Saudi religious police in abaya crackdown

zoom

ABAYA BAN: Saudi's religious police are cracking down on shops selling adorned abayas. (Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia's religious police are cracking down on adorned abayas in the run-up to Eid Al-Fitr and have threatened shopkeepers with fines and even prison for selling the black robes with any form of decoration.

Shopkeepers in the kingdom's capital Riyadh said they are having to turn away customers, many of whom are looking to buy more fashionable abayas with patterned, beaded or colourful trim, the UK's Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Decorative abayas are becoming increasingly popular in the Gulf as women's dress codes are relaxed. However the liberalisation, though only slight, has angered some conservatives.

Women's rights activists slammed the latest crackdown by the religious police, or mutawa’a.

"They [the mutawa’a] want women to be faceless, nameless and shrouded in blackness," Samar Falan, a women’s rights activist and writer based in Jeddah, was quoted as saying.

"They should focus on fighting vices, not women," Buthaina Nassr, another activist, told the newspaper. "I do not understand why they force us to wear black in such a hot country while men can wear white."

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

steph
Posted by Salim ALSuwaidi, Sharjah, UAE on Monday 29 September 2008 at 14:49 UAE time

i loved ur comments about Bahrain and Weekends hehe. Bahrain is a lovely country but these men are destroying it to be honest.

I think this is a big issue now since they opened it, In my view as a Muslim and Male, From my side if my family are wearing the Abaya in a proper way i totally have no problem, and it shouldnt be so attractive, normal abaya with some decoration is np for me to be honest, but some abayas are crazies nowaday and maybe thats what this topic is about.

a tough job
Posted by steph, dubai on Monday 29 September 2008 at 11:11 UAE time

am sure Samar Falan from the women's rights in Saudi has a lot on her plate. I totally agree with her saying "they should focus on vices and not women". what is the religious police doing about the thousands of men fleeing to Bahrain every week-end to have a good time ??? just leave the women alone, they are obviously not the one harming or corrupting Saudi. there are bigger problems in the world people !!

Abayas and the 'Religious' police
Posted by SS, Sharjah, UAE on Monday 29 September 2008 at 04:00 UAE time


Another addition to their 'How do we get attention now' list. Seriously, they should start looking for a better job than keeping women from wearing 'certain' kinds of abayas. Times are changing, trends are changing, preferences have already changed. They're just making enemies out of their own countrymen (and women).

It's time they accepted the maxim: The only constant thing is change.

Comment from a veiled but non-abaya wearing woman
Posted by Lamya, Dubai, UAE on Sunday 28 September 2008 at 21:43 UAE time

Oh my God... Are you for real?? All Muslim women must wear the abaya huh? Interesting. And in which verse of the Quran does it say that? So non-abaya wearing women are doomed. Seriously does that REALLY make sense to you???

So the posters here are "brainwashing"? HARDLY. Forget about ornaments, when you hear those who claim they're religious saying that the abaya must be worn over the head not on the shoulder, since the one on the shoulder shows (gasp!!) the shape of the shoulder, then you realize how seriously twisted that logic is!! That's what I call brainwashing.

View all comments (9) >>

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM