8 November 2007

Those 'hot' Camels

I'm amazed at the rulings some of the extreme clerics in our region come out with. Obviously having run out of new fatwas (ie, religious law) to make the country even more dull, a leading Saudi cleric has come out with what he believes is the new 'evil':

Saudi cleric condemns camel beauty contests as evil
8 November, 2007

RIYADH (Reuters) - A leading authority of Saudi Arabia's hardline school of Islam has condemned camel beauty contests as evil, saying those involved should seek repentance in God.

Camel pageants have become major events in the desert kingdom in recent years as tribes hold ever larger competitions, with bigger prizes and wider publicity.

Ok, so far the Saudi clerics have managed to wipe out any part of the female body appearing anywhere in public, made it illegal for males to walk alone in any area that is allowed for families, made it compulsary to be praying come prayer time and if found doing otherwise you would be arrested, and so the list goes on. But now, they've managed to push the limits. I can picture their train of thoughts:

" Camel Beauty Contests. Ah yes. The big infidels. We cannot allow this propostourous act to happen, and in public! No! What if they turn people on! Oh dear God, we must take this into our own hands, and disallow the gracious, lucious bodies of camels to be paraded around like that! We MUST ban this! And yes, those camels, we have to have them covered when they go out in public!"

Ah phooey. And you wonder why the country never evolves.

...Continued...
Delicate females or strapping males which attract the right attention during a show can sell for more than a million riyals (127,000 pounds). Sponsors spent 10 million riyals on prizes for one competition this year.

"Everyone must repent of these acts from which no good can come because of its evils, and they should beg forgiveness from God," said a fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this week by Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak and a lesser-known sheikh.

"Millions of riyals are spent on buying camels just to feel proud and not for the reasons God created camels, like for food, drink, riding and work," he said, attacking the contests as a backward tribal custom from pre-Islamic Arabia.

Commentators have pointed to camel contests as a sign of increasing tribal pride, seen as a threat to stability in the kingdom established by the Saudi royal family in 1932.

14 comments:

SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

Oh my...no comment on this one. lol!

Anonymous said...

Oh, yeah, these things happen all the time in Saudi!
I don't agree on beauty contest on camels though! I mean Why??!!
There's no need for fatwas for this kind of thing, it should simply be stopped for the sheer amounts of money spent on silly things such as beautifying a camel! which is wrong. But I guess some ppl don't get it until it's an official fatwa!
BTW, I have nothing against Saudi Arabia so don't get me wrong here.

Anonymous said...

lol ! .... .... just left some camel toe's .... i was here !

Woozie said...

Well, the question begs to be asked...why have camel beauty contests in the first place? Tribal pride okay, but...why not some other kind of contest. Like playing Limbo!

C'est la vie!! said...

woooooooooowwwwww, I am left speechless...well, maybe...uhmm...that guy holding the camel is HAWT!!!!

i*maginate said...

This is really bad news for my ex, an animal lover. The camel contest was the only way for him to remain together with the beautiful humps he ran off with.

Aisha said...

oh
my

god

Shwaish said...

ma biga shay lano gal 5al in7awil 3ala il camels! wala a7is aish hal fathawa, i still remember when i found out that someone 7aram libs il bra's, my god!!

Manutdfanatic said...

Heheh. Well, hate to contradict you Ammar, buttttt...they pretty much summarised WHY they're condemning camel beauty contests: "Commentators have pointed to camel contests as a sign of increasing tribal pride, seen as a threat to stability in the kingdom established by the Saudi royal family in 1932."...and, to me, that makes a lot of sense.

I agree that competition can be healthy at times, but this kind doesn't seem like the type.

Ammaro said...

manutd; sure, thats what it said in the article... BUT... this excuse has nothing to do with muslim clerics and so i think they're covering up the real reason, which is worrying about people falling in love with camels.

or something.

why would they restrict them?!

ACTUALLY, WHY WOULD THEY HAVE THESE COMPETITIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE!??!?!

Bluh.

KJ said...

blasphemous camels!

Moody Crab said...

Why am I not surprised/disappointed?

eshda3wa said...

yes ofcourse makes sense

i mean i can totally see how camels are causing instability and mite eventually lead to a revolt.

Its not like theres anything wrong in the country and everyone is happy and no one is complaining, so why allow something as dangerous and extremely thought provoking thing such as a camel competition when they can just continue living in peace.

definitely makes major sense

(what the haiiiiil)

Anonymous said...

I'm speechless... we've lost the purpose of our lives and have come to this... The CAMEL BEAUTY CONTEST... Astaghfirullah... I'm depressed!
There's MORE to life... we need to get out from those stupid circles that we've created around us thinking that life cannot transcend beyond it. Look around you... LOOK AND SEEE