The following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi anthropologist Sa'd Al-Sowayan, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on April 25, 2008

...Sa'd Al-Sowayan: "The text is static, but the way people interpret it is not. You can interpret the text in a way that corresponds with the age in which you live."

Interviewer: "So you have no problem with people interpreting the text differently in each age?"

Sa'd Al-Sowayan: "As long as it is compatible with the spirit of the text."

Interviewer: "In other words, the spirit of the text remains, and in each age, there is an adaptation [of the text]."

Sa'd Al-Sowayan: "For example, I do not think - and I might be going off on a tangent here - that it is in the best interest of the Islamic religion that we insist on continuing to live as if we were in the historical age of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Everything has changed, and I believe that we must inevitably understand this change and respond to it. Otherwise, the physical existence of Muslims as Muslims will ultimately be jeopardized. Isn't it important for Muslims to continue to exist as a strong nation, which influences the world in which we live? How can this happen if we relate to things as if we were living 1,400 years ago?"[...]