Nawar Fakhry Ezzi Over the past two weeks, social media in Saudi Arabia has been dominated by talk about an incident that occurred in the Riyadh International Book Fair. The 10-day event, in which 915 publishing houses from about 29 countries participated with more than 300,000 titles, was overshadowed by heated arguments over the objection of a group of people to the display of some books that they felt promote "atheism" in addition to the group's unceremonious interruption of one of the Fair's events. This event happened to be a conference by Dr. Mu'jab Al-Zahrani in which he expressed his dismay over the destruction of the monuments in Iraq and Syria by the so-called Islamic State. Supposedly, the members of this group were infuriated by Dr. Al-Zahrani's argument because they considered the IS's abhorrent destruction of the monuments to be the "right" action taken because according to them, it was equivalent to the destruction by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) of the worshipped idols around the Kaaba after he conquered Makkah. It is needless to talk about the absurdity of this group's way of treating people as incompetent individuals who should be "protected" from being exposed to the "wrong" books. What is worth discussing though is their objection to the conference because it seems that they have not noticed that some of the monuments destroyed by IS date back 3,000 years or even more and have been preserved and survived over 1,000 years of rule by Muslims. Some of these Muslims were friends of the Prophet (pbuh) and their children, who were with the Prophet (pbuh) personally as he destroyed the idols in Makkah, which makes it likely that they would know more about this topic than those who disrupted the conference at the book fair in Riyadh. Sadly, in addition to being sympathizers with IS, the line of thought expressed by those in Riyadh indicates an utter disrespect for other cultures and ignorance of the significance of the elements of cultural heritage to humanity as a whole. Cultural heritage includes buildings, artifacts, monuments or even intangible elements, such as songs and stories passed from older generations to the new. Anthropology and cultural heritage do not only connect people to their past and bond them with the land they live in, but they also help people to learn who they are and how their culture evolved. Religion can be considered part of this cultural heritage because it helps define the culture and becomes intertwined with it, making it part of people's identity. Nevertheless, when a country or a group of people change their religion, their culture does not completely change, but its boundaries is rather reshaped by the new religion they embrace while strands of the past culture can survive for hundreds of years. As civilizations rose and fell along with their religious traditions, many parts of the world went through a transformation and evolution of identity while making peace with their past. For example, many cultures have embraced Islam and have pride in their religious affiliation while keeping their connection or being reconnected to their cultural heritage after the development of modern anthropology, such as the case of Egypt and Iraq. Saudi Arabia contains many historical sights and artifacts, which date back to prehistoric times, and not only the period preceding Islam. However, being the birthplace of Islam and the two holy mosques, little effort has been made to research and study our pre-Islamic heritage, especially as it is constantly referred to as, Jahiliya, which means ignorance. What makes matters worse is the existence of some people who are not only afraid to research the times of "Jahiliya" and who limit cultural heritage to religious sacred texts, but who also became paranoid about many Islamic buildings and sights considering them to be a slippery slope toward polytheism. Following the lead of such people will result in us becoming detached from our distant heritage as well as losing our bond with our recent past in which our Islamic identity is formed. In addition, when one's heritage is neglected, cultural traditions could reshape one's religion rather than the other way around, which provides traditions with the enforcement power of religious teachings. Fortunately, this group of people has become undermined and overpowered by an increasing enlightened majority supported by the nation's policies and laws. Special care has been taken of Islamic as well as pre-Islamic historical sites in Saudi Arabia. Last year, the Jeddah Historical Area located in Al-Balad was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More importantly, Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, outlawed destruction of any historical site until permission is received from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. Makkah and Madinah are our greatest heritage and the source of our pride as Saudis and Muslims. This is why any Islamic artifact or site should be preserved and valued, especially in the two holy cities. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is not only these two great cities, but it is also Riyadh, Asir, Baha, Dammam, Qasim, Al-Jouf, Tabuk, Jazan, Najran, and many more. It is the land of the desert and sea where different cultures and tribes have lived for thousands of years, and for that it deserves to be proudly studied, valued, visited and celebrated.
