We don’t need vigilantes

In our quieter moments we Saudis may sit back comfortably and contemplate how far we have come as a nation. Women have greater rights in the courts than they did a decade ago. Our government is providing every citizen with a free university education. We are becoming a world power and leading a region by example.
We have achieved many milestones, no doubt, but there are many shortcomings that persist. We wake up from our daydreams and discover that we can’t help but stick our noses in other people’s business. And it seems the best place to demonstrate just how easy it is to corrupt our values is on the sidelines of the recently concluded Riyadh Book Fair.
Organizing literary events such as book fairs is a shining achievement in contemporary Saudi Arabia as hundreds of writers, poets and publishers come from all corners of the world to engage in compelling conversations about the literary arts and present new ideas. It’s the best venue to showcase one’s art.
But the Riyadh Book Fair also had attracted some notoriety thanks to a group of narrow-minded individuals who deemed it necessary to force their distorted and nonsensical values on the fair’s unsuspecting participants.
The most recent incident involved a small group of men who were not members of the Haia. They reportedly intimidated fairgoers to enforce “religious values”.
That group of men approached a Kuwaiti author invited to the fair to sign his book. He was told not to smile when talking to people or when he signs his book. The reason: His dimples would be too distracting.
In another incident women were told to keep a respectful distance from men and to make sure their hijab was worn properly — as in what is proper according to their standards. On another occasion a male bookseller was told never to speak to a woman while making a transaction. “Keep silent and don’t acknowledge them when taking their money.”
Finally, an Arabic newspaper reporter who had seen enough confronted these individuals and asked what authority they had to make demands on fair participants.
“We have the right because we are citizens,” came the reply. “Then what is the Haia for?”
“They enforce the rules, we only use our words,” was the answer.
Oh, so wrong, and so arrogant. If there is a religious authority charged with guiding individuals to the right path, then there is no need for private citizens to exercise their special brand of moral instruction. It’s one thing to take someone aside to provide a little quiet advice, but it’s quite another to tell someone not to smile or speak while implying that you have the authority to do so.
All Saudi citizens have an obligation to ensure that our fellow Muslims, whether Saudi or expat, follow the correct path. But what makes a good Muslim is how we approach the issue and the kindness we impart. For most of us, though, we recognize that we have a religious authority in place and backed by the government with full authorization to do the job. The average citizen should simply allow the professionals to do their job and we should mind our own business. After all, we will be judged when our time comes, not by our neighbors or the self-appointed guardians of morality.
We live in a society that is becoming more urban by the day and is certainly more educated than the previous generation. That also means we must be more tolerant and less judgmental of our neighbors. There is no need for vigilantism. It reflects badly on Saudi Arabia and only serves to force us to take a step backward in our efforts to be taken seriously as a regional leader.