Archive: saudi arabia
11th November 2010
I have written an article for Comment Is Free which pulls together various strands from the Saudi story of the fatwa against female cashiers in supermarkets (which I reported here earlier). My Cif article adds some analysis and discusses the wider implications of the affair for Saudi Arabia.
As… Read more
8th November 2010
Considering the general preoccupation with religion in Saudi Arabia, you might think the kingdom has more than enough people willing and able to teach the Qur'an. Not so, according to Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Hanafy, chairman of the Charitable Society for Holy Qur'an Memorisation in the Mecca… Read more
7th November 2010
It looks as though Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti and other top religious scholars in the kingdom have done themselves more harm than good by rushing out a fatwa last week which forbade women from working "in a place where they intermingle with men" (i.e. at the tills in supermarkets).
As I mentioned… Read more
3rd November 2010
Saudi Arabia's most senior religious scholars have set themselves at odds with government policy – perhaps deliberately – by issuingtheir fatwa about working women last Sunday.
The fatwa, signed by the Grand Mufti and six other top clerics, forbids women from working "in a place where they… Read more
3rd November 2010
Rizana Nafeek, the Sri Lankan maid who was convicted of murdering a four-month-old child in Saudi Arabia, has just over two weeks to live. Arab News reports that she will be executed after Eid al-Adha (November 16).
Ms Nafeek, who is reportedly unaware of her death sentence, was 17 at the time of… Read more
2nd November 2010
Back in August, the Saudi king issued a decree banning unauthorised fatwas. In future, the only fatwas allowed would come from scholars of his own choosing. The idea, as stated at the time, was to put a stop to "strange" and "obsolete" fatwas.
Well, the official, royally-approved scholars charged… Read more
31st October 2010
I haven't seen this reported anywhere in English, but an Arabic website says a prominent journalist in al-Qassim region of Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to two months in jail, plus 50 lashes, for "inciting" people to protest about power cuts outside an electricity company. The website does not… Read more
29th October 2010
Saudi Arabia's religious police – the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice – have reported a 20% drop in the number of cases they handled since last year, saying this is due to a "fear of negative media portrayal".
The often-thuggish behaviour of the religious police… Read more
28th October 2010
Following yesterday's story about the Saudi "morality queen" contest – won by Zainab al-Khatam, who dutifully stays at home "taking care of her family" – here's the other side of the coin.
Twenty-nine-year-old Samar Badawi has just been released after spending seven months in jail for "disobeying… Read more
27th October 2010
The annual Queen of Beautiful Morals contest in Saudi Arabia, where contestants are chosen not for their appearance but their commitment to "traditional" Saudi values, has been won by Zainab al-Khatam, a 24-year-old blind woman from Qatif.
Arab News says that since finishing at school, Ms Khatam… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
