29 September 2008

Sorry! Can't wear that!

When does it start getting too much? When does it start pushing the boundaries of religion and common sense, and just moves into the territory of plain stupidity? Well, for Saudi Arabia, that line has probably been crossed so long ago, no one remembers it even existed.

We all know the Saudi system is a bit on the extreme side, but somehow just as the world starts to think that maybe, just maybe, things in the country will start to improve, they come out with new rules and laws that assures us that the country will remain in the dark ages for quite a while.

We understand the extreme side to interpreting religion; so you want to cover up your women and make sure that the smallest area of flesh doesn't show. We get that. You don't want your women to drive, so that they don't go out alone, either to be flirted with, or to have the power to go wherever they want whenever they want (obviously to flirt with guys). We get that too. We get all of your other stupid and nutty rules, not through logic or common sense, but through endless exposure to them. But one thing I don't understand, is this new rule;


Saudi religious police in abaya crackdown


Saudi Arabia's religious police are cracking down on adorned abayas in the run-up to Eid Al-Fitr and have threatened shopkeepers with fines and even prison for selling the black robes with any form of decoration.

Shopkeepers in the kingdom's capital Riyadh said they are having to turn away customers, many of whom are looking to buy more fashionable abayas with patterned, beaded or colourful trim, the UK's Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Decorative abayas are becoming increasingly popular in the Gulf as women's dress codes are relaxed. However the liberalisation, though only slight, has angered some conservatives...


Full Article

Now let's try and get some thing straight here; women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to dress up in anything but a black robe, have to cover their hair and face, and so that's totally destroyed all chances for women to have any sort of personality. Now the only small personalization they're actually able to do, is put a few basic designs on their abaya (which aren't really very extravagant) and now even that's being taken away from them?

What do you expect them to do? Give them no other choice to do anything in their lives? There are some serious issues here with the current state of Islam, and not just Saudi Arabia; the phrase of the year (or the past few years to be exact) seems to be "ban it". If they don't like it, they ban it; whether it's a TV show, a type of clothing, or anything else.

There's something very flawed with this theory. When you ban something, without providing something else to replace it, you get a void. When you ban something else, again without a replacement, you get a bigger void, and so on and so forth until there's a ridiculously huge void in people's lives, which they start to fill with negative actions. Want proof? Just watch some of the Saudi's that cross over the causeway to greet us on weekends.

What's wrong with the religion of Islam nowadays, is the extremist nuts that sit at the top. Somehow we need to eliminate those from coming up with ridiculous rules and laws, but whose to stop them without them using their "you're going against Islam" card?

Complex problem. Anybody got a solution?

15 comments:

PaLoMiNo said...

allaah ya zeeen derty ;p

el7mdela until now ma 3indna hal sher6a ;p

o alla eykoon eb 3oonhom

Anonymous said...

i guess the problem is with the people who follow them without thinking.
even here!

Abid said...

"the phrase of the year (or the past few years to be exact) seems to be "ban it"".

I think that is the rule of the century for SA, and as it seems, the next century also.

I like how you compared it to the void.

Dr. Shale bin Agnon said...

1. Funny that they can still make themselves look desirable with the stylised eye make-up. Watch for a ban on that.
2. Give that there is nothing inherently sexual about a decorated piece of cloth, the purpose instead seems to be to make women invisible, by removing their personalities, as you said.

Fatema Abuidrees said...

omg, this is soo sad! like wtf? this isnt going to go on for long.

I say in 20 years time, Saudis oil resourses will run out, and Saudi Arabia will dissolve into its original state. A land of bedouin clans. Once Saudi will have lost its power, a revoloution will happen from the people. That is the only way things will change. "God does not change a people, unless they change themselfes".

i pray to god that things will get better for Saudi, becasue it really breaks my heart to see it this way.

Anonymous said...

i don't know if Saudi Arabia is ready to be 'liberated' like the other gulf countries. what they need is slow, gradual change. i think this way things will work better in Saudi. many creative minds come from there, & many have excelled widely. if given a little break, & i'm talking about women specially here, i believe they will be able to do something great! not only for Saudi, but world wide.

some things are actually changing for the better as you said. hopefully this will continue. it is about time the Saudi women take on their role in the development of their country & in building their worthy place in this world.

Fatema Abuidrees said...

I just came across this qute moments ago, and i beleive it to fit nicely with the topic here, your asking for a solution? Well here it is:

C. Write. Mills was quoted:

"Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose."

Saudi deserves the chance to formulate its codes of freedom as it pleases, and take the time to do do, lets grant it this freedom.

Woozie said...

You gonna get yourself banned if you keep talking like that.

Jundi said...

"Now let's try and get some thing straight here; women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to dress up in anything but a black robe, have to cover their hair and face ..."

dude thats not true .. theres plenty of hair and face walking around in saudi

soso said...

i dunno where did u get this article .. but i do live here .. and it's not completely true .. you should come here and see the abayas women are wearing nowadays lol .. you should see mine too :P i don't think there's anything more colorful than my abaya lol .. and i can wear it wherever i want .. no one talks to me or anything

soso said...
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soso said...
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Mohammed Almedallah said...

The Saudi Police does not bring things up from their own minds. They follow what Allah and the prophet Mohammed ( Peace be upon him) have told them to do.

However, when you see women wear colorful abayas, this does not necessarily mean what they are doing is right. In fact, they are doing exactly the opposite.

The purpose of the abaya is to cover what might attract the other gender's focus. Therefore, eye liner or colorful abayas are considered as " going-out-of-sunna" act.

Ammaro said...

jundi; there are areas in saudi that are a bit more liberal, such as jeddah, khobar, etc, but the extreme side of it is ridiculous. also, even when liberal (comparatively), the restrictions are still pretty tight.

mohammed; sure, and again, Allah and prophet Mohammed (pbuh) told us that we should keep women at home, restrict them from driving, not give them jobs, and make sure they're invisible to all mankind. HOkaY dude. You keep believing what you want to believe.

Anonymous said...

make sure their invisible to all NON-MA7RAMS.

wow, it's evident from the comments on this post: them bas****s have successfully brainwashed muslim youth! one straight up comment, and that too..mocked at.