Murder on the Curriculum

(This is the second article in a two-part series, by Ibn Warraq. In his first posting Warraq explained how the Saudis failed to remove hate speech from textbooks used in wahabbi-financed Islamic schools in the US – as pointed out in a 2008 report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and despite promises to comply with human rights standards (ed.).) Murder on the CurriculumIbn Warraq, for rights.noBy 2008 the Saudi government was yet to remove extremist statements from textbooks used in Saudi-financed schools in the United States. USCRIF clearly illustrated the problem in its June 2008 report: “In a twelfth-grade Tafsir (Koranic interpretation) textbook, the authors state that it is permissible for a Muslim to kill an apostate (a convert from Islam), an adulterer, or someone who has murdered a believer intentionally: ‘He (praised is He) prohibits killing the soul that God has forbidden (to kill) unless for just cause. …’ Just cause is then defined in the text as ‘unbelief after belief, adultery, and killing an inviolable believer intentionally.’ (Tafsir, Arabic/Sharia, 123)» «A twelfth-grade Tawhid (monotheism) textbook states that ‘[m]ajor polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible,’ which in Islamic legal terms means that a Muslim can take the life and property of someone believed to be guilty of this alleged transgression with impunity. (Tawhid, Arabic/Sharia, 15) Under the Saudi interpretation of Islam, ‘major polytheists’ include Shi’a and Sufi Muslims, who visit the shrines of their saints to ask for intercession with God on their behalf, as well as Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists.’» «The overt exhortations to violence found in these passages make other statements that promote intolerance troubling even though they do not explicitly call for violent action. These other statements vilify adherents of the Ahmadi, Baha’i, and Jewish religions, as well as of Shi’a Islam. This is despite the fact that the Saudi government is obligated as a member of the United Nations and a state party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other relevant treaties to guarantee the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. The statements include the following:’Today, Qadyanis [Ahmadis] are one of the greatest strongholds for spreading aberration, deviation, and heresy in the name of religion, even from within Islamic countries. Thus, the Qadyani [Ahmadi] movement has become a force of destruction and internal corruption today in the Islamic world. …’ (Aspects of Muslim Political and Cultural History, Eleventh Grade, Administrative/Social Track, Sharia/Arabic Track, 99) ‘It [Baha’ism] is one of the destructive esoteric sects in the modern age. … It has become clear that Babism [the precursor to Baha’ism], Baha’ism, and Qadyanism [Ahmadism] represent wayward forces inside the Islamic world that seek to strike it from within and weaken it. They are colonial pillars in our Islamic countries and among the true obstacles to a renaissance.’ (Aspects of Muslim Political and Cultural History, Eleventh Grade, 99-100) ‘The cause of the discord: The Jews conspired against Islam and its people. A sly, wicked person who sinfully and deceitfully professed Islam infiltrated (the Muslims). He was ‘Abd Allah b. Saba’ (from the Jews of Yemen). [___] (the word or words here were obscured by correction fluid, ed.) began spewing his malice and venom against the third of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, Uthman (may God be pleased with him), and falsely accused him.’ » (Tawhid, Administrative/Social Sciences Track, 67) Serious concern The USCIRF made several recommendations for the U.S. Department of State :[1] that it make available all textbooks that it has received from the Saudi government, so that their content and compliance with international human rights standards can be assessed; and[2] it should promptly create a formal mechanism to monitor and encourage implementation of the Saudi government’s 2006 policies as part of every meeting of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Strategic Dialogue, and ensure that U.S. representatives to each relevant Working Group of the Strategic Dialogue, after each session, or at least every six months, report the group’s findings to Congress. The USCIRF was seriously concerned that the Saudi government was not abiding by the policies it confirmed in 2006 to promote greater religious freedom and tolerance, including the revision of its school textbooks. The texts used at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Washington D.C. – and quoted here – are only one example. Exclusive rights: rights.no, Norway, and sappho.dk, Denmark