Fighting generalizations with wisdom, patience

Whenever Islam is brought into any discussions, the Kingdom finds itself dragged into it. It is understandable that being the host of the two holiest sites in Islam gives it a prominent position in the minds and hearts of Muslims all over the world. In addition to that its political and economical clout makes its voice heard and its actions get noticed. Despite all that, the Kingdom has never claimed to be the sole representative of Islam and Muslims, that its social and cultural practices personify Islam or defines it in any way.
However, there one cannot deny that there are those who believe that the “Saudi version” of Islam, with its understanding of Sunnah and its tangled social and religious aspects, exists. And those cannot be stripped down of their beliefs, it is their right to embrace the interpretation that suites them as long as they kept it as it should be, a belief and a concept of life, that the world is not obliged to adapt to it and to embrace it. I believe that has always been the Saudi official stand.
Having said that, even with that realization, that we are not the sole representatives of Islam, we still have to take notice of the arguments that we find ourselves thrown in the middle of. Just recently, because of the so-called-liberal Bill Maher, Islamophobia has again found its way to the fore, not that it was that far anyway!
The Middle East conflicts, and groups like Al-Qaeda and the IS make sure Islamophobia remains alive and a hot topic in the western world. They are doing their best to tarnish the image of Islam in every possible way they can. The man obsessed with Islam, Maher, kept repeating his usual rants about Islam and Muslims in which he likes to categorize all Muslims as sympathizers of the IS and its views, along with many other ugly allegations, to the point that provoked his guests, non were Muslims, and pushed one of them, the well known actor Ben Affleck, to call Maher and his cohost Sam Harris both “gross” and “racist.”
Most of the coverage that followed this episode, focused on the very obvious and basic principle of discussions; generalization is misleading. You cannot take groups like the IS or Al-Qaeda, with their few thousands supporters, to taint a whole religion with more than 1.3 billion believers and hold them responsible for such radical views of Islam. And along those lines of defense, the Kingdom is usually brought into the discussion. Mostly taking women and their rights, and few of the publicized radical views of Saudi citizens on the social media, as examples that the Kingdom is just a part of the Muslim world and should not be taken as an excuse to generalize their practices on the whole of it.
Women cannot drive in the Kingdom but they can do that everywhere else in the Muslim world, there are those who sympathize with those terrorist groups, but there are those who denounce them, actually, the Kingdom is part of international coalition to fight them.
Such repeated arguments make it necessary for us, I believe, to stop and think about those topics that set us apart from the whole world. How the blurry intersections between what is religion and what is social heritage became a point used against the country, and against the religion. This is not only a reaction to claims made by media or personalities like Maher and whoever adapting his views, it is in a way, a soul-searching journey to discover and understand what sets us apart, and why.
Growing as a modern country requires us to face such tough topics, to answer the difficult questions, and to meet the burdensome challenges. You cannot grow, if you do not understand yourself.
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@smaldosari