OK, it’s back to confusion time in Saudi Arabia…

The head of the Mecca branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice went on record last week, pointing out that Saudis had followed a wrong path that seemingly equated the sin/crime of khulwa, improper seclusion with a member of the opposite sex, with ikhtilat, simple social mixing of the sexes in benign environments. As this story from Saudi Gazette reports, Sheikh Al-Ghamdi’s remarks met with favorable public reaction though unquestionably there was negative reaction, too. Further, the Minister of Justice has publicly supported Al-Ghamdi’s opinion. It has not gone unnoticed that if Al-Ghamdi’s interpretation is to stand, it undercuts much of the function of the Haya.

Hai’a chief’s ‘ikhtilat’ interview welcomed
‘Overwhelming support’ seen for Al-Ghamdi’s views

RIYADH – The recent interview given by the Makkah head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) on the subject of the mixing of sexes – “ikhtilat” – has provoked an overwhelmingly positive response, according to Al-Arabiya news network.

“The term ‘ikhtiliat’ in this usage is a recent adoption that was unknown to the early people of knowledge,” Sheikh Ahmad Al-Ghamdi said in a lengthy interview with Okaz, reproduced in last Friday’s Saudi Gazette. “Mixing used to be part of normal life for the Ummah and its societies.”

Al-Ghamdi said that “the word in its contemporary meaning has entered customary jurisprudential terminology from outside,” adding that “those who prohibit the mixing of the genders actually live it in their real lives, which is an objectionable contradiction, as every fair-minded Muslim should follow Shariah judgments without excess or negligence.”

“In many Muslim houses – even those of Muslims who say mixing is haram – you can find female servants working around unrelated males,” Al-Ghamdi said, before citing numerous ahadeeth – sayings of the Prophet – to support his position.
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But now, rumors swirl through the country, reporting that Al-Ghamdi has been sacked, replaced by the Haya chief from Hail. Is it rumor, or is the grapevine performing quicker than the bureaucracy? Are the ones who are happy with the confusion between khulwa and ikhtilat pushing back, and with sufficient leverage to get Al-Ghamdi fired?

If so, their actions raise the question: Why? Who gains by enforcing a social rule (confused with a religious rule) that keeps half of the population out of the workplace, doubles the cost of most public functions, and inconveniences the entire population to one degree or other?

Saudi Gazette/Okaz report on the rumors.

Al-Ghamdi’s status unclear; rumors of dismissal abound
Majed Al-Mafdhali

MAKKAH – Confusion reigns over the status of Makkah Hai’a chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Ghamdi with website rumors and telephone text message services insisting Tuesday that he had been removed from his post as President of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) in Makkah following his interview with Okaz earlier in the week.

The interview, reproduced by Saudi Gazette last Friday, witnessed Al-Ghamdi praise the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and make declarations on the subject of the mixing of genders – “ikhtilat” – which raised the eyebrows of many observers.

The source of rumors concerning his dismissal appears to have been prompted by the presence over the last two days of Taif Hai’a chief Abdulrahman Al-Juhani in Al-Ghamdi’s office in Makkah, and a reported confrontation between the two over who was the rightful occupant.
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