Were the explosions that rocked Riyadh and caused such death and destruction something we should have expected, or did it come as a complete surprise?

Was it the result of alien thoughts, of foreign influence?

Some writers said the attacks were the result of a degeneration in religion that saw a tolerant Islam turned by a few into a faith that brands others who do not share their views as infidels.

There were people who, seeking a scapegoat, blamed the crime on America. According to them, the US is the cause of everything that happened.

Watching a talk show hosted by Hussein Muawadh on the Al-Arabiya satellite channel on the Riyadh bombings, I was surprised by the answers of one of the guests, Dr. Muhammad Al-Areefi.

At one point, he said: “Why all the weeping over the Sept. 11 events, in which more than 3,000 people were killed?” He felt people should be expressing their grief for the Muslim victims in Sudan, Chechnya, Afghanistan and other Islamic countries.

If two people commit a crime and one of them is reminded of his crime while the other is not, does this mean the crime of the second person should be forgotten?

Dr. Areefi then expressed his condolences only for a small group of Muslims killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Has Dr. Areefi read the following Qur’anic verses: “Do not kill anyone whose killing God has forbidden, except for a just cause” (Al-Israa 33). The same thought is repeated in another verse (No. 121) in the surah Al-Anaam. There is another Qur’anic verse which brings home the message emphatically: “If anyone killed a person, neither in retaliation for murder nor for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he killed all mankind.” (Al-Maeda 32).

“There is no compulsion in religion. Verily the right path has become distinct from the wrong one.” (Al-Baqara 256)

“So remind them. You are only the one who reminds. You are not a dictator over them.” (Al-Ghashiya 21-22)

“Your duty is only to convey (the message) and on Us is the reckoning.” (Al-Raad 40)

Does Dr. Areefi believe that these Qur’anic verses support his view that non-Muslims should be eliminated?

Did he ever listen to the response of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), when he stood and asked his companions to stand up when a funeral procession passed by. When the companions said it was the funeral of a Jew, the Prophet said: “Is he not a human being?”

During the TV program, someone asked what the solution would be, how such ideas could be confronted. I told myself Dr. Areefi would give a clear answer.

But he had another surprise in store: “We should not exploit these events to provoke feelings against the Islamic dress code,” he said. That is what he said: the Islamic dress code! According to him, that means growing beards and wearing thobes. But is there anything un-Islamic in wearing trousers?

More than 25 people were killed in the Riyadh bombings, and almost 200 injured. And we are concerned about Islamic dress.

Dr. Areefi has ignored the essence of Islam, namely that religion is judged by the way a Muslim behaves and deals with others and that a true Muslim is one who harms others neither in word nor deed.

The Prophet said: “Piety is here,” and pointed to his heart three times. He did not point to his beard or his dress, but to his heart. But I also read a small article by Sheikh Ahmed ibn Baz published in Asharq Al-Awsat on May 16. May God reward him for that work.

How remarkable, I told myself, how people in the same society and in the same age group can hold such contradictory views. One seeks to reform society through serious work while the other merely wants to attract public attention and court certain groups of that society. These people should unite and work together to improve our Kingdom by pushing for reforms.

Consider these comparisons. Is the thinking of Osama Bin Laden better for humanity than that of William Gilbert, the British scientist who invented electricity?

Is the methodology adopted by Aiman Al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden’s lieutenant, more useful to humanity than that of Alexander Fleming, the inventor of penicillin?

Is the mind that formed Al-Qaeda more beneficial than Robert Koch’s work on cholera ?

If the answer to these questions is that these foreigners are not Muslims, I will say what they have done for the welfare of humanity is in keeping with the spirit of Islam. With regard to their religion, I say let them follow their own religion and I will follow mine. We do not impose our beliefs on others. The advocates of extremism have narrowed the views of many individuals in our society, and a monistic spirit attempts to dominate this once integrated and cultured world.