Manama: A Saudi religious preacher’s emphasis on security as the top priority has sparked an intense debate on social networks.
Security is a fundamental demand and it comes ahead of food and housing, Shaikh Eisa Bin Ebrahim Al Daryouyesh said as he delivered the Eid prayers sermon on Monday morning.
All religious teachings indicate the significance of security ahead of all other necessities, he said, cited by local news site Sabq.
However, his statement immediately triggered strong reactions from listeners and subsequently from online readers.
Supporters said that security formed the basis for all other needs by human beings and that food and housing for instance could be provided only within a secure and stable environment.
They added that the state needed to ensure security in all areas and at all times to help find the robust foundations for everything else.
“Security is a basic demand because if there is no security, nothing else can materialise,” Nasser, a blogger, said. “There can be no easy or comfortable existence if there is no security and we will all be dangerously exposed to wars, raids, attacks and hunger,” he said.
Writing under the moniker of “Colonel”, a blogger said that he fully agreed with the religious scholar.
“Just look at what is happening in Libya and Syria,” he posted. “There is no security, so there is hunger everywhere. People cannot find what to eat or to drink. They cannot find what to wear. Security is a blessing that should be always highlighted,” he said.
Those who opposed the religious scholar said that security could not be achieved without satisfying other needs.
“There is no way that security comes ahead of food and housing,” Wooden-leg, a blogger, wrote. “In fact, security is food and housing. How can a society that has no food feel secure? Food comes first.”
Al Helow, another blogger, said that justice topped people’s needs.
“Justice is the basis for security while injustice is the cause of fear and absence of security,” he said.
Lawyer, a blogger, said that he disagreed with the scholar’s statement.
“Living in dignity and having food come ahead of security,” he wrote. “When you are hungry, you start stealing and cheating and you may even kill. Hunger is the cause of the lack of security and poverty is the cause of crime. When a policeman is hungry, he cannot make sure there is security,” he wrote.
