Saudi Gazette catches up with a Crossroads Arabia commenter [Way to go Sandy!] and reports that the Mecca head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has not been fired and that the man supposed to be his replacement is, in fact, his newly-assigned deputy.

That the rumor took hold is a telling fact, I think. It demonstrates that many Saudis find it believable that the promoting of ‘mixing’ in public areas should be punished. Speaking of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Al-Ghamdi publicly stated that those who thought social mixing of the sexes in public was criminal under Shariah law were simply mistaken. He pointed out that men and women have mixed for business purposes since the days of the Prophet. Ahadith that ostensibly banned such mixing, he said, were of weak isnad. If this takes hold, it should lighten the workload of many of the religious police who spend (waste) their time running around looking for transgressors.

I’m glad the rumor proved false. The cultural ban, cloaked falsely in religion, exacts a tremendous price on both individuals and the state. It’s certainly time to get rid of it.

Hai’a spokesman: Al-Ghamdi rumors completely untrue

RIYADH – Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) in Makkah, has not been dismissed from his post, contrary to rumors circulating over the past three days.

Sheikh Al-Ghamdi’s controversial comments on the subject of gender segregation in an interview with Okaz, reproduced by Saudi Gazette last Friday, led to the speculation, speculation which was exacerbated by the reported appearance in Al-Ghamdi’s office of the Hai’a chief for Taif, Abdulrahman Al-Juhani, purportedly to replace him.

The national spokesman for the Hai’a, however, spoke to Al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday to put the issue to bed.

“What has been going around are just rumors and bear not the slightest truth,” spokesman Abdul Mohsen Al-Qaffari told Al-Watan. “The Hai’a presidency has made no move related to the head of its branch in Makkah.”
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On the topic of KAUST, Arab News reports that the admission window for the 2010 academic year has now opened. More information is available at the KAUST website.