A senior Saudi cleric said religious scholars should vet the curriculum at the kingdom's only co-educational university, meant to be a beacon of science, to prevent alien ideologies such as "evolution". The monarchy, a major US ally, is ruled by Al Saud family in alliance with clerics from the strict Wahhabi school of Islam who oversee mosques, the judiciary and vast parts of education and run a religious police body.
King Abdullah's University of Science and Technology (KAUST), designed to produce Saudi scientists, is the only educational institution in the kingdom where men and women can mix. It is located near a Red Sea village away from the clutches of religious police. "The recommendation is to set up sharia committees at this university to oversee these studies and look into what violates the sharia (Islamic law)," Sheikh Saad al-Shithri, a member of a panel of top scholars, was quoted by al-Watan newspaper.
"We are looking at some of the sciences that have included some irregular and alien ideologies, like evolution and such other ideologies," said Shithri, who is one of several clerics who objected to co-education at the university. KAUST is also outside the reach of the education ministry, which is dominated by clerics who oppose Western influence and the scaling back of religious content from curriculum. It has attracted top scientists from several parts of the world with research potential unmatched in many advanced countries and almost unlimited funds.
The university was launched by King Abdullah who has promoted reforms since taking office in 2005. The government has promised academic freedom for KAUST but diplomats say clerics would try to obstruct the project. Shithri could not be immediately reached for comment. Other clerics have posted opinions and edicts on Islamic web sites demanding that KAUST apply the ban on mixing of unrelated men and women as in the rest of the country.
"The rule is to prohibit mixed education, at all levels ... regardless of the motives or reasons. The legal duty is to separate the sexes," wrote cleric Abdullah Alhaidan on the Islamic web site (Shabakat Noor al-Islam). Such comments have sparked angry reaction from liberals and columnists in Saudi newspapers. "This is a strategy for the conservatives to control the university or at least have a major say in it. This is the old trick for them to have the upper hand to sabotage reform," said Jamal Khashoggi, editor-in-chief of al-Watan.