Is Saudi Arabia a State of Islam or Kufr?
The following article was written some years ago but is still useful.
Every Muslim must know whether his/her Deen is implemented in any country. This is due to the fact that Muslims must pledge allegiance to the country that rules by the Deen of Allah (swt). In other words, that state would be the Khilafah State that is headed by the Khaleefah whom Islam obligated us to obey. Therefore, this presentation is not hypothetical, nor for pure academic reasons. In other words, the Muslims must know if king Fahd is the Khaleefah of the Muslims, and whether Saudi is the Islamic State. If we conclude that Saudi is the Islamic State, then the obligation of re-establishing the Islamic state is removed (and the Islamic movements are actually wasting their time working for a goal that is already achieve).
Narrated ‘Abdullah:
The Prophet stood up and delivered a sermon, and pointing to ‘Aisha’s house (i.e. eastwards), he said thrice, “Affliction (will appear from) here,” and, “from where the side of the Satan’s head comes out (i.e. from the East).” –Bukhari Book 4 : Volume 53 : Hadith 336
Muslims perception
Many Muslims view Saudi Arabia to be an Islamic state. This is due to the lack of criterion to
determine whether a state is Islamic or not. It is also due to the lack of knowledge of the reality of the situation in that country because of the facade that is put by this state. After all, every year Saudi donates millions of copies of the honorable Qur’an, Islamic books, and a lot of money to build Masajid etc. all over the world. As a result people believe it to be Islamic. Therefore,
Muslims must know its reality.
The Criterion for a state to be Islamic
For a state to be Islamic, it must base its constitution, laws, structure, foreign relations, as well as solve its problems on the basis of the Islamic ‘Aqeedah. If a state does not rule by Islamic laws or imports rule from a non-Islamic basis in any sphere of its affairs, it is not Islamic i.e. Kufr state.
Now based on this criterion, let us examine Saudi.
Saudi and Man-Made Laws
Saudi rules by a mix of laws, some of which are Islamic and some are man-made. However, to maintain the Islamic perception, it refrains from calling them laws. Saudi uses specific terminologies to differentiate between the Islamic laws and the man-made ones. In an Arabic book titled “The Constitutional Laws of the Arab Countries” under the subtitle “The Constitution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the author states, “The words ‘law (anoon)’ and ‘Legislation (Tashree’)’ are only used in Saudi to refer to the rules taken from the Islamic Shari‘ah ….. As for the man-made such as systems (Anthimah)’ or ‘ instructions (Ta’leemaat)’ or ‘ edict (Awamir)’……” In an Arabic book titled Al-Wajeez fi Tareekh Al-Qawneen (The Compact in the History of Cannons) by Dr. Mahmood Al-Maghribi, p443, after mentioning that legislation in the past was Islamic and simple, he complements Saudi by saying, “this situation has changed after the rise of the Saudi State and the natural resources. This new situation required reforms and changes … Due to these changes, there was a need for new laws. As a result, laws were formulated in the following areas; Laws in the basis of court systems, trade, penal code, labour, Taxation, among others ..”
Regarding Trade laws, he stated “The trade laws, land and sea, which are known as ‘The Trade System’ are considered one of the most important Saudi trade laws. This law was issued in 1931
and is similar to the modern trade laws, be they Arab or European.” With regard to the Islamic
penal code, he said they are implemented (of course), “with some alterations required by the public interest.” He also added, “ Public interest also required making taxation revenue laws or the state…”
The author is actually telling us that Saudi has been implementing non-Islamic laws in trade, “similar to the modern trade laws.” He also tells us that Al-Saud have altered the Deen of Allah (swt) by changing some of his laws due to “public interest”.
In actuality, there are many man-made laws which the author did not mention such as:
• The system of observing banks issued by the king’s edict #M/5 in 1386 AH.
• The system of the Saudi Arab citizenship decided by the ministers Council resolution #4 on 25th January 1974 and approved by the king in his speech in High Council #8/5/8604 on 22nd February 1974 to put it in effect.
• The system of printed material and publication issued by the king’s edict #M/17 in 13/4/1402 AH.
•The law of reviving the dead land used to be according to Islam, where if a person works a piece of land that becomes his. This was the case until an edict was issued declaring the nullification of this Islamic law starting from 1987 onwards.
• The system of marrying non-Saudi woman.
• The general rule for taxes, approved by the king’s edict #M/9, on 4/6/1395 AH.
Shar’i And Civil Courts
In Saudi , as in other states, in addition to Shari’ah courts, there are civil courts or courts that rule by man-made laws. As stated earlier , they do not call them civil courts, so as not to shock the Muslims there or embarrass their scholars, who are the biggest pillars of the state. In Saudi, manmade laws are introduced through legal forums councils and committee, such as Dewan of
Mathalim (council of injustices). These forums are equal to civil courts in other countries.
Scholars of Saudi refer to the civil courts in other countries as Kufr, but dare not say the same about these councils. These legal forums address issues that are not part of Shari‘ah, such as cases of Riba, forgery, bribes, etc. These councils are composed of Sheikhs and lawyers, from colleges such as the Sorbonne, who pass verdicts according to certain articles and edicts which are not Islamic.
For example, military courts are placed under a special Dewan called Dewan of Military Courts. In it, Saudi uses man-made laws called “the System of the Saudi Arab Army” issued on 11/11/1366 AH. This system is a combination of Shari’i and non-Shari’i law which are exclusive to military personnel. An example of a Shar’i rule is that of Hirabah, killing anyone who tries to overthrow the regime. In reality, this law was introduced as a measure to deter Islamic activists and especially the army from attempting to remove the entity of Al-Saud and replace it with the Islamic one. As for the punishment for theft, which they claim is subject to Islam, it is not implemented. It is known that the Islamic punishment for theft is cutting off the hand, whether the thief is a civilian, soldier or the Khaleefah himself. In “the System of the Saudi Arab Army” chapter 8 article no.12 states, “The officers and the soldiers who steal something that belongs to other officers and soldiers or their moneys, and the item is consumable, then the thief is to pay its value, if consumed, and be imprisoned for a period ranging from a month and a half to three months…” Furthermore, if an officer commits theft and wants to repent and get punished according to article 20 and 22 from chapter 3 of the same system that places some crimes under the authority of the Shar’i courts and others under the “Council of trials”.
We ask the scholars and the supporters of this British-made, American maintained state: Are the laws of Islam applicable to some people and inapplicable to others? What is the rule of Islam
regarding legislating a punishment other than what Allah has revealed?
Saudi takes and gives Riba whoever takes a stroll near the Haram will see the British-Saudi Bank, American-Saudi Bank, Arab-National Bank, the Cairo-Saudi Bank etc. These banks with their Riba transactions are allowed to operate in accordance to Section B, article 1 of the Saudi law, issued by the king’s edict no.M/5 in 1386 AH. It is well known that any case dealing with Riba and banks is automatically transferred to the monetary establishment where it is handled by specific committees. Cases of such nature do not go to Shar’i courts. Prior to this law, whenever a person borrowed money from a bank or an establishment and was late in paying it back, and got charged interest, he would go to a Shar’i court judge, who would nullify the interest. This led to a conflict.
On the one land they needed the Shar’i courts, at least to keep up the farce, and at the same time they needed their banks. To resolve this conflict, Shar’i courts were prohibited from interfering in such cases under the “Specialisation” law (articles 20 and 21 from chapter 3 of the System of Saudi Arab Army).
Saudi and its Riba based relations with GCC (Gulf Cooperation council) Article 22 of the Unified Economic Agreement stated, “The member states coordinate their financial monetary banking and increase cooperation among monetary establishments and the central bank …” Its clear that deal with interest since banks and monetary establishments are based on Riba.
Saudi and the AMF (Arab Monetary Fund)
The Arab Monetary Fund, based in Abu Dhabi, is a huge Riba institution that was established by an agreement on 4/7/76 in Morocco. Saudi is the biggest share holder in it; it receives, as every one else in the Fund, Riba of an average of 3.2% on its shares.
Saudi and IMF (International Monetary Fund)
It is worth mentioning that Saudi has the 6th largest share and power of rate. It had 3.5% of the
total shares which enabled it to occupy a permanent seat in the executive board.
So we ask: How can a state that is involved in Riba as a set policy be Islamic? Maybe because it
donates copies of Qur’an and the Al-Saud ‘scholars’ say so!!
Saudi and External relations: The International Court of Justice
It is well known that Saudi is a member of the UN. According to article 92 of the UN constitution, the International court of Justice (ICJ) is the main Judicial branch of the UN. The ICJ performs its duties based on a system that is part of the UN constitution and must be respected and approved by every member state. Article 94 states “Every member of the UN is to submit to the ICJ in any case in which he is a part.”
Is the International Law taken from the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His messenger
(saw)? What is Saudi submitting to? The UN, which was created to counter Islam, or Islam?
Saudi is not merely a member of the UN. It is a pioneer in supporting the UN. Some even go the
extent of saying that it was one of the founding members. In a speech given by the then foreign
minister, prince Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, in 1945 in the San Francisco conference, he said: “…Let us
abide by the principles which we wrote here on paper… and let this constitution be the basis on
which we will build our new and better world.”
Saudi and UNESCO
The UNESCO was formed in 1946 Saudi showed great interest in this organisation, lending it $4.6 million , interest free,and donating $50,00 in support of its projects. This organisation is designed to spread the Western ideas as well as distorting Islam. For example, in the Encyclopedia on the History of the Human Race and its Scientific Development, issued by this organisation, in volume 3 chapter 10 it states:
1. Islam is a fabricated religion that is composed of Judaism, Christianity and Arabian Polytheism .
2. Qur’an is a book that has no tolerance to others.
3. The Prophet’s traditions where made up by some people, a long time after the prophet, and
attributed to him.
4. Muslim Jurists put down their jurisprudence based on the Roman, Persian and Church laws as well as the Old Testament…”
As a matter of fact, Tala Noor Attar, complemented Saudi in his book, “Saudi and the UN”, saying that it donated to the UNESCO $17,040,000.
Is it that the government of Saudi is illiterate and never heard of what the UNESCO writes about the Deen they are supposedly propagating, or is it this is exactly what they donating for?!
Saudi and the Arab League
Saudi is not only a member of this nationalistic organisation, but it is one of the founders. Article 8 of the Arab League Constitution states, “Every participating member of the League must respect the established ruling system of the other participating states in the League, it should consider it as a right of these states and obligate it self not to do any action that is aimed at changing their systems.”
Assuming that Saudi is Islamic, is it permissible for it to recognise the Kufr, support it and promise not to change it? So the Baathi regime of Iraq and Alawyite in Syria should be respected!? And we have not mentioned the rule for nationalism which Saudi is propagating, for we think it is well known.
Excuses
Some claim that Saudi takes its stand without free will and under pressure. This may be said about a specific incident that occurred or a statement that it made, but no one can say this when the above mentioned set a basis of its policies since its establishment by the British. At any rate, King Fahd declares otherwise, “Every citizen should hold his head high, for his country in any way. We base our friendly relations with other countries based on our mutual benefits in a way that dose not permit any foreign country to have a hold in the Saudi Arab kingdom.” [Thursday 8th of Safar 1405 AH]
It is clear, therefore, that Islam is not implemented in Saudi. Consequently, the work to resume the Islamic way of life via the re-establishment of the Khilafah is an obligation upon Muslims.
