Open Letter to the new Saudi King to release Raif Badawi

Open Letter to the new Saudi King to release Raif Badawi

Posted in Other | 26-Jan-15 | Author: Hubertus Hoffmann,

To His Royal Highness
King Salman ibn Abd-al-Aziz
The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques
Office of His Majesty the King
Royal Court, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

via mail to deemb@mofa.gov.sa 

Your Majesty,

for your new position I wish you the wisdom of the Prophet and the Holy Qur'an and good support from the people of wisdom and good will.

It is not easy, but it was not for the Prophet either. It will never be easy, but there is only one way: to follow the style of Muhammad and nothing else.

You are in line with the Prophet. He was a man of mercy. This is the main rule of God each true Muslim has to follow.

I therefore ask you to pardon blogger Raif Badawi as a fresh start and based on what the Prophet told:

1. It is the custom since hundreds of years to pardon, when a new king takes over the rule.

2. The comments of Raif Badawi may not have been wise and partially wrong from the perspective of some. But who is always 100 percent right as a weak human being? Maybe only the Prophet was.

3. Some of his ideas are only those of the Prophet: a society of hilm and good relations with the Christians. This is written in 27 verses in the Holy Quran, mainly 2,226;  29,46; 42,15; 5,48; 109,6; 5,48. We share 14 Prophets. The teaching of Jesus is binding for Muslims as well according to 10,37; 2,62; 6,92; 40,53; 42,13. When Mr. Badawi decribes Christians - like myself and 1.5 billion more including the Pope, President Obama or Chancellor Merkel- and Muslims like you as "equal human beings", he is closer to the Prophet than his critics. And he is in line with the UN Charta you joined which is binding for Saudi Arabia according to 17,34. Is it not an offense to all Christians, when a person is punished for such a quote?

4. When he demands a separation of religion and state, I do not have to remind you that Muhammad left all political officers in power and the political system intact after he had conquered Mecca in 630. He, in essence, separated Islam from politics between 630 to 632. Thus, Mr. Badawi is fully in line with the Prophet.

5. The totally unmerciful punishment of Mr. Badawi contradicts the dominance of mercy in the  Holy Qu’ran in all Suras. Only someone who is merciful to sinners like God is a true Muslim. When even the Prophet pardoned all his enemies in Mecca in 630 - why not pardon him on minor issues of debate?

6. Raif Badawi was also punished for his criticism of your religious police, which confiscated flowers and chocolate on Valentine's Day. They should be aware that this is not a religious festival, a well-known fact all over the rest of the world.  

7. The main fortune of your country is not oil. It is the young elite of maybe one in 1000 people. Badawi is one of them. If you lose the dreams, hopes and respect of this important, but tiny group of people, you risk the future and your country.

What is going on in Saudi Arabia, people ask all over the world. 

Did the judges forget about the Prophet and true teaching of Islam? 

You are the defender of Mecca and Median. I therefore kindly ask you to defend the true Islam or the teaching of the Prophet is endangered through too narrow-minded people who cut the wisdom of God out and put the main demand of mercy in the Holy Qur’an upside down.

I wish you good health and the wisdom of God.

We Christians and you Saudis are long-time friends. Friendship depends on honor and respect on both sides.

Let us try our best to promote hilm and salam in all our Christian and Muslim countries.

May your country bloom like the desert after rain.

Best wishes from Berlin 

• Tags:
• Other
• Saudi Arabia
• King Salman ibn Abd-al-Aziz
• Raif Badawi
• Freedom of Speech
• Islam

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