Now comes to questions from the ground. A person I guess a British who retired in Penang asked about the thought of Mr. Chaliand regarding the KSA. Who'll lead the Middle East or Islam?
I don't know what did he mean by Islam is equated to Middle East and the leadership? And how he understood Islam. I guess everyone also thinks like this person, be they Muslims or not. As a Muslim of sunnah tradition, I do not perceive ourselves as having any center for our religion like the Vatican in Rome for Roman Catholics. Even, if our holy city is in Mecca, that does not mean that those who control the holy area are the central power to lead others. The central leader for a Muslim and for me is Allah 'Azza wa Jalla, our Lord, our King, not any kingdom nor government in the universe.
Dr. Chaliand said that KSA is going through change slowly and they certainly face problems because of power inheritance from a brother to a brother. Half of the population below 25 and elites among them had been abroad. A lot of them are in the US and some in the UK. When they come back, and they find out their elders are still clinging to old thinking. Looking at economic situation, they have oil sold for many years and they sold more oil this year compared to last year. They can survive but they have to quick thinking of whatever would happen in the future. Regarding the cooperation of the KSA with Turkey in leadership? The Turk may cooperate if they want so, and they could also lead it alone. There is a question mark.
Country which is badly managed would bring a catastrophic result. For example, the Saudi and the al-Qaeda with their harsh belief.
What about the impact of Arab Spring toward Palestine-Israel issue? This question is posed by an Indian Muslim. To be a Muslim is to be a twin brothers to Palestinian although they do not care about others. Dulu masa saya bercakap dengan 'saudara' seagama Palestin, dia boleh kata dia tidak perduli dengan keadaan saudara Arab diaspora di luar mau pun peranakan Arab yang bukan Palestin cuma peduli akan tanah airnya sahaja. He thinks that only he has motherland. I am a patriotic person to our sultanate too but I would also take my brothers into account. So, I conclude that this is not religious problem but political problem. They love their motherland, Palestine and it is "a paradise in the earth." You will get your paradise in the earth, but those who inherits His Kingdom do not living a life in paradise. I am not a twin brother to Palestinians, I am a twin brother to Muslim brethren. I only care to those who love Allah and prophet Muhammad s.a.w. My holy land is in Ummul Qura, the mother of all villages. Not in Jerusalem where it is the holy land for Jews and Christian fellows. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the covenant between our Patriarch Ibrahim a.s but my dear Lord, Allah clearly mentions about Mecca in His glorious Word together with its manasik (rituals) as roots of the life.
So, the impact for this Palestine-Israel issue are:
1. For the first time, Israel is really isolated because Egypt now has changed. The compromise between Mubarak and Israel is also gone to somewhere else.
2. The attitude of Turkey toward Israel is now changed. They had joined military cooperation in Jordan. They are having problem with Israel because of Avi Marmara issue which hurts Turkish citizen too.
3. To recognize the state of Palestine is a must, and not an option.
As to say, to be good in the view of Muslims, ones must do something for Palestinian and not only pretend to be democratic. And it should be taken into consideration too that two third of Jordan population are Palestinian.
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