Interview: Abdulrahman Al-Qarni

There is no doubt that peaceful coexistence between peoples cannot go towards the civilizational and cultural, as the attack on a nation's culture or civilization and the offense to its beliefs or undermining its sanctities leads to stirring up sedition. In an interview with Professor Abdullah Al-Rubaie, Professor of Civilizational Relations, on the era we live in, which is characterized by the provision of modern means of communication.

Overcoming obstacles and spreading the principles and values that achieve justice and provide the appropriate atmosphere and peaceful coexistence between all sons of the nation, Al-Rubaie also explained that Islam is peace for peoples and the faith is against extremism and violence whatever it may be, and calls for consensus and harmony and accepting the other regardless of their civilization and culture.

Al-Rubaie pointed out that the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue has achieved fruitful results despite the short period and was able to turn differences into points of view treated with respect for all groups.

Al-Rubaie called for teaching "Dialogue Ethics" in the university stages and in the general education stages and consolidating the value of the homeland and the meaning of citizenship in the minds of our children.

Our Culture and Preserving Identity

* Some major countries are known for their attempt to impose their culture on the cultures of other countries; how can such attempts be countered while maintaining identity?

- Whoever reads history finds the dominant imposing his language, customs, traditions and perhaps his creed on the defeated; the Greeks, Romans and Byzantine Romans colonized Syria, Palestine and Egypt, and spread their languages, idols and rituals until they defiled Jerusalem with statues of their emperors, and here are their remains pointing to them; temples and theaters along the African and Asian coasts of the Mediterranean; a civilization built on the shoulders of peoples for personal military and political glory, but the intellectual and scientific aspects remained alive and spread like the fragrance of flowers among peoples until the era of Islam, which did not prohibit everything that preceded it, but encouraged science, construction and innovation, so Islamic civilization was the first to carry the torch of globalization. In contemporary history,

Hitler tried to "Germanize" Europe by force so he was met with a destructive war, and France tried to "Frenchify" North Africa so the peoples resisted it, and Britain did its best to make the Arab East English in tongue and traditions, so it left the region never to return. Then the banner was carried by the United States of America, which benefited from the mistakes of European colonialism, so it succeeded in attracting minds and hosted those seeking freedom on its lands and sought to spread the English language, succeeding in its quest to a large extent until this language became a basic condition for employing our Arab youth in their national companies, and American fashion invaded our streets from restaurants, clothes and hobbies. All this falls under what is known as the effect of the product on the consumer and the influence of those who control information and innovation on those who stand watching in amazement. But for the matter to reach the point of imposing demands and conditions on other countries, this is rejected by everyone, especially if what is requested threatens the national identity of any country. Countering - sir - is not by excitement or

demonstrating or shaking pulpits with resonant speeches, countering is by turning consuming peoples into productive ones, and by benefiting from the margins of freedom granted by Islam to men, women and children so that every element moves in its correct framework without stagnation or ingratitude. Countering - sir - is by spreading the culture of respecting the other opinion and amending the lethargic behaviors to be more civilised, for religion is treatment and it is behavior, countering is by considering the homeland a tent for everyone whose pillar is religion and justice and whose ropes are equality, security and pride in one national identity that is not tainted by partisanship or tribalism or private interests.

Islamic Values in our Reality

* In light of attempts to impose cultures and conflicts; do you believe that the values of Islamic civilization can reach the West and influence its system, especially as it carries the values of justice and peace?

- Among the values of Islamic civilization is "Honesty", and it is for the West a necessity for regulating the rhythm of treatment between society members and pillars of authority, while Islam considered honesty as leading to heaven and lying as leading its owner to fire. Despite that, the West has set laws that punish the liar whether big or small, while white, yellow and green lying spread among Muslims. Islamic values need a living reality and a tangible practice, through high civilizational societies and in a logical scientific style as Deedat used to do with his counterparts. Among the values of Islam is benefiting others through innovation, relief and treatment without discrimination, among the values of Islam is justice even with the enemy, let alone with the weak, the used and the worker, among the values of Islam is preserving the five necessities, including the soul, so did today's Muslims agree on forbidding the killing of each other and the soul that God has forbidden killing except with right? The values of Islamic civilization reached Europe through a just leader, an honest merchant, an enlightened scholar and an insightful preacher. Islamic armies stopped in southern France and southern Italy, but the ray of our civilization continued to northern, central, western and eastern Europe, why? Because we owned the technology then and we owned the application, so that European constitutions were influenced by our values starting from the "Magna Carta" i.e.: the Great Charter enacted by the English King John I and ending with modern French laws. Our civilizational values are preserved in books, and today's world needs lived and applied values to be influenced by them, so will Muslims return to their senses to coordinate between their belief and their behavior? This is what we hope.

Our Image to the Other

* Do you see that the Arab world needs to improve its image in Western society? Or does it need to deliver its true image that was framed by the Holy Quran and Prophetic Sunnah?

- The West is not waiting for us to improve our image, because some of us distorted it, aren't Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Nawal El Saadawi and others Muslims? Aren't those with hired pens and rabid interventions and exciting novels Arabs like you? Aren't those who booby-trap bodies, blow up mosques, kill mourners and destroy infra- and supra-structure considered as part of Islam?!

We lack a "Code of Honor" in which we agree on frameworks and circles through which the art of writing and expression can be practiced without entering the fever of red circles. Every law in the world includes that, but the application is - unfortunately - against those who oppose Semitism even jokingly! Improving our image in the West is by preparing our scholarship students and tourists to be messengers of love and peace through activating the role of cultural attachés and activating the interest of embassies.

Improving our image is through our good treatment with the arrivals from the worker to the scientist and directing our media in different languages full of joint programs and focused meetings with those who lived among us for several years. Improving our image in the West is through our academic, research and organizational devices and our efforts in pushing the wheel of reform and human rights forward in the Arab world.

And a word of truth should be said in this field, that the internal and external efforts of the great Arab King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, and the winning of many Saudi men and women of global awards and patents, and the excellence of the Saudi doctor, especially in separating twins, all that and others that I did not mention or remember effectively contributes to delivering the civilizational image of the Arab and Muslim person to the other.

Dialogue of Civilizations

* Many events took place during the current period; did the concept of the dialogue of civilizations change before the September 11 events and after? and how do you view the reality of global dialogues?

- Whenever a thinker utters a theory, we jump at him and give him more than he deserves, driven by the "phobia" of conspiracy as if we are the fragile side in the intellectual arena; so that whoever wants fame writes a book or an article in which he attacks Islam and Muslims. The West has produced the "clash of civilizations" theory, then eased the judgment to "dialogue of civilizations" passing through "dialogue of religions" and we came out after many deliberations with general results and compositional sentences. Sir, we are not waiting for one party to enter into the religion of the other party, but we seek agreement on the broad lines and common denominators between peoples to take unified positions towards them, such as: treating poverty, disease, addiction and combating moral crimes, injustice, ignorance, bloodshed, sectarian and racial seditions, bribery and embezzlement.. etc. I do not think that the supreme councils for mosques or churches or houses or temples reject dialogue among themselves about combating these evils for a decent life for humans, and dialogue must be permanent among them and they should pressure with the results of their dialogue on decision-makers in the world for the good of humanity.

Absence of Arab Thought

• Do you see the Arab thinker as absent or excluded from contemporary civilizational confrontation?

- Who is the thinker? Holders of this title in the Arab world have become more than holders of doctorates via email or rented rooms, every day satellite channels host thinkers who do not think, and theorists who do not see, the announcer moves them like puppets, they act in front of people, and get the participation reward. And most of them are those who live under the care of Western governments for years! Arab thinkers - sir - passed away quietly; because they were alive with modesty, and they - despite the positions of some of them - did not betray their homelands or insult their creed. As for today, you hear wonders and see strange things!

A guest insulting his country! and another insulting his religion! and a third defaming his competitors or opponents from his own people! and a fourth like a chameleon coloring himself with the color of the channel that hosts him! These creatures occupied a space that should have been filled by wise and sensible people who speak in a sophisticated language and with organized ideas and clear logical visions far from bickering and political mud-slinging. This dust flying from the arenas of the "Opposite Direction" will clear for a heavy rain, so the air will clear, and the sun will shine so Arabs and Muslims will realize that they need to listen to those who deserve listening to and watch those from whom they find benefit even after a while. And I say the truth that in our country there are wise thinkers whose modesty stands between them and the lights and they do not master the art of crowding and love for appearance; which made the climbers reach through them to the light: and staying is for the towering fruitful trees. As for breathing life into the Arab and Islamic renaissance, it is done through cooperation, bloc, easing communication procedures, coordination and understanding, encouraging innovators and bringing in inventors and finding joint scientific research centers, and exchanging the results of studies with credibility in application. In short, when the Arab and Muslim desert politics and divination into science laboratories and experience laboratories, when we solve our problems with our visions.

When Muslims unite their hearts as they united in their Qibla.

National Dialogue

* How do you see the importance of the role practiced by the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue to consolidate the concept of dialogue in Saudi society and qualify the values of citizenship

and intellectual coexistence?

- I was honored to be among the first generation to see the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for National Dialogue - supported by the men of Sharia, culture and thought in the country - so the idea grew and flourished and conditions for growth were provided for it, especially since the custodians of this center are from the loyal nationals and I specify their excellencies Sheikh Saleh Al-Hosain and Mr. Faisal Al-Muammar. Before the center's meetings, every spectrum or color was ignorant of the position of the other towards him, and the human is the enemy of what he is ignorant of, and disagreements about visions were the dominant ones, so the center turned the disagreements between spectra into differences in viewpoints treated with respect for every point and narrowing the gaps of divergence around partials to highlight the universals accepted by everyone. Undoubtedly, this national work encountered difficulties that were overcome with time and sincere intentions, and I can say - without reservation - that our experience in national dialogue bore ripe fruit despite its short life, and I learned that other countries aspired to benefit from the Saudi experience. Yes, our lofty homeland includes only one religion and one nation, but the national mosaic has its diversity that builds and does not destroy and builds and does not pass away, and all lines begin with a point and end with a point, and the center has succeeded in uniting the end point, which is belonging to this unique homeland in its place and position.

Two years ago, I called for creating a subject called "Ethics of Dialogue" in the university stage and "Ethics of Behavior" in the general education stages; for the emergence of a generation that excels at standing in lines, turn by numbers, leaving school in order, receiving the other opinion with respect, and maintaining public money.

Deepening the Spirit of Belonging

* King Abdulaziz Al Saud, may God have mercy on him, carried the torch of unity and enlightenment in Saudi society; what factors do you see that support this unity and maintain harmony among the diverse environments of Saudi society?

- I do not hide my admiration for this struggling leader who did not receive his education in Europe and did not unite his country on the back of a ship or tank flying the flag of a foreign state, and did not bring a militia from the Caspian borders or the Adriatic Sea. I say whatever I say: this genius remains alive in our minds and hearts as he eliminated the ignorance of the twentieth century and elevated the human of the peninsula from loyalty to the tribe to loyalty to religion and country, so the flags of fragmentation and dispersal fell and the flag of unification rose. And to maintain this great achievement, we must plant in the minds of our students from kindergarten to university the value of the homeland and the meaning of patriotism, and the unique relationship between our homeland and our creed "the relationship of place, human and state" and reshape our curricula on this track. And we enact laws that encourage pride and honor in this homeland and eliminate the factors of division - if they exist - so that the child sings for his country, and the poet for his homeland,

so those digging in the soil of the past find no place to send their remains through poems glorifying universes or trees that cancel trees, or forged or suspicious histories. When we serve our national history with a scientific spirit

- and this is what the Darah and others do - the citizen finds material that helps him imagine his country as it should be. I call every apparatus to do its duty for the sake of consolidating the true belonging to this noble homeland:

For example: the Tourism Commission conducts the "Homeland Caravan" which includes a selection of top students from all regions, touring major cities in the summer and in each city it has activities. And the Youth Presidency forms a "national team from all clubs" that camps every year in one of the regions. And the Ministry of Education forms a national camp "Summer in a resort like Abha and Hail, and winter in a place like Farasan and Al-Qunfudhah...". And if the trend is to expand in regional satellite channels, the main news bulletin must be broadcast from the capital, and two-thirds of the televised materials should be on national affairs. And there is an important matter regarding Friday sermons, which should focus on what would enhance the religious spirit, and correct behavior, and maintaining the country's gains not to classify people, and insult others, and keenness to plant love in the hearts of people to clear thoughts - and truth is clear and more worthy to be followed - without wounding or takfir or tafsiq.

These Trips are Sources for History

* Many Western travelers took tours in the Arabian Peninsula where they documented the heritage and conveyed a vivid image of the Arab civilization; how can we benefit from what has been documented? and how do you see the honesty of the monitoring presented by these people through their trips?

- Western travelers were interested in the Arabian Peninsula and specifically the inner desert part and especially Najd; because they could not occupy it military and they were ignorant of many things about it; in the beginning of the sixteenth century the Italian "Varthema" visited Mecca, then the travelers coming from European countries increased, such as: Burckhardt, Sadleir, Maurice Tamisier, Snouck, Huber, Pelly, Philby and others, and they roamed the rock and the valley and cut the desert and climbed the heights and endured hardships, some of them were robbed, and some were killed, and some survived to tell their adventures in the desert with guides, and their suffering with hunger, fear and thirst, and they gave us accurate drawings of the remains, houses, personalities and scenes they saw in the parts of our country. This effort cannot be ignored by the fair-minded, and these trips are a source of sources of ancient, modern and contemporary history, but they are sources written with Western ink and Torah thought, so the information came as an explanation for a religious background, and achieving colonial and proselytizing purposes according to the traveler's mission and goals, and they are clear to every mindful person, and we should benefit from them to the extent that serves our directions without adopting them as a reliable argument or a correct document especially regarding analyzing archaeological materials and deciphering old inscriptions, or what has a connection with tribal customs and traditions. In summary: Western trips are a rich material worthy of Arabization and commenting with a clear scientific spirit.

Liberation from the Colonial Era

We live in these decades what is known in Western culture as the post-colonial era, yet our Arab countries are still prisoners or let's say dependent on this era, how can we get out of this dependency?

- Countries were liberated from colonialism but peoples were not liberated from its consequences and remains; it left its language, its cross, and handed the country to its agents, and began extending its intellectual currents in elections and job opportunities. Go to a country that was colonized yesterday you will find that the railways, state apparatus buildings, currency, cultural and economic dependency all indicate that colonialism fled from the door and returned from the windows. In the Arab Maghreb we find the culture of the Francophone elite, and in the East English, and peoples still struggle for their languages and constants between the anvil of reality and the hammer of need; because language - sir - is identity. Arab intellectuals returned to their countries carrying books they translated and were in their countries a forgotten thing, and revived their theories from their sleep so the people divided into supporter and opponent! And the difference was ideologized, so the intellectual flags diverged and the recipient was confused which to choose, in fact which to believe, and symbols and ambiguity increased to keep the understanding confined to a Sharia communicating among themselves with code and signal. Technology has provided us with means to upgrade our thought and culture in a more independent style, but we turned satellite channels into shouting arenas, and the net into walls for writing insults, defamation and racial and tribal arrogance, and sectarian insults. We can - sir - frame the national culture with local controls, and margins open to the world. And I am optimistic about the path of culture in the Kingdom which found before it paved roads with disciplined freedom, benefiting from the atmosphere of sensible and sober national dialogue. And if we can distinguish between creativity and innovation and thinking and takfir then we will reach a distinguished cultural situation.

Arabs.. inside History

* We live in a tense region in this part of the world; what are the motives for this tension briefly, and can the Arabs resist what is called getting out of history?

- It has been our fate since the dawn of history to inhabit a location extending from the East and the West through two continents of the old world, and central between the North and the South, with long coasts and great wealth, and it is Europe's road to East and South Asia, and before this and that God chose it as a cradle for heavenly messages starting from Abraham and ending with Muhammad, peace be upon them, so this part of the world became a target for European invaders and a field for regional conflict and did not calm down until Islam came and united the Arabs and built the wide Islamic state, then discord occurred among the Arabs, and small states appeared, and the Islamic front weakened so the Crusaders carved out Sham and Palestine, and the Mongols swept Iraq and Sham, then the Mamluks revolted and defeated the Mongols and expelled the Franks, and came the turn of the Ottomans who united Muslims under one banner, until Western powers with Zionist leadership ganged up so the Ottoman state fell, and colonial powers divided the cake of the Arab East, and the West planted in Palestine a "Qaim Maqam", working day and night to ignite the region, in fact it exceeded its colonies to contributing in the invasion of Iraq, and penetrating some Arab countries with economic relations and attendance of global conferences and commercial offices.

This region will remain a furnace of conflict as long as the world does not contribute through a just United Nations, a fair Security Council, and a unified Arab-Islamic will. In this position, mention must be made that Ibn Saud succeeded in building an independent homeland amidst conditions of international conflict over the Arab East, but with his faith, sincerity and caution from colonial powers which he did not rely on, and the rallying of his people around him he united a homeland and extended a human, and in brief: he entered history at a time when many left history. Arabs can unite in economic unions, and they can develop the Arab League into a union similar to the European Union if they do that within the next ten years they will catch the global train or else they will remain on the platform.