Fathul Bari says both countries have had close ties for years and it has had no impact on ordinary Malays.
Fathul Bari Mat Jahya said Malaysia has had close relations with Saudi Arabia for years.
He questioned political analyst Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, a professor at Universiti Sains Malaysia, over concerns that Prime Minister Najib Razak’s increasing closeness with the Saudi regime might encourage the spread of Salafi ideas in Malaysia.
The Salafist movement, or Salafism, is said to be an ultra-conservative reform movement within Sunni Islam that developed in Saudi Arabia in the first half of the 18th century.
Fathul said thousands of Malaysian students had returned home after completing their studies in Saudi Arabia but they have had no impact on Malays.
“We want a close friendship for economic reasons, to seek more investments. Why do some people fear this?”
He told FMT that those who thought otherwise were in fact “the extremists” as the Saudis were now clearly opening up, as shown by the lifting of a ban to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia.
“It is now more open to accepting views from the outside world.
“The professor, supposedly an analyst, should have been studying about the influence of western culture on our past and present (environment).
“What is his comment and analysis on that? This needs to be discussed.”
On Thursday, Fauzi had said that many people had already pointed out that the religious practices of most Malays have been going in a more rigid direction.
“Malays do this sometimes not consciously but because this is the Islam that has been portrayed to them and supported by government-backed scholars, ” he said.
Fathul questioned the reasons for people to discuss and debate upon such issues now as the relationship between both the countries had not caused any changes in Malaysia.
In fact, he said, Saudi Arabia was serious in fighting and curbing violence. It had shown its sincerity in doing so by setting up various centres.
One of these centres is the King Salman Centre for International Peace (KSCIP), earmarked to be built on 16ha provided by the government in Putrajaya.
Fathul said Fauzi seems to be more interested in upholding other views, alluding to the western influence in Malaysia.
Last week, social activist Marina Mahathir had also talked about the deepening trend in Malaysia for hardline Islamic policies and thinking to be allowed to take root at various levels of government and society. She pinned this on the influence of Saudi Arabia.
The founding member of Sisters in Islam said this phenomenon was contributing to the disappearance of local cultural elements.
Fathul hit out at Marina for criticising the alleged spread of Arab culture but remaining silent over western influences eroding local values.
He said Marina talked about the disappearance of local cultural elements but the way she presented herself to the public did not reflect Malay elements or culture.
“The way she promotes herself is not very Malay in itself. If, for example, she dresses in a kebaya or wears batik attire, it would show Malay cultural elements,” he said.
“There is no need for her to talk about Saudi Arabian culture entering Malaysia. Nowadays western culture has come in. Is she talking about that?”
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