RIYADH (Dispatches) – Saudi scholar Emad al-Moubayed has said he fled the kingdom because “all doors closed for the affirmation of truth and rejection of wrongdoing.
Posting a video on Twitter, the former sheikh of the King Abdulaziz Mosque in Dammam, said: “I wished I could speak on my pulpit, in my mosque, among the people, but if I had continued on this then I would have suffered the same fate as my fellow scholars, preachers and orators, I would have suffered imprisonment, abuse and unfair trials,” in reference to clerics including Salman Ouda who have languished in jail since 2017.
Al-Moubayed explained that migration is part of Islam and is an option for those who are “unable to apply the religion of Allah Almighty or spread Allah’s religion, or when one fears being subjected to harm and pain.”
He called on other scholars and preachers to leave Saudi Arabia. “Oh good people in my country, if you are not able to express the truth within the country, and I know that you are suffering due to evils that are happening, so if you are not able to clarify the truth, you do not have options other than migration following the example of prophets, companions and the righteous who preceded you.”
Al-Moubayed had previously posted a video on Twitter warning against drastic social reforms in Saudi Arabia enacted over recent years. He called on the authorities to “fear God” in implementing social changes which are “erasing the Islamic faith, and replacing the identity of Islam with other identities”.
Ever since Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto leader in 2017, the kingdom has arrested dozens of activists, bloggers, intellectuals, and others perceived as political opponents, showing almost zero tolerance for dissent even in the face of international condemnations of the crackdown.
As a result, Islamic scholars have been executed, women’s rights campaigners have been put behind bars and tortured, and freedom of expression, association, and belief continue to be denied.
In January 2016, Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who was an outspoken critic of the Riyadh regime. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif in 2012.
Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the region.
The protests have been met with a heavy-handed crackdown, with regime forces increasing security measures across the province.
In yet another indication of Saudi Arabia’s blatant disregard for human rights and speech freedom, the regime in Riyadh has executed an imprisoned political activist from the Shia-majority Eastern Province.