In this April 26, 2015 photo, a Saudi man stands in front of the door of an inmate room at the Mohammed bin Naif Center for Advice, Counselling and Care, as the rehab center is formally known, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Security authorities have worked to challenge extremist thoughts and ideologies by arresting all those who support such ideologies and are involved in fighting abroad, and correct their views by guiding them to the right path.

At the Prince Mohammed bin Naif Center for Care and Rehabilitation, specialists in Shariah, security, psychology, history, and social sciences have helped correct the understanding of 87 percent of inmates, allowing them to reintegrate into society as productive citizens, and return to their jobs.

Jaber Al-Fifi, 30, is a former extremist who left the Kingdom 10 years ago and received care and support from the center and was able to clarify his understanding of Shariah. He says he has come to regret the years he lost to extremism and thoughts outside the realm and truth of Islam.

Narrating his experience with terrorist groups to a local newspaper, he said: “I am one of those who returned from Guantanamo, and me and 17 other people were transferred to the center for support and help. We benefited tremendously from the services we received through various programs, including psychological, social, financial and family services.”

“I first went to Afghanistan, where I was arrested and sent to Guantanamo before 9/11 and spent five years there,” he explained, noting that the Saudi government was eventually successful in negotiating his return to the Kingdom.

Regarding the influence that terrorist organizations have on youths in the Kingdom and their ability to get to them to carry out terrorist operations, Al-Fifi attributes this to lack of trust in scholars and the easiness to get access to fatwas online, as well as the desire to seek revenge.

According to Dr. Hameed Al-Shayji, social consultant at the center, “the role of social support at the center is of the most important step for beneficiaries after leaving prison and before reintegrating them into society.”

He says the center provides more than 12 programs that cover all areas and prepare the beneficiary for life in society. Each case is thoroughly studied so that experts can maximize results, he says.

Other former inmates of Iraqi prisons, including Abu Abdulrahman, admit their drive to go to Iraq in 2003 was based on misunderstandings of Shariah and wrong fatwas, as well as misunderstandings about the widespread activity of US forces on the ground at the time.

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