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Hypocrisy Most Holy

(Wall Street Journal) Ali Al-Ahmed - As a Muslim, I am able to purchase copies of the Koran in any bookstore in any American city, and study its contents in countless American universities. American museums spend millions to exhibit and celebrate Muslim arts and heritage. On the other hand, my Christian and other non-Muslim brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia - where I come from - are not even allowed to own a copy of their holy books. Indeed, the Saudi government desecrates and burns Bibles that its security forces confiscate at immigration points into the kingdom or during raids on Christian expatriates worshiping privately. To most Muslims, the Bible is a holy book. But when it comes to Saudi Arabia we are not talking about most Muslims, but a tiny minority of hard-liners who constitute the Wahhabi sect. As Muslims, we have not been as generous as our Christian and Jewish counterparts in respecting others' holy books and religious symbols. Saudi Arabia bans the importation or the display of crosses, Stars of David, or any other religious symbols not approved by the Wahhabi establishment. TV programs that show Christian clergymen, crosses, or Stars of David are censored. The writer is director of the Saudi Institute in Washington.
2005-05-20 00:00:00
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