Financial Times has this piece on how the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is tying to reassert its authority in Riyadh by going after the shopkeepers and merchants selling non-traditional abayas. Over the past few years, many Saudi women have shaken off uniformity of the black, all-encompassing abaya by choosing more fitted and decorated apparel. This has Commission members upset. As some powers have been taken away from the Commission, the religious police are trying to get some power back by hassling those who can’t or won’t fight back.
Saudi religious police get tough on fashion
Abeer Allam in RiyadhIn an attempt to reassert their power, Saudi Arabia’s religious police have ordered shopkeepers in downtown Riyadh to get rid of all adorned abayas, the black robes worn by women in the kingdom, as shopping picks up ahead of the Eid religious holidays next week.
Salesmen in Al-Maagaliah market, just across the block from the headquarters of the religious police, or mutawa’a, this week were turning away frustrated shoppers who wanted abayas with a hint of colour or decoration, telling them that shopowners could face fines or prison.
In recent years, the signature flowing robe that covers Saudi women from head to toe started to show some form with trimmed sleeves, beads or colour, a sign of relaxation of the strict social norms in the conservative kingdom.
Though the changes were subtle, abayas provoked a tug of war between the liberal voices lobbying to give women more choice and conservative religious institutions determined to impose their austere ways through the religious police.
…
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
September:29:2008 - 21:24
It is nice to know that the Muttawa are doing their part in protecting the virtue of their menfolk by forcing women to dress in black sacks.
Wouldn’t it be simpler to just put blinders on men every time they are in public? Surely that way there could be no temptation.
September:29:2008 - 21:28
Or simply pluck their eyes out…
September:29:2008 - 23:25
It is simply not true. Even at the more muttawa-friendly shops like at Taiba on Olaya, they are openy selling fancy colorful abayas. This is exactly like the big hoop-la they did on the ban on dogs. I went to two pet shops in Riyadh this week and they are still selling dogs. My neighbor has a dog and almost every night he’s outside with the dog and his son. I haven’t asked him whether or not he takes his dog to the mall but still…
September:30:2008 - 02:58
The women must always suffer due to the lack of control and sense of the Saudi men…
September:30:2008 - 07:10
Geez, these religious police are just no fun at all!
September:30:2008 - 09:10
Eman: Thanks for your input. It’s good to know that the oppressive rulings are not being enforced. But that then raises the question: Why bother with the rulings in the first place?
September:30:2008 - 17:39
Thank you for bringing this up…
October:03:2008 - 09:11
The battle of the abayas…been there!
Good question at the end of the piece. Why do they force us to wear black in such a hot country?
I finally won ground to wear a somewhat decorative abaya but that was after having one literally ripped and torn off my body by my husband!
He felt bad and did up taking it to the taylor for me but it was never the same nor was I!
I can not emphasize enough how relieved I am to be back in the good old USA where there is less struggle for such basic freedoms and modes of self expression…..
October:03:2008 - 13:58
Sparky, do you really need to ask? Ask walking fintah you shouldn’t be out of the house anyway, and just to make sure you are really uncomfortable, you are being made to wear searingly hot, black rayon, and an unnatural amount of it. That way you have the choice: either you go out in your black shroud, taking the chance of dying of heatstroke, or: Stay safely indoors where you should be anyway.
So how awfully decorated was your abaya? were there some glittering beads? Some shockingly coloured embroideries?
October:03:2008 - 15:33
It had no color just a few sequence and like a bit of a lacy sleeve but nothing sexy. He told me to take it off and he was going to keep it. I said “NO!” and he came for me and I ran all the way upstairs into the bedroom while he ripped the back and ripped it off of me as I clung to it. I was “Hey that is nearly 2,000 SAR”. He was like I don’t care if it was 10,000. Like I said he fixed it but I was still mad. These mutawas make “normal” men crazier than they already are………………
I got him back by ripping the pockets of his thobe. They rip off rather easily for the ladies out there who might want to try it one day. They are not very flammible though
Tried that too LOL
October:03:2008 - 19:02
Sparky; I am slowly starting to get the impression that your married life is the stuff long lasting soaps can only dream of!!!
Rofl!!!!
October:03:2008 - 21:47
I would agree Aafke ROFL…never lack of entertainment…
Did someone say that a satellite is needed for such drama LOL
October:03:2008 - 22:44
Sparky:
Never mind Noor! You should put webcams in your house and stream live the arguments over fancy abayas. It would be greatest hit show:)
October:03:2008 - 22:59
Hi olivetheoil…
It would be a quite interesting show indeed
However, I am just chillin now in the USA…out here grinding with DJ Khaled…(that is a song btw…in case you missed my previous posts a while back)
Did I mention that I have thrown face covers out the window and kicked out windshields?
May God Help Me!
October:04:2008 - 01:49
I was wondering if ‘soap opera’ was the right genre. I was sort of going toward ‘murder mystery’, myself. If not that, then surely ‘Cops’.
October:04:2008 - 10:03
It could end up that way…if not put in check from time to time
I would say cops sums it up well at times….
Previously it loomed on murder mystery from both sides…My sis who loves those cold cases and other shows was convinced that I was slowly being poisoned!
Mysterious deaths are quite common among the young and healthy in KSA…that is for those who are passive aggressive but I find myself at the other end of the spectrum of quite demonstrative A DEMONNNNN
October:04:2008 - 17:23
Well, I just wanted to express my wish of being able to enjoy the show! Must be quite something!
I’ve heard that before: that there are a large number of mysterious deaths amongst young people. Those who aren’t docile???
For example the lady-blogger who recently died, Hadeel: Very weird just going into a coma and die and nobody seems to think that’s very odd…
That is really scary!
October:04:2008 - 17:35
Ditto Aafke….
I agree more than 100% something indeed was wrong with that story about Hadeel and you know what…families will cover things up even if it is their loved ones who were the victims.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT????
People just walk around saying might say “Supanallah” but then after that dig a little deeper and ask more questions.
That is really really really really really scary Aafke!!!
October:04:2008 - 17:43
John, I can’t believe it, but I believe you: it really freaks me out thinking about it! I don’t care it’s in another country far away, it really freaks me out!!!
Can you give me links where I can find more info? I want to write about it.
October:04:2008 - 17:51
Oh, that’s Sparky, sorry, it’s because my mail said the comment was from John.
October:04:2008 - 20:33
Religious police in the Western world? mama mia!
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/12/teen-in-skimpy-dress-1.html