Mahmoud Ahmad Two shocking incidents took place in the past two weeks involving our students on scholarships abroad. Both incidents evoked quick reaction from all. The most shocking of the two, was the murder of a 31 years old innocent Saudi female student in a city in Britain where she was stabbed to death in broad daylight. Shock and grief was evident as thousands attended on Saturday the funeral in Al-Jouf of the Saudi female student murdered in Colchester, Essex. The Saudi female student arrived in Britain several months ago with her younger brother for her doctoral studies in biology at the university in Essex. But a vicious crime snuffed out her life at a young age in tragic circumstances. Police had initially arrested two people, but released them after interrogation, leaving many questions unanswered, especially whether this was a hate crime. She was on her way to the institute to study when the attacker stabbed her in multiple places all over her body killing her instantly. The shocking thing is that the crime happened in a city that is diverse and accepting other cultures. Though it has not been proven yet, many people here believe that Islamophobia may have been the reason for her murder. Especially as she was wearing a hijab and an abaya when she was knifed to death. Though most contend that it is a hate crime, there are some strange reactions here, especially in the social media, that lay the blame squarely on the scholarship program for her murder saying this is the result of sending women abroad to gain education. These are isolated and ignorant voices and the scholarship program will keep sending more students, male and female, abroad to get their higher education and then come home to benefit this country. Using this murder as an excuse to criticize the vaunted program that has helped students enrich themselves with knowledge and contribute to the nation is a cheap move coming from a very isolated group in society. What should have been more constructive would have been calls from all for students embarking on scholarships to be ingrained in the culture they would be living in briefly, and the awareness of the major pitfalls there — with a clear advice on possible areas of crime and the crime rate and ways to counter it. The other shocking incident, albeit bizarre, that took place and shocked Saudis here was the action of a higher-education student in Japan. The incident went viral on social media. The student went inside a Japanese temple at nighttime and destroyed four ancient statues that were 300 years old. The action was shocking at the least, and bizarre at the best. The motive of the destruction of the Japanese relics is still unknown and I am hoping that this man was mentally or psychologically unstable when he committed this act. If he was of a sane mind, then I do not know what explanation he would give for this terrible act. The Saudi Embassy in Japan has assigned a team to investigate the case and collect data. The irony here is that we, as a society, know that the Japanese people are known to be honorable and respectful of other cultures. They are very tolerant and open to other cultures and traditions. This was made amply evident in one of Ramadan programs presented by the Saudi talented media personnel Ahmad Al-Shugairi that focussed on Japan, its development, innovation and way of life. The vast majority of people who watched that program fell in love with Japan and its people. Everybody, who had viewed the program, admired Japan and its people and hoped that the same system of work ethic and discipline would be applied here in Saudi Arabia. I hope this very isolated incident in Japan, which was committed by a disillusioned student, will not harm or affect relations between the two nations and their peoples, nor instigate hatred against Saudis or Islam for this incident goes against Islam's teaching. From the comments I have been reading from Saudis in Japan on social media, I gauge anger toward the student for committing such an act. They all have denounced this terrible act and called on the officials at the scholarship program to carefully select students before sending them to Japan. In addition, they should teach all those going for higher education in Japan about the Japanese culture and custom. Of the two students in Britain and Japan, we say that we are proud of our student that was killed in London. She died as a martyr because she was on a noble mission to gain knowledge. As for the Saudi student in Japan, I do not know what mission was he on? He should be investigated forthwith and appear in a Japanese court for justice. I was, however, happy of the fact that the incident did not instigate hatred against Saudis studying in Japan because of the high level of awareness of the tolerating Japanese people. Two different incidents involving our students in two different places have taught us to reaffirm the noble values taught by Islam — gain knowledge and show a spirit of tolerance. — Mahmoud Ahmad can be reached at [email protected]
