.

Promoting a more moderate form of Islam is one of the promises made by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman under plans to modernise the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.

The education ministry is working to “combat extremist ideologies by reviewing school curricula and books to ensure they do not reflect the banned Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda,” al-Isa said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Saudi crown prince says reforms aimed at ‘cancer’ of corruption

It would “ban such books from schools and universities and remove those who sympathise with the group or its ideology from their posts,” he added.

In September, a large Saudi public university announced it would dismiss employees suspected of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, adding to concerns that the government is clamping down on its critics in academia and beyond.

Earlier this month, Crown Prince Mohammed told CBS in an interview that Saudi schools have been “invaded” by elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been designated by Saudi Arabia as a terrorist organisation along with other militant groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Internal threat

The young crown prince has already taken some steps to loosen Saudi Arabia’s ultra-strict social restrictions, scaling back the role of religious morality police, permitting public concerts and announcing plans to allow women to drive.

Public smiles, private problems as Saudi prince visits White House

The ruling al Saud family has always regarded militant groups as a major internal threat to its rule over a country where appeals to religious sentiment resonate deeply and an al Qaeda campaign a decade ago killed hundreds.

Since the kingdom’s founding, the al Saud have enjoyed a close alliance with clerics of the Wahhabi school of Islam who have espoused a political philosophy that demands obedience to the ruler. By contrast the Brotherhood advances an active political doctrine urging revolutionary action.

A political Islamist organisation founded in Egypt nearly a century ago, the Muslim Brotherhood says it is committed to peaceful activism and reform through elections, and its adherents span the region, holding elected office in Arab countries from Tunisia to Jordan.

HRW accuses Saudi Arabia of repression despite reforms

Brotherhood members fleeing repression in Egypt, Syria and Iraq half a century ago took shelter in Saudi Arabia, some taking up roles in the kingdom’s education system and helping to establish the Sahwa or “Awakening” movement which agitated in the 1990s for democracy.

The Sahwa mostly fizzled, with some activists arrested and others coaxed into conformity, though admirers and its appeal lingered.

 

[Maxpane]

Well done job . Keep it up

 

[SALMAN F]

Also salafism

 

[Pak-Americanos]

We need to do the same in Pakistan starting with the teachings and books of Mawdudi, that guys teaching is responsible for lots of globalized terrorism in Pakistan. All the mullah that jump on the bandwagon of Ummah Chummah are directed or indirectly influenced by Mawdudi.

 

[Falcon29]

Saudi Arabia is hardly influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. If he is referring to religious curriculum, it definitely isn't. So I don't get what these rulers mean by 'MB's agenda', can they specify? So we can make sure this isn't a ploy to outlaw Islam itself or render it to mere spirituality. Either way he is late to the party, this is happening or already happened all around the world. Saudi Arabia is the last cradle of Sunni Islam. If I was a Salafi or normal Sunni Muslim in Saudi Arabia I would be very worried. I am worried myself of what's happening all over the Muslim world. We are witnessing people who claim to be Muslim and foreigners evolutionize Islam as they did with Judaism and Christianity and the turn is on us now. Know that once Islam is reduced to being to a personal pastime, then knowledge will be lost and un-Islamic ideologies will replace it. And for Saudi's specifically, even their enemies ideologies will fill in before that.

Do not feel comfortable at heart just because it appears Islam is alive and thriving. They did not ban Christianity or Judaism, they banned the values/ethics/obligations that God ordained upon us or taught us. The ones God wants us to abide by, the ones that will bring about a just and peaceful world/society that worships God.

Saudi's have to be very careful years from now. Beware of the ploys against your religion, know that other Muslims will not intervene as they respect your sovereignty. This is the final chapter of the ploy, and it is targeting the country where Islam originates and that's no coincidence. This is where everything can change if they take away knowledge from the people.

I am not saying your leader is bad, on contrary he is doing many good things and may be a good person. Just understand today being good is something different than that in the eyes of God. And even though there may be many 'good' people , that does not change that God is being ignored and pushed out of our lives at a rapid rate. I wish you guys the best and I can already see there are people who recognize what is happening and trying to preserve Islam. I love and respect my Saudi brothers and sisters and the land of the Prophet(SAW) and I have no foreign agenda or ulterior motives here. Unlike those who you know that will exploit these new realities to establish other thoughts and even possibly secularism thought and lifestyle. Secular thought and lifestyle does not bring justice/moderation. It is moderation, logic and justice that does. Which all can operate and coexist in an proper Islamic society but we are told over and over again that is not true, because they want you to believe it is not true. And do not take examples from those who are corrupt and claim to represent Islam all these decades and the reality is they associated Islam with failure and backwardness as they intended to do so.

PS: You will not realize what is happening and still believe everything is okay as it will happen slowly... until you start seeing weird behaviors and hearing unordinary thoughts and perspectives from people and notice that knowledge has been lost. By then it will be too late and they will outnumber you and simply isolate you and force you to have to integrate with them unless you prefer to be isolated. Which most people do not. And most people will play along unknowingly.