In Saudi Arabia atheists are now terrorists along with Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State

Human Rights Watch reports that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has introduced new legislation to deal with terrorism that includes as terrorists not just members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Islamic State but atheists.

What all these groups have in common is that they oppose the Saudi view of the world. The new legislation cracks down on virtually all forms of dissent against the regime whether violent or not and any protests that could "harm public order". One of the main focuses of the new legislation are jihadists returning from Syria who are now trained terrorists with some ready to take on the monarchy. Decree 44 makes it an offence to participate in hostilities outside Saudi Arabia with penalties from three to twenty years if found guilty.
Terrorism is defined in the new laws as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based'. No doubt the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State would think that it was the Saudis rather than they who were calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion. It would seem that even holding a version of Islam that is not in line with that of the Saudi kingdom makes one a terrorist. The doctrine would seem to be that anyone of any other religious belief which rejects the Saudi version of Islam is a terrorist.
 One might expect that the US and other western countries would be up in arms and condemning these new laws but there seems be little interest let alone outrage at these new laws by a king who keeps several of his own daughters in virtual imprisonment. Critics have pointed out the the law does not distinguish between religious expression that conflicts with the the Saudi view of Islam and violent extremism. Joe Stork, of Human Rights Watch said: "Saudi authorities have never tolerated criticism of their policies, but these recent laws and regulations turn almost any critical expression or independent association into crimes of terrorism.These regulations dash any hope that King Abdullah intends to open a space for peaceful dissent or independent groups."
 Human Rights Watch had been waging a campaign to release several prominent human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. Waleed Abu al-Khair and Mikhi al-Shamman have recently lost appeals against three month sentences for al-Khair and five years for al-Shamman, for simply criticizing Saudi authorities. The group said that the new provisions are already being used to convict peaceful activists and dissidents.
 From Yemen, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) mocked the new laws and said that they would not deter their attacks on the Saudi regime. They say the new laws show that they are in the pay of the United States. They did not explain the logic behind that statement! An AQAP official insisted in an audio tape posted on line:'Their employers are the White House.' He added that Riyadh appeared to consider the U.S. authorities as 'gods.' They are pitching in with a few planes to join the US attack on the Islamic State in Iraq. I wonder who is footing the bill? The Saudi Interior Ministry estimates that about 1,200 Saudis have gone to Syria to fight with jihadists against the Assad regime.
 Ironically the "godfather" of modern Gulf atheism, Abdullah al-Qesemi, born in 1907 was brought up in Saudi Arabia and was himself a Salafist approved by the Saudi regime before he became an atheist. He was born into a strict conservative family but after his education in Cairo where he defended Salafists teaching and was expelled from university, he began to reject religion altogether. Attempts to assassinate him in Cairo and Beirut both failed. His most famous quote is: “The occupation of our brains by gods is the worst form of occupation.”
Even some prominent scholars in the Gulf area have spoken out against religion. In 2004 an article by the Kuwaiti scholar Ahmed al-Baghdadi came out swinging when the Ministry of Education decided to replace music classes by more classes on religion:“I am not afraid of religion, or bearded or turbaned people, and I see that music and developing an artistic sense is more important than memorizing the Quran or religious classes. [The classes] that are already there are more than enough. I do not wish to waste my money on teaching religion. … I do not want my son to learn from ignoramuses who teach him to disrespect women and non-Muslims." 
That outburst would no doubt result in at least twenty years in Saudi Arabia. The article did lead to an uproar in Kuwait and Baghdadi said he intended to seek asylum in the west.
 In spite of the dangers of being an atheist in Saudi Arabia a WIN-Gallup International Poll in 2012 found that 5 percent of Saudis polled said they were atheists. This figure is comparable to the US. An article in the Guardian explains how this is possible. Many Gulf atheists keep their atheism under wraps as a personal belief. Only a very few are open atheists who try to promote their point of view and defend their right to non-belief. As long as the authorities do not observe any outward threat to their own view of Islam this personal atheism will be tolerated.

Ultra-conservative Egyptian cleric defends sexual attacks on female protesters

Egypt is in turmoil today after a hard-line Muslim cleric on an Egyptian TV station justified sexual assaults against women protesters. Other ultra-conservatives issued fatwas to kill opposition leaders.

Cleric Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah on his TV show claimed that attacking women was not a "red line" as some opposition members claim. He asked rhetorically: “Does that apply to these naked women? Nine out of 10 of them are Crusaders (Christians) and the rest are ... widows with no one to rein them in to ensure they remain modest."The cleric continued with a classic blame the victim rant:“They are going there to get raped ....these are devils named women ... They speak with no femininity, no morals, no fear ... Learn from Muslim women, be Muslims.”

Views such as this go a long way to explain the violent attacks against women protesters recently. At protests on January 25 to mark the two-year-anniversary of the revolution, at least 19 women were attacked. One had to have surgery after her genitals had been sliced with a knife. Women of all ages have been attacked on Tahrir square. The appended video gives more detail.

While the President Morsi's office and the prime minister have denounced the edicts and one cleric is under investigation, both aides to Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood officials have depicted protesters as thugs and criminals and accused opposition politicians as fueling the violence in an attempt to overthrow Morsi. Many of the more conservative Salafists have gone further still.

Hard-line clerics say that under Islamic law, those who try to overthrow the ruler or cause chaos should face such punishments as death or amputation of limbs. These statements alarmed the opposition, especially after the recent killing of a secular opposition figure in Tunisia, Chokri Belaid.

The National Salvation Front said that Belaid's killing should sound danger alarms in Cairo and shows that terrorist groups are growing under the cloak of religion. They plot to eliminate the opposition morally and physically. The leader of the Front,Mohamed ElBaradei, complained that the government's silence on the clerical edicts gave the fundamentalists a licence to kill in the name of Islam. However since then Morsi's office issued a statement that rejects hate speech cloaked by religion and called for all leaders to stand together against unacceptable inciteful language. No doubt much opposition criticism of Morsi will probably fall under this rubric. The Prime Minister also criticized the edicts.

Security officials have also put ElBaradei's home and those of several other leaders under observation for their protection.Opposition leader Hamdeen Sabahy claimed death threats against him and other members of the National Salvation Front would not deter him or his supporters from continuing peaceful protests.

The edicts against the opposition leaders have been particularly virulent. On a recent talk show cleric Mahmoud Shaaban claimed that the leaders of the National Salvation Front were "setting Egyp on fire to gain power". He continued: “The verdict against them under God’s law is death." However, he added that the government not private citizens should carry out the verdict.

Another cleric, Wagdi Ghoneim, issued a video statement encouraging Morsi to crack down on this protesting around the presidential palace:“The verdict under Shariah for those who seek corruption on earth is to be fought, or crucified, or have their arms or legs cut off or be exiled from earth. Strike with an iron fist. Otherwise, the country will be lost at your hand and they’ll say it is your fault. They’ll say Islam doesn’t know how to rule and that it’s the Islamists who wrecked the country.”

Ghoneim said that if Morsi refused to act then private citizens would:“We will kill the criminals, the thugs, the thieves and those who give them money and those who help them with words. No mercy with them."

Sufi sites destroyed by Islamic extremists in Libya

Sectarian tension is growing in Libya as two important Sufi religious sites have been attacked in the last two days by Salafist activists.

The Sufis have traditionally been important in Libyan affairs. Sufis practice a form of mystical Islam that stresses individual purtiy of heart and contact with the divine. Wikipedia notes:

Classical Sufi scholars have defined Sufism as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God".[4] Alternatively, in the words of the Darqawi Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Ajiba, "a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits".[5

Salafists are more concerned with strict adherence to what they regard as correct doctrine. Many see the Sufi's as heretics and idolaters since they venerate their scholars and their graves.

An armed group on Saturday bulldozed part of the mausoleum of Al-Shaab Al-Dahman, close to the center of the Libyan capital. This happened just a day after another mausoleum was blown up in Zilten a city 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Tripoli. Another mausoleum still is reported destroyed in Misrata a port 200 kilometers east of Tripoli.

In the Al-Dahman incident the armed group apparently including government security forces bulldozed the mosque. Allegations had been spread that the Sufis engaged in "black magic". The newly-elected National Congress president said:

"What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destructive activities are supposed to be members of the security forces and from the revolutionaries."

Apparently security forces tried to stop the demolition but after a clash with the armed group the police actually cordoned off the area while the destruction went ahead allegedly to prevent violence! Reuters said it had information that the Interior Ministry gave a green light to the bulldozing apparently because they discovered that people had been worshipping the graves and also practicing black magic! The mosque contained about 50 Sufi graves including that of an important scholar and soldiers who fought against Spanish colonialists.

These incidents show that the new central government is not yet in control and cannot provide security when armed groups decided to enforce their own demands.

Islamic groups dominate process to choose panel to draft constitution

Parliamentarians are meeting to choose a 100 member group that will draft a new Egyptian constitution. Fifty members of the panel will be sitting parliamentarians.

An Al Jazeera correspondent noted:"We have over 1,000 names that have been nominated. It's up to these hundreds of MPs to whittle them down to just 100.Fifty of that 100-member constituent assembly will be sitting parliamentarians and the other 50 will be trade unionists, members of civil society and so on,"

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood gained the majority of seats in recent elections to parliament. The Salafist Islamist Nour Party also did very well. As a result it is expected of the 50 parliamentarians to be chosen about 40 will be Islamists. No doubt there could be many Islamists within the other fifty as well. All combined , liberal Egyptian parties have less than one third of parliamentary seats.

A leader of the liberal Justice Party walked out of the sessions when his proposal that 25 seats be reserved in the constituent assembly for public figures was rejected. This move seems to make little sense. If a majority is opposed to what you propose then you lose. That is the way the democratic system works.

The Muslim Brotherhood claims it wants representatives from all groups and parties. It probably does but naturally it would like also to retain majority control.

Liberals are up in arms over what is happening. In spite of the fact that Islamist groups won handily in the elections it seems to me that the liberals really cannot accept that decision by the voting public.

Liberal activists and judges are filing suit to challenge the decision to appoint half of the members of the constituent assembly from the sitting parliamentarians. Khaled Fahmy from the American University in Cairo said:"This can actually result in a very tilted constitution that reflects the interests of only one segment of the population, which is the Islamists," No doubt the Islamists will try to tailor the constitution to their beliefs, beliefs that must be shared by a large number of Egyptians. Of course liberals dislike those beliefs because they conflict with theirs! See this article for more. The Egyptian people ultimately get to vote on whether they approve the constitution or not in a referendum.

Islamist Opposition wins big in Kuwait

   As in Egyptian elections Islamist parties in Kuwait did very well in recent elections. A bloc of  Islamist parties won a large majority of 34 of 50 seats in the National Assembly. There is just one legislative chamber in Kuwait.
    The bloc is a combination of harder line Salafists and the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood representatives. The majority is large enough to prevent the prime minister who is appointed by the monarch to block legislation through the 15 members of the cabinet he appoints. Even if he appoints no existing MPs the Islamists will still hold a 34 to 31 lead.
  Although the Kuwaiti parliament is in theory more powerful than those in other area monarchies in practice any attempts to exert real power are sometimes thwarted by royal action. The Islamist parties have pushed for anti-corruption measures and also introduction of Sharia law. Attempts by the legislature to pass laws against corruption led the Emir to dissolve the parliament in 2008. The emir claimed that the members were misusing their power. Corrupt politicians always worry about other politicians curbing their corruption! For more see this article.

Tunisia: Thousands rally against Islamic extremists

  Although the party that swept the recent polls Ennahda is described as moderate more radical Islamists have become more assertive in Tunisia. The hard line Salafists disrupted classes at a university just outside Tunis. The group demanded that mixed sex classes cease and that female students wear the full face veil or niqab.
   Several thousand demonstrators protested outside the Bardo Palace. Inside lawmakers are working to draw up a new constitution. The former Ben Ali regime was secularist. In fact the full face veil was banned from the university under his rule.
   Not all the protesters were protesting the new assertiveness of the Salafists, many were protesting their economic situation. There was a contingent of miners who pitched tents in a sort of Occupy Tunis demonstration. Others complained about the lack of transparency about what the government was doing. Some think that the major party Ennahda is trying to concentrate power in the new prime minister Hamadi Jebali. For more see this article.