Shuffling of men, minus extremists plus a woman in Saudi Arabia!

by Rasha (Saudi Arabia)

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia surprised the nation with a shakeup that is considered the biggest change that happened in this country in 20 years.
Since formally coming to power in 2005, King Abdullah has been taking cautious steps to limit the influence of ultra-conservatives fearing a backlash from the royal family and the country at large. But Saturday’s shake-up was strong evidence that the king wants to cement a legacy as a modernizer of the Kingdom.

The King reshuffled many of the ministers and changed the makeup of an influential body of religious scholars known as the Grand Ulama Commission. Its 21 members will now represent all branches of Sunni Islam that are more moderate, instead of the single strict Hanbali (Wahabi) sect that has always governed it. This comes after the King promoted moderation and interfaith dialogue in the last year.
Abdul-Aziz bin Humain who is believed to be more moderate than his predecessor will replace Sheik Ibrahim al-Ghaith as head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which runs the religious police that have been criticized so much by the media for their extremism and harshness.
“We will try to be close to the heart of every citizen. Their concerns are ours,” Humain told Al Arabiya satellite news channel yesterday.

The king also removed Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan, chief of the kingdom’s Supreme Council of Justice. Al-Lihedan issued a fatwa in September saying it was permitted to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that were immoral!
Sheik Al-Lihedan, had held his post since the mid 1980s, he had been a major stumbling block for the judicial reforms King Abdullah had hoped for and planned to enact. He was replaced by Saleh bin Humaid, who served as the head of the Consultative Council.

The king has had reforming the judiciary system-which has been supported by forceful extremist clerics implementing Islamic law- as one of his top priorities. Judges currently have complete discretion in issuing sentences as they see fit, except in cases where Islamic law outlines a punishment, such as capital crimes. The latest is the judge who married a little girl to an older man in his late fifties which was criticized by the media in the last few months..

One of the major changes done by the king was in the Ministry of Education; which was also lead by extremists since it was established. The king appointed his son-in law Prince Faisal bin Abdullah as education minister.
Education was believed to be one of the main causes of extremism in the country. The school curriculums were highly criticized especially after the events of 9/11 due to some radical contents which were reviewed.

Last but not least, Noura Al-Fayez, an official at the Saudi Institute for Public Administration, was elevated to the new post of deputy minister of women’s education; the first time a woman has been appointed a deputy minister in the history of this country. Al-Fayez’s appointment appeared to be the king’s response to increased lobbying from women’s rights groups against discrimination.

Other changes have been done in several ministries and hopefully this will be a turning point for this country. However, actual changes do not happen overnight. yet this is a step in the right direction I believe and I hope to see the fruits of all positive changes in my lifetime ..