Extremist reeducation and rehabilitation in Saudi Arabia.

AuthorHolliday, Sam

Just returned from Saudi Arabia, Dr. Christopher Boucek, a Princeton researcher, describes a little-known program of the Saudi government. Recognizing that irregular warfare is essentially a battle of wills, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Singapore, and Egypt have launched programs to reeducate and rehabilitate their imprisoned violent Islamists.

The Saudi program is intended to de-radicalize terrorist sympathizers through intensive religious debates and psychological counseling to counter takfiri beliefs. Muslim clerics opposed to violence attempt to persuade those caught up in the Third Jihad that religion cannot justify their actions, which are wrong and based upon a corrupted understanding of Islam. The clerics teach an interpretation of Islam that stresses the personal, inner, nonviolent Jihad al Akbar, rather than the jihad that advocates the killing of non-believers as a way to paradise. The program is based upon a presumption of benevolence rather than on vengeance. It assumes that the takfiri beliefs are the result of abuse and lies that have taken the individuals away from the "true Islam."

Though critics have questioned the effectiveness of these programs, they reflect an attempt by Muslim...

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