The Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

It was bound to happen eventually.

Last weekend I was approached by the Mutawwa, or a Mutawwa's wife to be exact. She harassed for about five minutes about the need for me to cover my hair. I was at Sparky's, the ride/arcade area, in Dhahran Mall with the boys. We met Julia there for a fun outing with the kids during the sjmal.

Her face was completely covered, even her eyes. "Excuse me," she said as I was helping Jake feed his precious tickets in the ticket-counting machine. "You need to cover your hair."

I glanced over at her and took in the black fabric from head to toe, including black socks with sandals and black gloves. Ignoring her, I turned my attention back to Jake and his frustration with a bent ticket.

"You need to cover your hair." Pause.

"You NEED to cover your hair." Pause.

"Why are you ignoring me? I know you speak English and I know you are hearing me." Her English was very clear, and indeed, I heard every word she said.

As politely and controlled as I could, I told her that I didn't need to cover my hair because I am not Muslim. She rather forcefully told me that in this country they have "regulations" and that I need to cover my hair.

I disagreed again with her and as she continued her rant, she started to make a call. That's when I started to become unhinged. Who was she calling? What were they going to do? Should I call someone? What should I do? Steve was not with me, would they try to take me somewhere? What about the boys?

I decided the best thing to do would be to leave immediately. I tapped the "print receipt" button and dragged Jake away from the machine, doing my best to explain to him why we were leaving before he had a chance to finish feeding the tickets in. His protests weren't loud enough to drowned out her Arabic telephone conversation behind us. Thankfully she didn't try to follow us.

We zigzagged through the arcade, eventually finding Julia in the far corner. Shakily, I told her what happened. She was incredulous that this was only the first time it's happened, but nonetheless gave me a big hug and told me not to worry. According to law, it's up to a woman's guardian, i.e. her husband or father, to decide how modest she should be in public: cover only her hair, everything but her eyes, her entire head or nothing at all.

So who are these Mutawwa, and why do they have the right to come up to us and harass us? The Mutawwa are basically the religious police here in Saudi. I have referred to them before, but you probably thought I was joking - unfortunately they really do exist. And their job is the enforcement of Sharia law (Islamic rules). Some volunteer for the job, but most are appointed by the" Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice." That seriously exists - I could not make this stuff up.

Sharia covers nearly every aspect of day-to-day life, including politics, family, social issues, economics, banking, business and even gets specific and personal with laws concerning hygiene, which side to pin your head scarf, intermingling of sexes, diet, etc. In some Muslim societies, obedience of the law is the choice of the individual. But not in Saudi. Here, the Mutawwa patrol the cities, looking for restaurants that admit diners during prayer time, unmarried couples being together without her guardian (father or brother), stores with Valentine's merchandise, women not properly dressed...just to give a few examples. The religious laws and civil laws are totally intertwined.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah (yes, that is his official title) just last week appointed a women to a deputy minister position, the highest government position a women has attained. In addition, he dismissed the Chief of the Mutawwa and replaced him with someone they say is a bit more moderate. Some say reform is coming, coming slowly but coming.

In jest I asked Steve last night if he wants me to cover my hair or face in public. He said no. That's probably a good thing...I wasn't going to anyway.