It seems like the Kingdom is going through a stage right now of saber rattling by the Muttawa. These past few weeks there have been a number of increased incidents with the muttawa being more aggressive. The most widely known is the rendition of the American passport holder at Starbucks which is under continued investigation by the Saudi government towards determining if wrongdoing occurred on the part of the muttawa.
If you are not aware of the above, please see http://delhi4cats.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/religious-police-arrest-american-woman-married-to-saudi-for-sitting-with-unrelated-man/ where I posted earlier on this subject. The Muttawa have since provided a public rebuttal stating not surprisingly that they were entirely within their rights.
Other incidents include an increase where Western women at popular shopping malls are being approached by muttawa and told to cover their hair. Now remember, covering in the Kingdom is more of a cultural vice religious mandate (although there will also be a percentage who will advise that if you are muslim it is required to cover your hair). Therefore it is aggressive on the part of the muttawa to approach western women in particular and ask them to cover when they are in modern popular shopping malls.
Another incident brought to my attention was learning that a successful woman owned business was also raided by the Muttawa. This is a reputable business which has never made any attempt to circumvent rules and regulations of the Kingdom or try to sell any questionable goods or products. Again, this incident seems to point towards the muttawa wanting to show citizens that in spite of the negative reports released by the Human Rights Commission that it still has power, control and will use both.
It is true the muttawa can appear imposing and are threatening. Just some reminders though, a muttawa should always be accompanied by a policeman. They will have credentials. They will also have an official vehicle. If a muttawa is by himself this could either be a man masquerading as a muttawa or perhaps an ‘off-duty’ muttawa.
It saddens me that when a woman is approached by a muttawa, most times she will do what is necessary to appease him and get relief from the hassle. This is understandable but at the same time it strengthens the will of the muttawa that they are serving a viable purpose.
And another aspect which I do not as yet understand is that while there has been significant progress made in women’s rights and other reforms since King Abdullah has come into power at the same time, since he has come into power, the muttawa have been doubled. If someone can explain why this is so and has happened, I would be appreciative.
This is part I of Saber Rattling. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post which will apprise what are the woman’s rights if accosted by the Muttawa.
Filed under: culture, gender, islam, politics, relationships, religion, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel, Uncategorized
Oh, no! Can we apply that perennial bit of cultural wisdom, “The more things change, the more they stay the same,”? Since I am no longer living in the Kingdom, I can now smile at my own close encounters of the third kind. You do have my sympathy, however.
Someone once told me never to speak to a muttawa, even if a muttawa speaks to you. The rationale is that if you don’t speak to them, their ability to harrass you is curtailed. Well, I tried that tactic, and it resulted in one of more frightening experiences of my life. I’ll have to write about it one of these days.
Hi! Actually I haven’t been harrassed by them in the longest time and when I mean longest I mean longest. I had a close encounter with a creep though of which I wrote on John’s blog. Your question about the doubling of the mutawwa…well I don’t know the answers either… Are you sure they have been doubled? If I do see them occasionally they are nearly invisible…but it could be I am frequenting VIP places owned by VIP people
Maybe we will find out one day soon?
I am sure they have been doubled based on discussions with officials from within various government ministries.
Mahram – please do tell about your experience and what others need to know from it!
Carol, have you yourself experience any bad encounter with them? Do they actually target the women only? Based on whatever I have read so far from other sources, it seems that the men are not so keenly been targeted by them.
Carol, just wanted to share this update with you on the case:
http://arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=106979&d=20&m=2&y=2008
I am soon to return to Saudi, and already giving lots o’ ear to inside affairs.
Hanie – thankfully I have never had an encounter with them. I have seen them a few times while out and about such as in the various malls.
Aysha – that’s great news you will be returning to Saudi!
I’ve posted my best muttawa story on my blog.
Excellent…we all must check it out!