Saudi Arabia's crazy religious police - My personal encounters with them

                                                                              Picture - www.abna.ir

It seems to me that the Saudi religious police are becoming crazier with each passing year at the annual Janadriya festival held on the outskirts of Riyadh city. Last year they were up in arms that the festival was opened to families instead of females and males frequenting the event on totally different days. This year a member of the feared religious police went into the UAE stand to protest some of its contents but was forced to leave by national guards who are in charge of security at the week-long festivities. As he was chased out of the event hundreds of people cheered and applauded especially the women present at the event. A more bizarre incident has taken place at the festival this year when three Emirati men were forced out of the event on the grounds that they are extremely handsome, and will cause the young women at the event to fall for them. LOLOLOL. Absolutely crazy in my opinion. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder so how can anyone justify that a person is way too handsome or beautiful to be present at a  public event. I had a request from brother Fuaad, who asked me to write a personal account on my experiences with the hai'a, (aka the mutawwa) or the religious police. In total I had around four altercations with them during my stay in the Kingdom. The first time I encountered them was during a trip to the Diera Souq to collect some clothes that I had purchased. The headquarters for the religious police is located down the road from the Diera Souq and hence they are always doing their rounds at the souq harassing customers and shop owners, in particular the abaya shop keepers who sell beautifully embellished, embroidered and bejeweled abayas. As soon as the mutawwa enter the souq area, the abaya shops close and the owners runaway. According to the religious police an abaya should be plain black with no beads or fancy cut work. Nevertheless whenever I frequented the souq I always came across the most stunning abayas with a variety of styles, designs and patterns to choose from. Getting back to my first altercation, the two robed gentlemen came up behind me whilst in the store. They greeted me and then said " Gatty wajhak" which means cover your face. I replied by saying that I am not a Saudi woman but rather a South African woman to which the one gentleman replied that I am a liar. He assumed that my father was Saudi and my mother was of another nationality. Then I took out my Iqama that had all my details and after both of them scrutinized the information on the iqama card closely, they simply walked away. My second altercation with the religious police was at the Janadriya festival whilst I was accompanied by my mom. As we walked through the main gate of the festival area, two members of the hai'a walked beside us and asked us to cover our faces. We pretended that we did not understand what they saying and simply continued walking on. Eventually they couldn't follow us any longer and thus disappeared. During a shopping trip to Hayat Mall we were approached by a group of religious police who insisted that I cover my face. Once again mom and I pretended that we did not understand what they are saying and continued doing our shopping. An hour or so later we bumped into them again in an accessory shop. We thought they came into the store to harass us again however, they came into the store to harass the Filipino gentleman who works in the store. They asked the man to close his top most shirt button as his chest hair is slightly exposed and will cause females to be attracted to him...What nonsense... Absolute rubbish in my opinion. When the robed men left the store the friendly Filipino man told us that almost everyday he was being harassed by the same group of religious police. The owner of the store has apparently filed many complaints with the management of the mall but no action has been taken thus far.

On another occasion I was in the Viss store in Hayat mall doing shoe shopping prior to my vacation abroad. I was the only female  in the store along with the shop manager who I knew on a personal level. Suddenly I heard a man saying " Assalamu3alaykum". The shop manager replied. I was too engrossed in choosing my perfect pair of shoes and I never thought  that the man was actually speaking to me. Again I heard a man saying " Assalamu3alaykum" in a louder or harsher tone of voice. So naturally I turned around and there they were , two tall bearded and robed gentlemen accompanied with a member of the police force. I greeted them and then the man started yelling at me, saying that I should cover my eyes completely by pulling my scarf over it as my eyes are an attraction for men to stare at me. He was also highly upset that my head scarf had a pink beaded border. Take note that on this occasion I was fully veiled from head to toe with the exception of just my eyes showing. The younger of the two gentlemen spoke perfect English. So I switched from Arabic to English and yelled back at him saying the following," In which hadith is it written that I should be covering my eyes completely. How do you expect me to see where I'm walking. Also I am fully clothed and no where is it written that I can not wear a pink bordered scarf.  I am a Muslim woman doing my shopping in peace and you have no business to follow me around the mall. Why are you staring into my eyes in the first place. Lower your gaze." He then instructed the policeman to take me down town to the police station. I said," I am not afraid to go down town to the police station. Come lets go." Then I called up the head of the security department at the hospital I worked at and handed over the phone to the policeman. Within a few seconds, all three gentleman simply disappeared. A friend of mine residing in Jeddah related a story to me about  the hai'a who always harassed his friend at his shop during salaah. Sometimes whilst the call for prayer is being announced customers are still paying for their belongings as they do not wish to wait as all shops in the Kingdom close during the times of prayer. A member of the religious police would then go to this shop to threaten the man with jail for not closing the shop promptly. So one day the shop owner was friendly towards the religious police and asked him if he had a wife and daughter to which the man replied in the affirmative. The shop owner gave the bearded man a dress for his wife and daughter and after that all the harassment and threatening stopped. However, whenever there was a function and the wife and daughter required a new dress, the bearded man would miraculously pop up again to get free clothing from the shopkeeper. The hospital environment I worked in was of course a normal western orientated facility where the hai'a were not allowed to carry out their bizarre behavioural activities. Having said that on a few occasions I had patients that were members of the religious police and they refused to take any help from me. They would stand on the side of the window where I could not see them and they would insist that I call a male pharmacist to assist them. There were many occasions where there were no male staff present on the shift. I always adorn the headscarf, but many of these men would preach to me urging me to cover my face completely. One man said that I should not wear nail polish. As a Muslim I know that nail polish is not a part of my culture from a religious perspective. I always adorn henna. So I then landed up arguing with the man for a good few minutes explaining to him  that I am wearing henna and not nail polish. Personally I do not agree with the concept of the religious police in Saudi. Many of them are uneducated and clueless with regards to an Islamic way of life. There were also numerous reports that I came across stating that many members of the religious police are in actual fact ex prisoners or men who were convicted of some crime during  their life time. The Prophet Muhammed (saw) never forced people into Islam. He advised them but not badgered and harassed them. Religion is purely individualistic. Your level of faith and belief is solely between you and your Creator.Forcing someone to do anything produces no results. Guidance comes from God Almighty and when a person wishes to change themselves from within voluntarily then only can change be brought about. Whilst it is valuable to have lectures and talks on Islamic literature, it is downright ridiculous to have a group of men controlling the way society, dresses, thinks and functions in totality. It is equally bizarre to implement a set of rules that has no basis in Islam in the first place.

A disturbing encounter with the Hai’a in Madina

by Ramon Mohamed, Riyadh
For the Saudi Gazette
Last Thursday I went with my Saudi wife to the Riyadh International Book Fair. I moved to Riyadh from the UK three years ago and each year I have visited the book fair. My wife is an Assistant Professor and I am a teacher. We both agreed that the fair has improved in its content of books that promote a more multicultural understanding of Saudi society and the wider global community.

It was great to see men, women and families attending the event who have a thirst for reading and learning.

The only sour point for me was the few incidents I saw in which members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) behaved badly and disrupted the event. I have read of other incidents written in this newspaper and I have experienced one of my own.

I came across the Hai’a personally a few weeks ago on my first ever visit to Madina with my wife. My wife and I went in by separate entrances to pray in the Prophet’s Mosque. After prayer I had arranged to meet my wife outside the ladies entrance. When I arrived she was very upset and surrounded by members of the Hai’a and a couple of ladies who supervise inside of the mosque.

My wife is very petite and she was surrounded by three very large, long bearded Hai’a staffers. She was being accused of being a “troublemaker” and of “causing trouble”! What this “trouble” was had not been made clear.

I started to speak to my wife and tried to walk her away from the bullying Hai’a staff, but they physically grabbed hold of me. I know little Arabic to remonstrate with them and tried to release myself. My wife tried to translate but they showed her little respect. By this time my wife was very upset and what is worse is that these so-called Religious Police were behaving more like vigilantes in such a holy place. We were then accused of not being married. By this time a group of onlookers watched as my wife tried to explain our relationship.

More Hai’a staff arrived and this was becoming ridiculous. We are not teenagers but mature professional people who had arrived only a few hours earlier on a flight from Riyadh to Madina.

The Hai’a members then started to shout angrily asking for our marriage certificate. Luckily I had put the certificate in my suitcase so that I could show it at the hotel reception should they need it.

They demanded to see our iqamas. As we had only just been married a few months before I had not registered the marriage on my iqama and because I am a foreigner married to a Saudi I was told that I could not register the marriage on my iqama. We tried to explain this to them but they refused to listen to any rational explanation.

My wife explained to the aggressive Hai’a staffers that I would go and get the marriage certificate, which was a few kilometers away in our hotel room. However, they kept hold of me and demanded that my tearful wife walk to the hotel. Here we were outside the Prophet’s Mosque and were being treated so shamelessly by a bunch of thugs.

The Hai’a staff members during this time made several attempts to drag me into one of their security cars which I constantly resisted as I was innocent of all the things they were stupidly accusing me and my wife of.

My wife returned still in tears an hour later with the marriage certificate. The Hai’a staffers inspected the certificate and found that we were telling the truth.

They passed back our marriage certificate. Gave not one word of apology not even an explanation of the so-called “trouble” my wife had caused. They got back into their security cars and drove away!

Unbelievable is all I can say in the way they treated “guests” at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madina.

As a postscript to all of this, my wife and I were on our way to Yanbu via Medina to announce to her parents that she was pregnant and expecting our first child. God forbid if he/she turns out to be one of those unintelligent beings who are given the highest responsibility to “protect” the people visiting the holy mosque.

A man dies, a family destroyed, because of religious police car chase...:((((

Al Watan reported that a Saudi man was killed and his wife and two children were injured when their car crashed off a bridge while being pursued by religious police in Jeddah, a spokesman for the religious police said on Monday. Formally known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), religious police officers arrest those who do not comply with their rules. In March the commission’s head banned car pursuits which had led to several fatal accidents.
Family members told Saudi Arabia’s al-Watan newspaper that the chase began when a CPVPV officer confronted Abdulrahman Ahmed al-Ghamdi, 35, and his family while he was returning home from an amusement park in the southern province of al-Baha. The music played were Islamic children’s songs. According to the story the CPVPV supporters now put out Abdulrahman was going through a police checkpoint and was uncooperative and that it was the police who actually chased the family and the CPVPV come only on the accident spot much later. It is the norm for the CPVPV to put out fairytales after they have been the cause of innocent lives lost.
The car sped off with the religious police in pursuit, and crashed over a bridge, killing Ghamdi. His nine year-old son is in a coma and his five months pregnant wife may have to have her arm amputated as a result of the accident. His younger daughter, 4, is in stable condition in hospital with several broken bones. Nasser al-Zahrani, a spokesman for the CPVPV in al-Baha confirmed the report. “There is a committee set up and an investigation ongoing to look into the incident,” he said.
Sheikh Abdulatif Al al-Sheikh, the head the CPVPV, was quoted in the local al-Watan newspaper commenting on the incident. “I have expressed my sadness and regret to the (al-Baha governor) and we hope that he will forward the case to the appropriate department for investigation.
Security services arrested four members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice after they were interrogated (on Sunday) over the chase.
The men will be charged with “abusing power, chasing a man with his family while ignoring instructions given to members of the committee completely banning chases”.
The ruler of Al-Baha, Prince Mashari bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz said he was “appalled at the manner” in which the religious police acted and that an committee had been instructed to investigate the incident, state news agency SPA reported.
“All those linked to the accident have been arrested and are being interrogated… those responsible will be punished,” .
In March 2012 the religious police promised to stop the car chases. Alriyadh newspaper quoted the head of the force, Sheikh Abdulatif Al al-Sheikh, as saying: “The car chases by the religious police will end” .
A spokesman for the force, Abdulmohsen al-Qifari, confirmed this. “We care a great deal to make the image of the commission a positive one that reflects the true image of Islam. There is no doubt that these (plans) portray a new vision for the commission,”.
The religious police been trying to soften their image after gaining the reputation of being aggressive following several fatal accidents, prompting criticism at home and abroad. The decision to ban car chases was not widely accepted by all members of the religious police. The Saudi religious police has suffered repeated criticism at home and abroad, most notoriously after local media accused religious police of hampering efforts to rescue 15 girls who died inside a blazing Mecca school in 2002. “We have carried out many training sessions to prepare our patrols for catching up with the times,” Al al-Sheikh said.

Source:

http://vinienco.com/2012/07/09/saudi-man-dies-chase-religious-police-loud-car-stereo/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-saudi-police-religion-idUSBRE8680BK20120709

My Abaya- the epitomy of elegance and modesty

All females entering the conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are required to adorn the abaya. The abaya is basically a long cloak like or robe like garment that is adorned over normal clothing. The abaya is normally a loose fitting garment with its primary purpose being the concealment of the female anatomy. The Islamic faith emphasizes that women should dress modestly whilst venturing outside their homes. Recently though, whilst shopping at the malls, I have noticed women wearing body fit, figure hugging abayas especially among younger Saudi women. I often get asked by friends and family residing abroad if there are any areas within the Kingdom where women are exempt from wearing the abaya. Is there such a thing as an abaya free zone?

Of course there is. Expat women like myself  are not required to adorn the abaya within the compound as well as within the hospital environment. Kingdom mall Riyadh has a women-only floor. Women are at liberty to remove their abayas and do their shopping in normal clothing. There are also girls only colleges and schools along with women only private beach resorts. Of course, women also remove their abayas at private wedding ceremonies that usually adheres to strict laws of segregation between males and females. For most Saudi women their abaya free zone is usually in the comfort of their own homes whilst being in the absence of unrelated men. In many of the rural areas away from the city I have also noticed many Bedouin women without the abaya. The Riyadh equestrian club is also an abaya free zone. Many families rent out Istarahas during the weekend to enjoy private family gatherings where the women of the house are free to wear any kind of clothing they desire. An istaraha is a small private farm holding or property that is equipped with a house, a Bedouin style tent and swimming pool. Some of the bigger Istarahas that I have frequented even have a tennis court and small miniature soccer field. It is interesting to note that the abaya is very much a new form of dress code for Saudi women. In the past most Saudi women were attired in Kaftan or Jalabiyya type garments. There was even a time when Westerners frequenting the country were not required to adorn the abaya but were only required to dress modestly. However, as religious conservatism returned coupled with western opposition, all women irrespective of religion, faith or culture were required by law to wear the abaya.

Now an increasing number of women not only wear the abaya and headscarf, but the niqab (face veil) too, with only their eyes showing. I have also come across many Saudi women who simply throw their head scarves over their faces, some completing the look with black gloves and stockings. Not an inch of skin showing. It kind of makes me wonder how do their husbands find them in a crowd especially in a shopping mall. Speaking of shopping malls, a friend of mine once spent almost an hour hunting me down in Riyadh gallery, trying to figure out which shrouded woman was his friend. Yes, I am one of those women who adorn the abaya with the full face veil when embarking on a trip outside the hospital premises.

It is worth mentioning that not all women visiting Makkah and Medina wear the black abaya. This is because so many Muslim women from all over the world congregate there throughout the year for Umrah (a mini pilgrimage that can be performed any time of the year). They're all dressed modestly, of course, but often in brightly coloured cloaks, abayas, dresses, wraps, etc. A beautiful sight indeed. (Non-Muslims are not allowed in Mecca or Medina, the sites of the two Holy Mosques.). The first  time I visited the city of Makkah almost a decade ago, I recall wearing abayas that were navy blue, deep purple and dark green in colour. Most Indian and Pakistani women prefer wearing the Salwar Kameez type outfits with a matching head scarf. Turkish women usually wear a long thick coat accompanied with "strange" looking Aladdin type trousers. The Sudanese, Nigerian and Ethiopian Muslim women also have their own cultural dress code which is usually a few meters of fabric with traditional prints wrapped around them in a signature style. Recently though according to a news report the Saudi government has sent a memorandum to the Pakistani government insisting that all women arriving in the country must be attired in the black abaya and not their traditional clothing. Passengers failing to comply will not be allowed on the plane.

Saudi writer Abeer Mishkhas  wrote in a column for  Arab news wherein she lambasted authorities for their double standards. She says that," when Saudi women perform Umrah or Haj, they have to wear a black abaya and veil, and are constantly followed by men who tell them to cover their face and close their abayas. But when foreign women perform the pilgrimage – wearing white garments – nobody comes near them. This has resulted in a lot of Saudi women wearing white long garments and veils while performing their religious duties, just to be left alone." One thing that does concern me is the fact that Saudi women cover their faces whilst in a state of Ihram (sacred state). When performing Hajj or Umra men would wear a white piece of cloth around them and that would constitute their ihram. A woman can wear any garment like an abaya but according to many religious scholars around the world the face should be open, not covered. The Saudi authorities see otherwise.

The famed religious police also known as the mutawwa are dead against women adorning beautifully decorated abayas. In their eyes, the purpose of an abaya is to conceal the shape of a woman's body. Hence the abaya should be plain black and loose fitting without any beading or embellishments. In their opinion a woman who adorns a heavily beaded abaya with a fancy design and a mixture of fabrics will only cause her to become a source of attraction by men and hence defeats the objective of wearing an abaya. Almost every week there are religious police(the mutawwa) raiding the abaya shops in Diera Souq down town. Twice I was stopped by the religious police at the souq. The man who stopped me was of course a religious man, tall, fair and bearded wearing a white thobe with a long flowing gold rimmed black robe over(Mishlah or Bisht).He was accompanied by two police officers. He was under the impression that I was a Saudi woman and asked me why isn't my face covered. He kept on shouting "Gata wajhak"..which means cover your face. After arguing with him that I'm not Saudi and after producing my Iqama and other documentation he let me go. According to BBC news reports, in March 2002, a fire broke out in the Thirty-first Girls' Middle School, in Mecca. With the only exit locked; fifteen girls were trampled to death and more than fifty injured when firefighters and others rushed to put out the blaze, but were turned away by the Mutawwa (religious police) who warned "it is sinful to approach them" because they were not wearing abayas.

Each year the Mutawwa or the religious police vow to clamp down on fancy abayas. However, each time I visit the souq I am fascinated to discover more and more beautiful abayas. I prefer purchasing my own abayas in Medina tul Munawwara or at certain boutiques in Riyadh. Most of my abayas are custom made at the tailor. He usually shows me a catalogue where I can choose a style and then of course I can improvise by choosing the colour beading or embroidery I require.

The following excerpts are taken from an article I read recently written by Laura of Arabia. I thought I'd share it with all of you.

"Abayas come in a variety of styles; zip ups, buttons, umbrella cuts, broad sleeves, all in one jilbaabs, slim-fitting with finger loops, beaded sleeves,lace and crochet sleeves as well as floral print sleeves.While some really look like nothing more than over-sized graduation gowns, others are perfectly beautiful and are worn with pride.
Some gossip from my trustworthy char. She moonlights at a hotel that's often used by the rich and royalty for parties and weddings, and she is in charge of abaya safekeeping. She says the princesses and bejewelled rich waltz in with dozens of servants in toe, handing over their stupendously expensive abayas that are often made of pure silk and embroidered with real diamonds and colourful precious and semi-precious stones. These could easily cost a couple of thousand, up to 20 000 Saudi Riyals.
The clothes they wear under the abayas are even more expensive, and same goes at regular, segregated wedding parties or women-only get-togethers in the Kingdom. Exquisite designer garb, beautician-perfected manicures and makeup, beautiful tresses and imported accessories are all on display as the classically beautiful Saudi women compete for the most oohs and aahs of admiration.
Sometimes I do an abaya study while shopping, trying to guess a completely covered woman's social stature by looking at the quality of her abaya, her shoes and her handbag. Some give it away more openly, like the daring and trendy young girls who step out of their cars all decently covered, only to shake the Chanel hijab from their highlighted hair and partially open the front of the abaya to reveal designer jeans frayed at the edges, impossibly high Gucci stilettos, expensive gold jewellery and (always) a jewel-studded watch."

"Two years ago a study was released in Saudi that warned that 20% of pedestrians knocked over at night are women in black abayas. Sad, but quite logical.
Then there was the story in the local press of a girl's abaya getting caught in the closing bus door. The driver couldn't see her  and she was dragged to her death when the bus took off. Maddening.
Walking up stairs is tricky, and taking an escalator downright dangerous if you're not watching your step and keeping your abaya's hem from under your feet. On the upside, a friend of mine tripped over her abaya while entering a lift, falling right into the arms of a man she's now dating (secretly).
An abaya can also hide a multitude of sins, such as a lack of the latest fashions or a couple of extra pounds around the waist or derriere. Nothing could be simpler than throwing your abaya over whatever you've got on, and hopping down to the shop when your driver arrives. I've even been shopping in my pyjamas – why not? And how hot is it in there? Depending on what your abaya is made of, it could either be an oven or slightly cooler than normal. A tight-fitting polyester abaya is obviously going to make you feel hotter than a flowing, all-cotton one."

It is noteworthy to make mention that the abaya is surprisingly abused by men. There are scores of reports of men carrying out their deviant behaviour by wearing the abaya and niqaab. This reminds me of the famed Burka thieves who robbed a jewellery store in the upmarket Sandton city shopping centre in South Africa and walked away with thousands of rand worth of jewellery items. There have also been numerous reports from the compound security who mentioned that many men have tried entering the single female only compounds to visit their girlfriends whilst attired in an abaya and full face veil. Some of these men have been given the marching orders for failing to comply with the hospital code of conduct. On the flip side of things, police officers across the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, are donning wigs and wearing women's clothing to catch criminals targeting females on the city's streets. The specially formed teams across Dhaka, nicknamed "burka squads" after the Muslim female garment, are helping to catch muggers, bag snatchers and pickpockets, which are on the increase in the city. Some male officers wear full burkas, while others opt for wigs to disguise themselves as women at busy intersections and crowded places where most of the crimes occur.

Whilst travelling through the various towns and cities of the Kingdom, I have noticed many cloaked and veiled Saudi women engaging in various activities like jet and water skiing, picnicking, bumping car racing, swimming, horse riding and even enjoying the rides at the amusement park. Many a times whilst visiting the beach in South Africa, I would come across an abaya clad Muslim woman playing  in the water or building sandcastles with her children. Of course, this may seem strange to unaccustomed western eyes, but  this is definitely a normal everyday scenario for Saudi women as well as religious South African Muslim women.

Like Nada al Fayez, at 26 a successful Saudi newspaper columnist and human rights activist who says she doesn't mind wearing an abaya as it meets the Islamic decree that women dress modestly in public. "I must wear it. This is my religion and my roots. For another Arab woman it might be easy to take off the abaya but I am a Saudi. It's like I'm carrying history in my heart." Similarly, women across the Gulf region, from the United Arab Emirates to Qatar, wear the abaya out of choice. The Dubai and Qatari abayas are a bit different compared to the Saudi abayas in terms of style..Dubai abayas are generally more bold and heavily embellished with swarovski crystals, beading and embroidery. Dubai abaya designers also utilize a variety of floral fabrics in combination with plain black fabric to create unique and elegant abaya collections. They are also not afraid to experiment with different types of fabric in terms of texture and print. I guess this is due to the fact that Dubai is more of an open society in comparison to the ultra conservative Kingdom.

The one issue that kind of baffles me though, is that despite the fact that the majority of Saudi women are all covered up in their own country, virtually all of them discard their niqaab, hijaab and abaya when they travel abroad on vacations. You would find many of them in different parts of the world wearing bikinis and other skin revealing western clothing. I guess the whole issue of the abaya and the niqaab for a Saudi is more of a traditional, custom based issue rather than satisfying a religious obligation. 

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1874471.stm

http://lauraofarabia1000.blogspot.com/