Abii
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Hmmn....! Perhaps you're right but I had always thought that because of the conquest of the Sassanid Empire by the Arabs and the subsequent Arabization of Persia (though certainly not to the extent of North Africa) there existed a certain lingering resentment against the Arabs. I got an impression of that when reading a few verses of the Shahnameh ! But...because I'm neither an Arab nor a Persian...so maybe you're right !
As for 'these Saudis sending suicide bombers all over...' - I think you're giving too much credit to them ! The Pakistanis, the Iraqis, the Afghans and the Saudis, who engage in such barbarity, follow a very perverted dogma of Islam one which is neither Sunni nor Shi'ite...neither Wahhabi nor anything else....! Besides if you were to read the works of 'Abdul Wahab', the intention was pretty good and no where could I find anything but condemnation of the killings of innocent civilians, in his works ! And yes...I've met some really nasty fellows coming out of the Iranian Cultural Centres too....in fact, just today, I met a couple of them who'd call themselves as 'Momin' and myself, a Sunni, as a 'Kafir'....so my friend we all have bad people within our ranks and none of their actions should be taken to be representative of the peace-loving and decent majority ! I wouldn't for a second think that the Iranians are bad, just because some of the guys who came out of their Cultural Centre held extremist views and I believe you should extend the same courtesy to the Saudis too ! Osama Bin Laden was as much a Saudi, as Hitler was a German....would it be fair to condemn an entire Nation for the acts of One Insane Person ?
There are many radicalized Iranians too, but these guys will never harm a fly. Radicalized saudis on the other hand will blow themselves up in some crowded market or a mosque and take out a hundred souls with them. There have been HUNDREDS of saudi suicide bombers in the past decade alone.
And the reason we bunch all saudis together is that their education system is heavily centered around the wahabi religion. Iran is a theocracy but the education system is very much secular. Yes we do have our quran classes, but everything else is almost identical to a western school. We learn about evolution etc... exactly the same as an American would.
Read the following to get a better idea.
Saudi education and its problems:
The current textbooks do not spare most Muslims from the accusations of polytheism, deviance, hypocrisy, and outright apostasy. For example, the 12th grade book on "monotheism" claims that many in the Muslim world community have returned to polytheism. That could be ignored until you know what the texts teach about polytheists. In the classical Takfiri (declaring others to be outside of religion's bounds) style, the text allows for the killing of apostates and polytheists, and it does not take much to qualify as one or the other. Membership in capitalist, communist or secular groups makes you an apostate, and disagreeing with the Wahhabi/Salafi anthropomorphic characterisation of God makes you a polytheist.
This medieval Saudi education system must be reformed | Ali al-Ahmed | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
The Saudi education system is subject to extensive criticism, with statements made such as, "The country needs educated young Saudis with marketable skills and a capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship. That's not generally what Saudi Arabia's educational system delivers, steeped as it is in rote learning and religious instruction."
The study of Islam dominates the Saudi educational system. In particular, the memorization by rote of large parts of the Qu'ran, its interpretation and understanding (Tafsir) and the application of Islamic tradition to everyday life is at the core of the curriculum. Religion taught in this manner is also a compulsory subject for all university students. As a consequence, Saudi youth "generally lacks [sic] the education and technical skills the private sector needs". Indeed, such control has stifled critical thought, and as a result, the education system does not necessarily foster innovation and creativity; both of which are essential to development.