The Political System of Saudi Arabia Prof. Abdullah Al-Turaiqi All Rights Reserved for Publisher Ghainaa Publications Fax:+966 (1) 2295019 [email protected] First Edition 2008 In the Name of Allah Most Gracious, Most Merciful The Political System of Saudi Arabia TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 7 ............................................................................................................................................. Prelude 11 ............................................................................................................................................ Chapter 1: Objectives and Purposes 14 ........................................................ Chapter 2: Features and Characteristics................................................ 19 Chapter 3: Foundations and Rules ............................................................. 22 Chapter 4: The Form of Governing System ................................... 38 Chapter 5: General Authorities of Government 42 ......................... Chapter 6: Rights and Duties 56 ............................................................................ Chapter 7: The Nature of the Ruler-Subject Relationship 78 ............................................................................................................................ Chapter 8: Monitoring and Inspection 80 ................................................ Chapter 9: Freedoms 86 ................................................................................................... Chapter 10: Woman 94 ...................................................................................................... Conclusion: Comparison between the two Systems 99 ............. Endnotes 109 ....................................................................................................................................... 5 The Political System of Saudi Arabia Preface More than 1400 years have passed since the revelation of Islam, during which it has established a magnificent civilization that for many years brought happiness to mankind. For a number of reasons however, this civilization has seemingly dwindled. Some seem to think it has perished, died, and become a never to be repeated relic of history; they consider the natural alternative and successor to this to be Western civilization, with its materialist global ideology. However, this is a fallacy as the fact remains that Islam has maintained all its pillars and therefore remains, theoretically, robust and dynamic enough to contend with and relate to reality. The Saudi state, established in the mid 12th Hijri century and continuing till the present day, is an extant proof of this. This state has maintained its pillars and principles whilst concurrently deploying all measures and processes relevant to contemporary civilization. We present this model to the reader not as a nostalgic link to history, but rather because its origins and principles 7 The Political System of Saudi Arabia stem from the timeless Islamic shari’ah, whose relevance never depletes. As Leopold Weiss (Muhammad Asad (d. 1992)), said: “The rules of this shari’ah were formulated in a way that no rule would contradict with the original nature of man and the significant requirements of human community at all places and times.”1 It is a model that is built upon this classic and enduring system and which adds to that a unique variety of contemporary modernity that influences and interacts with reality and benefits from all that is modern, positive and beneficial, without adopting westernization or integration with the other. It is a model that exerts all efforts in realizing Islam and reviving its principles and civilization without claiming perfection or infallibility. Sufficient proof for the rectitude and suitability of this model is the fact that it is a beacon of light in an era of diversity and challenge replete with secularism, atheism and materialist conflict. Despite the practicality and applicability of Islam, it is true that there will always be shortcomings between its theory and application. This is such because man is, by his very nature, erroneous and has limited capabilities, even if he combined his efforts. Notwithstanding this, we present the Islamic system as that which is the finest and most suitable. We hope that the reader would join us, with objectivity and sincerity, in searching for the truth and reality, wherever and whatever it is, and regardless of whether 8 The Political System of Saudi Arabia it has an increasing number of opponents or competing viewpoints. Such a search, we wish, would be an optimistic one and not a pessimistic one that prejudges the Islamic civilization as one of aggression and evil, as portrayed by Samuel Huntington in his book The Clash of Civilizations. The fact that the Islamic governmental model, like other models, has substance and profile, is best demonstrated when we present it, as we are doing in this work, in comparison and contrast to comparative jurisprudence. The substance is the bases, principles, values and legislation upon which the system stands, which are found within the pages of this study, and which remain constant despite the ever changing condition of people and their customs. The profile consists of the patterns, mechanisms and means of which the system consists of, such as: relations between authorities, administrative practices, shoura (consultation) and so forth, and these are subject to change, according to welfare and situation. We hope, dear reader, that this brief study about the system of governance in Islam and its modern application in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will be of interest to you. 9