Amid unprecedented public debate in Saudi Arabia about gender segregation, the head of Mecca's religious police has complained that he and his family are suffering threats and verbal abuse – including accusations of atheism – as a result of his controversial views.

Ahmed al-Ghamdi caused a stir last December when, in an interview with Okaz newspaper [in Arabic], he challenged strict interpretations of Islamic rules on mixing of the sexes. He has also questioned the need for believers to attend congregational prayers.

Since then, according to Arab News, he has "been receiving continuous threats".

He said he has also received threatening SMS messages on his cell phone with some people calling him an infidel and an atheist. Meanwhile, others have been leaving messages on his car saying they want to kill him. Some other[s] have written abusive comments on the wall of his home. According to one website, some people have claimed that the Ghamdi tribe had disavowed him.

Saudiwoman's Weblog discusses some of the other repercussions of Ghamdi's remarks. Last month there were a number of false reports that he had been sacked from his post, including one posted on the religious police's own website which was later removed.

In today's Arab News report, Ghamdi seeks to clarify his views:

"What I said was that women are allowed to go out to meet their own needs and that of society while wearing a veil or a loose overcoat or any other decent dress without creating any suspicion or jostling with men, because they need to go out for education and work," he said.

"There is nothing wrong for women to go out for such purposes. It has been approved by the shariah and renowned scholars," he added.

The nub of the religious argument here is that ultra-conservatives fail to distinguish between chaste mixing of the sexes in public (ikhtilat) – which is permissible – and forbiddenkhulwa (or khalwa) which according to some definitions means people of the opposite sex being secluded together in "a place of privacy which is not usually accessible to others".

The National points out that other prominent Saudis have expressed similar views, including Muhammad al-Issa, the justice minister:

But Mr al Ghamdi’s remarks made bigger ripples because of his position with the commission, whose agents patrol malls, restaurants, universities and other public places to make sure men and women are not mingling.

The furore set off in conservative circles by Mr al-Ghamdi’s arguments is even more intense within the commission [the religious police], which is already coping with rising public criticism of its sometimes aggressive behaviour and with a fierce internal debate over its policies.

The political observer Abdullah al Shammary said that right now,“there is something like a revolution inside the commission. There are huge discussions about its role.”

Ghamdi's views on congregational prayer [in Arabic] have also stirred up debate about the closure of shops at prayer times – the enforcement of which is one of the religious police's most cherished activities.

Quoted in Arab News, he says he says he is not trying to discourage daily prayer in mosques, but "while emphasising the importance of congregational prayer I said we should not brand as infidels those who perform it at home with or without a reason. It should not be considered a sin but they will surely lose the reward of congregational prayer."

Public debates of this kind would have been inconceivable in Saudi Arabia just a few years ago, and there is little doubt that King Abdullah has decided to let them happen. How long Ghamdi will keep his job remains to be seen, because the forces of reaction are still strong. But the genie is now out of the bottle and the issues themselves will not go away.

Growing numbers of Saudis are beginning to recognise that the old ways are not sustainable in a modern world. The National says: 

Many outside experts believe that economic realities will be the most influential factor in breaking down sex segregation, especially as more women enter the job market. But in such a religious society it is important that social change be seen as compliant with Islam.

This is why the debates have to be conducted in religious terms. To outsiders, the actual arguments – relying as they do on citing various religous authorities – may seem obscure and even bizarre, but it is probably the only way that change can win public acceptance.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 May 2010.