Another story sure to warm the hearts of the majority of Saudis! Perhaps humiliation is the right punishment for young men hitting on—and humiliating—women. But dragging in religious precepts about ‘men emulating women’ because they have long hair? How about settling for ‘bad taste’?
Saudi governor orders haircuts for men who hit on women
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - A governor in northern Saudi Arabia has ordered authorities to punish men who flirt with women in public places by cutting their hair, local media said Tuesday.
Prince Fahd bin Badr, governor of the northern al-Jof region, ordered police to carry out the punishment after seeing a group of men with long hair pestering female students as they left school in the northern al-Qurayat province, Al-Hayat newspaper said.
It said the prince told a gathering at his palace in the northern town of Skaka on Sunday he has instructed police to apply the punishment to all youths guilty of flirting, including “the sons of senior military and civil officials.”
… Saudi Arabia has long imposed a strict Islamic lifestyle in which men and women are segregated in public. That lifestyle is enforced by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, a government body that runs the country’s powerful religious police.
Its members patrol public places to make sure women are covered and not wearing make up, the sexes don’t mingle, shops close five times a day for Muslim prayers and men go to the mosque and worship.
Many clergymen in this conservative Gulf country say men should not have long hair because Islam prohibits the sexes from emulating each other.
…
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
01:51,
This is bad news. I hope the governor comes to his senses. I do not want to see a repeat of the old practices of the commission, where they used to round young men all over the country for haircuts. I know many of my peers that had this happen to them in the 70’s, it left them humiliated and bitter for years.
05:24,
I remmeber that they use to do this sometiems here in Eastern Province… but then sometimes when u just get a complete haircut ppl start thinking tht the commmision members did it .. wht THAT is not the case
09:41,
My sister in law’s ex husband was dragged off the streets of Jeddah in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and given a haircut by the religious police. He has longer hair that some men then sported.
Odd, because they say that the prophet had longer hair and some extremists wear their hair that way because of it.
11:45,
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
04:33,
Longer hair on men is the trend now among young men in the Kingdom and it seems that many with authority consider cutting the hair or shaving the heads of these youth as a punishment is a fitting offense which will teach them a lesson. A few weeks ago Arab News also published an article how in a suburb outside of Riyadh youth were notoriously known for their joy-riding in cars. The local police would apprehend these youth and shave their heads as a form of punishment as well.
I’m not sure if this really teaches the right lesson to the youth. It seems to me that shaving the head in punishment might have the opposite effect such as instead of reform could make the youth go to the opposite end of the spectrum and become even more extreme or radical as resentment to the authority builds up.
American Bedh
08:09,
The right way of producing Saudi-skin-heads, just keep this up and boys will be shaving their own heads just out of defiance. And what to do then? forcibly make them grow hair?
08:18,
So I suppose the sunnah of shaving the head on Hajj is a punishment from God himself too. Interesting link I have made. I like your comment Aafke. It is actually a sunnah for males to have long hair. Hair seems to be an issue in this country. It is a hairy issue. Is that an expression?
I agree with you Carol. Personally I hate guys with long hair but if they like it then more power to them.
01:45,
By the way in all seriousness HAIR is a scary issue in relation to suicide bombers. I was joking when I said hair is an issue but it seems like it is a serious issue. I officially call on a ban on shaving men’s heads as punishment by the Government of Saudi Arabia! Can I officially call on anything heheheh
Follow the link and read HAIR Today Gone Tomorrow:
http://www.slate.com/id/2187383/