Was Jamal Khashoggi Saudi Arabia's first major public intellectual?

The tragic killing and silencing of Jamal Khashoggi have generated endless headlines on the ills of Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman and the current trajectory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

Much has been made of Khashoggi the ‘critic’. Much has also been made of his exile and criticism of the Saudi state. 

He is described as a journalist. Indeed he was the first high profile journalist that Saudi Arabia produced. But much more than that Khashoggi was a Saudi with great influence over the House of Saud. 

At least three generations of policymakers in Riyadh sought his advice. It is this quality that scared Mohammed Bin Salman, but one must be careful to describe Khashoggi as a critic and journalist – he was far more. 

One can argue that he is Saudi Arabia’s first intellectual heavyweight.

The first Saudi intellectual heavyweight?

Saudi Arabia is not known for its intellectual leaders, apart from Jamal Khashoggi and Madawi Al Rasheed, not many Saudi independents are internationally recognised names speaking on issues without toeing the government line. 

Almost all the Saudi academics, whether at think tanks or universities, are following government orders and the official line rather than challenging the narrative or thinking outside the box – free-thinking intellectuals and writers are not acceptable. 

It is here where Khashoggi made a name for himself in the 1970s, and it is this very independent thinking that brought him to the attention of the Saudi political leadership. 

After studying journalism in the United States, Jamal was aware that the Cold War was a perfect opportunity for Saudi Arabia to make its mark on the international arena. He had closely studied the failure of Arab nationalism and the triumph of the Israelis in multiple wars against a combined Arab effort.

The smear campaign since his murder alleges that he was a friend of Osama bin Laden. Pro-MBS bloggers have been putting up old pictures of Khashoggi in Afghanistan alleging he believed in the same ideology as bin Laden. 

Yet this has been an orchestrated campaign to discredit him by using simplistic labels such as Muslim Brotherhood ‘sympathiser’ or 'terrorist'.  These same MBS sycophants have done little research, as is typical for those who lack objectivity or the requisite intellect to discuss the matter. 

Khashoggi, far from being a supporter of Al Qaeda, was the only Arab heavyweight who went on air and criticised Arabs for believing in conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks of 9/11.  

He believed in reason and made it clear why the US, the West and the Saudis all supported bin Laden during the 1980s, simply because the Soviets represented a threat to the entire region. 

However, he never endorsed what happened in Afghanistan after the Soviets. 

Also what set Khashoggi apart from other Saudis was that he also criticised the blind support the Saudis gave to fighters who went on to become Al Qaeda. 

He thought that fighting the Soviets and promoting Islam were very different to bringing an autocratic or extreme version of Islam to Afghanistan or the region. 

The brother of legendary Afghan fighter, Ahmed Shah Massoud, testified in the last few days how Khashoggi had seen the wisdom of opposing extreme fighters in Afghanistan. Despite his closeness to the most powerful Saudis in power, he was a self-critic of Arabs looking outwards for all their faults. He was also against the undue arrest of Saudis who spoke out on political and social reform.

The real reformer 

Khashoggi believed in educating Arab political activists who believed that only Islam was the solution to the ills of the Arab world. He did not endorse weaponising Islam or following in the footsteps of bin Laden. 

Khashoggi was also the first to believe in the importance of Egypt and Pakistan in the defence of Saudi Arabia. He wrote about the military and economic manpower that both these countries provided to the Saudis. 

This policy was institutionalised when he was an adviser to Prince Turki bin Faisal, the head of Saudi intelligence. Prince Turki, who went on be the most influential security chief in Saudi history, relied on Khashoggi not just for geopolitical advice but also media advice when the former became ambassador to the United Kingdom and the US. 

Khashoggi was also against those Arabs who simply toed the American line and blamed everything on Islam in the aftermath of 9/11. 

In almost every sense Khashoggi was a first in Saudi Arabia – he knew the importance of introspection, as well as the need to reform. 

It was Khashoggi who was the reformer rather than Mohammed bin Salman. 

In the end, the current crown prince knew Khashoggi had respect both within the ruling family and the mass media - that made him dangerous. 

Yet Khashoggi was respectful of the crown prince and publicly praised him. At the same time, in typical Khashoggi manner, he did not offer blind support but instead, in his praise for Saudi reforms, said that one-man rule was against the Saudi tradition and history of ruling through consensus. 

That is how we should remember Khashoggi – he was no dissident, insurgent or activist. He was a Saudi patriot who believed that constructive criticism, rather than blind servitude, would change the Arab world.