Saudis work together to head off sectarian violence
The November attack against Saudi Shiites in al-Ahsa governorate drew unanimous condemnation from conservative Sunnis and Shiites alike, who are determined to prevent sectarian strife.
On Nov. 3, the day of Ashoura, gunmen attacked a Shiite hall in the village of al-Dalwah in al-Ahsa district, killing seven people and wounding 13 others. The operation drew a wave of condemnation from disparate segments of Saudi society. It was especially sensitive as Ashoura marks the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein Bin Ali, one of the Shiites’ 12 imams and a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Saudis' reactions differed from previous displays of ambivalence toward the deaths of Shiites, indicating the seriousness of the nature of the attack. In the past, the murder of Shiite citizens, such as Nasser al-Mahishi or Ali Folfol, who died in January 2012 during a “shootout between gunmen,” as described by the Ministry of Interior, did not receive much attention. The response to the al-Ahsa attack was notable in three respects: the kingdom's official religious institution, the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, condemned the attack; the Ministry of Interior provided constant updates of the latest developments in the pursuit of the perpetrators; and the people commenting on the incident focused on people viewed as fomenting incitement, neglecting the Islamic State (IS) connection to the attack.
The general perception was that the attack was planned to spark sectarian strife, shake the security and safety of the kingdom and target national unity. Almost all the public reactions to the incident concerned these issues, regardless of commentators' perspectives or ideological leanings.
The General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars issued a statement within hours through its secretary-general, Fahd Bin Saad al-Majd, who described the attack as “targeting our unity and stability.” Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, who is also head of the Council of Senior Scholars and chairman of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa, condemned the attack on Nov. 5. Sheikh stands at the top of the religious pyramid in Saudi Arabia. He declared the incident an attempt to “spark strife among Muslims, especially in Saudi society.”
