He was an apparent critic of the Saudi conservative society. He was an ally of King Abdullah in regard to his reform initiatives and is known for his liberal religious views. He was against terrorism and extremism and called for democratic reform in the Kingdom, although he argued that it needed to be a very gradual process. He was labeled by radicals as "a Westerner, infidel, secular and a hypocrite", and experienced a systematic and intense ideological campaign against him. More specifically, Osama bin Laden called him in a taped message in 2006 a liberal fifth columnist.