Dr. Ibrahim Al-Othaimin
Saudi Arabia has suffered a string of deadly shootings and bomb attacks in recent months, many of which the Daesh (so-called IS) terrorist organization have claimed responsibility for. In July, suicide bombers struck three cities across Saudi Arabia, killing at least four security officers. The apparently coordinated attacks came on the penultimate day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Recently, the Ministry of Interior foiled a planned suicide attack on a mosque in the Qatif region, in eastern Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 24. Indeed, the Ministry of Interior has successfully repelled hundreds of terrorist operations since 2003, displaying security expertise that is admired worldwide. Many countries have benefited from this experience in counter terrorism. However, success at security level does not correspond to a counter terrorist ideology that has seeped into our communities through social media or by any other means.
The discourse and ideology of any terrorist organization, be it Al-Qaeda, Daesh or any other, is almost identical regardless of the form it takes or the time in which it exists. This discourse is characterized in three ways:
Firstly, it is dogmatic; identified by intolerance and rejection of any idea of ‘the other’. Dogmatic personalities refuse to enter into discussion, even if their ideas are proved to be faulty, as they think their own ideas are prescribed by God and thus have the overtones of holiness, which makes them categorically incontestable as ‘the absolute truth’. Hence, this is an advanced case of intellectual recession and the absence of scientific critique.
Secondly, it is utopian; evoking concepts of ‘Ideal City’ similar to ‘Caliphate State’ or ‘Rightly Guided Caliphate’, forms a cultural and religious component of the Arab and Islamic mindset. Ever since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, ‘restoration of the Islamic Caliphate’ has been behind the emergence of many hard-line Islamic organizations. These organizations claim that they deserve to raise the flag of the Islamic Caliphate; governed by a single Caliph who rules Muslims in the East and in the West, abolishing all positive ‘nation states’ set out according to the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Hard-line Islamic organizations include the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Gulen Movement in Turkey, Jamaat-e-Islami in India, Al-Qaeda, and Daesh.
Thirdly, it is dystopian; it rejects contemporary reality as it perceives all communities as ignorant and all regimes as infidels governed by tyrants who impose laws that have nothing to do with religion. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Al-Qaeda raised the banner of excommunication of communities, regimes, and scholars. This organization caused damage to many countries, especially Saudi Arabia. However, the power of the Saudi state security system eliminated Al-Qaeda, dramatically undermined its capabilities, and forced it to retreat to Yemen, where a political and institutional vacuum prevails. Today, Daesh is adopting the same discourse by escalating excommunication, terrorism, and violence, which seem to be interconnected.
It is necessary to deconstruct terrorist discourse, refute its suspicions at an intellectual level, and clarify their deviated citation of religious texts to promote their ideology. Official and non-official religious institutions must take the responsibility for refuting such suspicions by various means and on all platforms. They must also take the responsibility for working on the establishment of moderate centric thought. It is also necessary to contain the youth through modern religious discourse to correct misconceptions of restoring a utopian Islamic Caliphate, and promote national pertinence in education, the media, and social media. There are ongoing efforts, worthy of mention that are working well in deconstructing such a discourse including the Mohammad Bin Naif Counseling and Care Centre, the Assakina campaign for dialogue, the Hedaya Centre, and the Sawab Centre in the UAE. However, all Gulf, Arab, and even international efforts must be concerted to counter terrorism, as it is a job that has to be undertaken collectively because terrorism represents a renewed international threat that recognizes no place, religion, nationality, color, or ethnicity.
Dr. Ibrahim Al-Othaimin is a Middle East affair specialist and security analyst based in Riyadh. He can be contacted at Ibarhim.othaimin@gmail.com or Twitter @Alothaimin
