Saudi Cleric Says Women Shouldn’t be Forced to Wear Abayas

Moderate Islam in Saudi Arabia

If this continues, women will no longer have to be invisible in the Kingdom

© Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters

A Saudi cleric has said women should not be forced to wear the long cloak required by law in the conservative Gulf kingdom.

The abaya is a full length robe which women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear along with a headscarf when they are in public.  

Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, a member of the Kingdom’s religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars, made the comment on his radio program on Friday, Reuters reports. It’s a marked departure from the Kingdom’s strict dress code rules.

"More than 90 percent of pious Muslim women in the Muslim world do not wear abayas," Sheikh Mutlaq said on Friday. "So we should not force people to wear abayas."

While the statement doesn’t indicate the country will ease its dress code, it comes after the Kingdom has announced a number of reforms to give women more rights.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud announced last year that women would be allowed to drive for the first time, starting in June 2018. Riyadh also said it would lift a ban on cinemas, and women were allowed attend a limited number of football stadiums in January.

The reforms are said to be part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic plan to modernize the conservative monarchy and make it more attractive to foreign investors. The Council of Senior Scholars are appointed and paid by the government.

Prince Salman is probably putting pressure on the Council to enact reforms. His timing is perfect having just arrested many of the Kingdom's Princes and wealthiest men for corruption. The Council must feel somewhat threatened of being dismissed and losing what must be a considerable pay-check.

Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is predominantly Wahabbi, an ultra-conservative sect of Sunnis. I can't imagine these reforms are sitting well with many of the leaders of Wahabbism. I fear that when King Salman is close to death, his son may not be far from it himself.

The Kingdom currently operates under a strict guardianship program for women, which means they have to seek permission from a male relative for a wide range of activities, from travel to study. 

Although in recent years some Saudi women have started to wear colored abayas rather than the standard black, the dress code remains strict and is enforced by morality police. In 2016, a woman was arrested for taking her abaya off, and in July, video footage of a woman wearing a mini skirt in Ushaiger sparked outrage and resulted in her arrest. She was released without charge following international attention.

It isn’t just the women who are subjected to strict dress codes. Men must dress modestly, with their legs and shoulders covered. In 2016, 50 men were arrested for having “un-Islamic” haircuts and accessories. This came after the Kingdom stripped the morality police of their abilities to arrest people.

Iran too?

Sheikh Mutlaq’s comments come as the Kingdom’s regional rival Iran has seen an easing in its dress code for women. While women in Iran have long stretched the boundaries of the headscarf rule, Tehran’s police announced in December that morality police will no longer punish women not wearing the hijab.

Prominent Saudi Cleric: ‘Holocaust Denial is a Crime that Distorts History’

The New Moderate Face of Islam in Saudi Arabia

“We consider any denial of the Holocaust or minimizing of its effect a crime [that] distort[s] history and an insult to the dignity of those innocent souls who have perished,” a prominent Saudi cleric stated. 

By: The Tower and United with Israel Staff

In a historic move, the leader of the Muslim World League, a group based in Saudi Arabia, has condemned Holocaust denial as a “crime [that] distort[s] history and an insult to the dignity of those innocent souls who have perished.”

In a letter sent to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum last week, Dr. Muhammad bin abdel-Kareem Al-Issa, the secretary general of the Muslim World League, wrote that “history is indeed impartial no matter how hard forgers tried to tamper with or manipulate it.”

Al-Issa wrote the message, sent to museum director Sara Bloomfield, five days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day was marked on January 27.

Al-Issa also referred Holocaust denial as “an affront to us all since we share the same human soul and spiritual bonds.”

The cleric did not specify Jews as the principal victims of the Holocaust in his letter, but instead spoke of “this human tragedy perpetrated by evil Nazism” and “our great sympathy with the victims of the Holocaust, an incident that shook humanity to the core, and created an event whose horrors could not be denied or underrated by any fair-minded or peace-loving person.”

Al-Issa also expressed a willingness to visit the Holocaust museum the next time he visits Washington, D.C.

The Arab world is notorious for its Holocaust denial.

Al-Issa, a former justice minister, had taken over the Saudi-funded Muslim World League in 2016. The league has previously been known for propagating “a radical, hate-filled, anti-West, anti-Semitic version of Islam.”

Robert Satloff, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy,  speculated that Al-Issa’s appointment is a reflection of the reform movement led by the new crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, who has vowed to eradicate extremism in the kingdom.

Speaking in November, Al-Issa stated that “any act of violence or terrorism that tries to hide behind religion has no justification whatsoever, not even in Israel.”

Al-Issa has been vocally supportive of the reforms pushed by Bin Salman in his move to “fight extremist Islam.”

Erdogan Rejects ‘Moderate Islam’ as a Western Tool to Weaken Muslims

© Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters

The idea of ‘moderate Islam’ was invented by the West and is being used to weaken the ancient religion, Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan has said in reference to Saudi Arabia’s reforms, while also lashing out at the EU’s “discrimination” of Muslims.

Last month, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, vowed to restore “moderate” Islam to the kingdom considered to be "home" of the religion. The Gulf monarchy currently follows a Salafist or Wahhabi version of Islam that is often described as being "ultraconservative" and administered through Islamic Sharia law. 

In what appears to be a direct reference to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Erdogan denounced a “moderate” interpretation of Islam in a speech delivered at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Women’s Advisory Council on Friday.

“The term ‘moderate Islam’ is being lathered up again. The patent of moderate Islam belongs to the West. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam; Islam is one. The aim of using such terms is to weaken Islam,” Erdogan said in Ankara.

“Perhaps the person voicing this concept thinks it belongs to him. No, it does not belong to you,” he added, recalling, that he was “asked about ‘moderate Islam’ at meetings in the European Parliament many years ago.”

The thrust of Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030, is to socially transform the Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam, which bans gender mixing, concerts and cinemas. Starting in the summer of next year, women in Saudi Arabia will be permitted to drive. In the new year, women would also be allowed to attend sporting events as the monarchy continues to usher in its liberalization reforms.

Last month the Prince unveiled a plan to construct a $500-billion state of the art city across its borders into Jordan and Egypt. The new mega-city is to be erected with the aim of diversifying the Arab country’s economy and reducing its dependency on oil.

Riyadh’s reforms have been accompanied by a massive anti-corruption drive, which saw a purge of the kingdom’s political and business elite, including 11 princes. The kingdom’s closest ally, the US, has welcomed the campaign, with President Donald Trump saying those arrested had been “milking their country for years”.

“They say we will return to moderate Islam, but they still don’t give women the right to drive. Is there such a thing in Islam? I guess they will give this right when they turn to the moderate one,” Erdogan noted Friday.

The Turkish president also lashed out against the EU for approving a series of so-called “burka bans” introduced in recent years, calling it a “discrimination against Muslim women.”

"Headscarves are gradually being banned in EU states with the public - personal space trick, attempting to bar Muslim women from entering social life. Attempts to incarcerate Muslim women in their homes is spreading like a virus," Erdogan said.

Traditional Islamic head and face coverings have long been controversial in Europe, where they are often seen as incompatible with secular values. France became the first European country to impose a ban on full-face coverings in 2011. Belgium followed suit shortly thereafter. German MPs approved a partial ban on full-face veils this April, saying it’s the country’s duty to present itself “in an ideologically and religiously neutral manner.” Austria’s parliament also endorsed a package of measures that outlaws distribution of the Koran and wearing traditional Islamic full-face veils in public.

"Those who are teaching us lessons on human rights are unfortunately applauding as the most basic human rights are being trampled in their countries," said Erdogan.