ABSTRACT
Amidst the clamor for reforms that came in various petitions to the ruler, King ‘Abdallah bin ‘Abdul Aziz Al Sa‘ud and his advisors took the January 2003 “Vision” appeal to organize national dialogues among members of the intelligentsia, to heart. As discussed below, the first domestic dialogue, which brought together approximately fifty religious leaders in June 2003, was a timid affair. Attendees gathered over four days to debate issues of concern, and they published an official communiqué that supported Riyadh. In it, the country's leading ‘Ulamah agreed that only a legitimate ruler can declare jihad, though they took it upon themselves to explain what the “struggle” meant to young adherents precisely to prevent them from embarking on ill-conceived interpretations of holy war. The first National Meeting for Intellectual Dialogue was held in the monarch's presence, and his opening statement set the tone, as Abdallah urged Sa‘udis to “respect the opinions of others.” The king used this forum to warn militants and, in an oblique way, cajoled doctors of law to moderate their views especially if any of them entertained sympathies towards deviancy.
