Riyadh: In the latest drive to combat terrorism and extremism, the Saudi Arabian authorities have started removing offensive books from all school libraries.

The Ministry of Education, keen to protect the younger generation from deviant ideology, issued orders banning a number of controversial books containing extremist ideas. They include two controversial books - The lies about Sayyid Qutb and The Jihad in the way of God.

Several leading Saudi academics and thinkers hailed the ministry's decision, describing this as manifestation of their firm determination to remove all sources of ideological and religious extremism, to protect youths, easily lured into terror networks.

In a circular sent to all regional educational departments, Saeed Al Melais, undersecretary at the Ministry of Education, ordered that a list of specific books should be withdrawn from the libraries of schools and educational resource centers in various regions of the kingdom.

He also directed authorities to check for other books containing similar ideas at the libraries and remove them immediately.

A firm hand

A few days before the beginning of new academic year on September 11, Saudi authorities urged educational officials to deal firmly with those harbouring extremist ideologies which undermining the security and stability of the country.

Speaking to Gulf News, Hamaad Al Salimi, deputy chairman of the board of directors of Taif Literary Club, described the ministry's decision as an important. "This decision will help protect the younger generation from some of the extremist ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood, which called for violence," he said.

One of the banned books is about noted Egyptian author Sayyid Qutb, who was the leading intellectual of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood.

According to Hamad Al Salimi, in the immediate past it was very easy to place such "offensive literature" in school libraries.

"The school directors used to accommodate any types of books donated to school libraries. In such cases, it was not easy to detect such offensive ones in the beginning," he said.

Saudi analyst Salem Al Subaiti noted that the Saudi authorities resorted to hundreds of programs aimed at protecting the people from ideological extremism. These included launching of awareness programs against the dangers of "radical Islam" and deviant ideologies.

Apart from withdrawing extremist literature from libraries, the authorities have also taken measures to combat the extremists' drive to recruit youths from schools," he said and cautioned against the influence of school teachers who may be indoctrinating pupils by teaching topics unrelated to the school of syllabus.


Your comments


I believe that every Muslim should learn about the basics of Islam and know all aspects of their religion, including the topic of jihad. especially its true meaning and how it should not be put out of the context as is done nowadays. I give you a prime example of Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned for 25 years because he fought (jihad) to liberate his country. He was later released as a hero and won the Noble Peace Prize.
Sharaz Manzur
Earby,United Kingdom
Posted: December 03, 2008, 14:41