Prof. Najah Ahmad Al-Dhihar Al-Madina Judging people based on their race has become common in Saudi society, especially when any of these people is guilty of a violation. You will notice that many will criticize such people and even attack the country they come from. I don't know why some people are so fond of making sweeping generalizations. Do they think that they are superior to others and that they do not make mistakes? Some nationals of a certain country are sometimes stereotyped as evil people who practice black magic and use it to cause trouble between a husband and a wife in order to destroy their marriage. Why do some of us talk as if we do not have members of our own society who are evil and who go to black magicians and pay them money with the intention of hurting others? If you want proof of this, ask the members of the Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) about the number of times they have caught black magicians and have apprehended Saudis who were caught red-handed paying money to black magicians to cast an evil spell on others. We hear some Saudis accuse the people of a certain nation of fraud as if our own society does not have fraudsters. Have we forgotten about the stories we have read in newspapers about the affluent members of our society who have conned poor people out of their money and made them pay for fake projects? We hear some Saudis accuse the population of an entire nation of stupidity as if the members of our own society had set a record in IQ tests and as if we were busy all the time inventing new machines that the West and Far East have failed to invent. We hear some Saudis describe the people of a country as bad-tempered and unfriendly to foreigners as if the members of our society always smiled at foreigners and treated them as family members. We hear some Saudis call the people of a certain country cheapskates as if all the members of our society were very generous and as if we did not have poor people and we all lived in palaces and had fancy cars. When are we going to wake up from our deep sleep and realize that there are always good and bad people in each and every country? There are people who are generous and mean, smart and stupid, friendly and unfriendly everywhere in the world. We should realize that one bad person who comes from a certain country does not make all of his compatriots bad. The really bad people are those who have not yet understood the Qur'anic verse: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.” (49:13)
