Commission Raises Questions About Curriculum at Saudi School in Virginia

A new report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has recommended that the State Department take action to determine if textbooks and other curriculum materials used at the Islamic Academy of Saudi Arabia in Fairfax, Virginia, contain material that propagates hatred of and violence against non-adherents of Wahhabism, a Saudi variant of Sunni Islam.  In 2006, the Center for Religious Freedom and Institute for Gulf Affairs found that Saudi textbooks, published under the supervision of the Saudi government, included passages that appeared to exhort students to believe violence against non-believers would be justifiable in religious terms. The Saudi government then pledged to review all textbooks and remove all intolerant references from material sent abroad. 

Commission members have stated that they requested copies of the material used at the Islamic Academy, which operates on property owned by the Saudi Embassy, but that nothing was provided in response.  The Commission therefore called for the State Department to consider the possible closing of the school if the Saudi government did not furnish the requested texts and demonstrate that objectionable content had been removed.  Because the school is on Saudi Embassy property, the Foreign Mission Act authorizes the Secretary of State to take action against such a facility if the Secretary deems it necessary for the "protection of the interests of the United States".             

In the Washington Post, a school official denied that the same materials were used in Saudi Arabia and in the US facility, and, in a report on the FoxNews website, the Saudi ambassador to the US denied that the embassy was involved in the operation of the school although he did serve on its board. When contacted by the Post, a representative of the Rutherford Institute, which identifies itself as a provider of "legal services in the defense of religious and civil liberties", expressed concern about government monitoring of religious teaching for evidence of intolerance.