Share your thoughts with our readers: Email your contribution, no less than 300 words, to [email protected] On his popular talk show “Al-Thamina”, Saudi journalist Dawood Al-Shirian discussed a very serious issue about young men who leave their homes to fight in Syria for the cause of jihad after being encouraged to do so by religious figures. Mr. Al-Shirian did not hesitate to mention the names of controversial preachers, and he said that he held them accountable for in the past encouraging naïve teenagers and young men to become jihadists in order to defend their Muslim brothers and sisters in the war-torn countries of Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq and that now these preachers were doing the same with regard to Syria. He blamed the likes of Salman Al-Odah, Mohamed Al-Arifi, Saad Al-Buraik, Adnan Al-Aroor and many more for brainwashing young Saudis into going to combat where they would either get killed or become terrorists. People were infuriated when “Al-Thamina” aired images of Al-Odah, Al-Arifi and Al-Aroor enjoying luxurious lifestyles and spending their vacations in Europe while innocent boys are sent to their death leaving their families heartbroken while none of those television or Twitter stars would even consider sending his own sons and relatives to jihad. A female caller who went by the name of “Umm Mohammed” said that her 16-year-old son left home over a month ago. She described her misery after the teenage boy telephoned her to inform her that he had been sent against his will after his own father gave him a passport and forced him to go to Syria. The desperate mother pleaded for her son's return and questioned the motives of the people who abducted a child who has no idea about jihad. Mr. Al-Shirian deserves credit for exposing those radical clerics who are destroying the country's youth through their sermons and online comments and who ignore the consequences of transforming these teenagers into terrorists before they reach adulthood.
