AFP Photo/Fayez Nureldine (think IN pictures @1WORLD Community)
SitiWanMahani - Pihak berkuasa agama Arab Saudi memberi amaran bakal berpesta ter-hadap meraikan Malam Tahun Baru dalam kerajaan Islam yang kebanyakannya Sunni sebanyak 30 juta orang, laporan media tempatan.
Amaran itu telah disampaikan oleh Suruhanjaya Penggalakan Kebaikan dan Pencegahan Naib (CPVPV), agensi kerajaan yang menggunakan “polis agama” atau Mutawa untuk menguatkuasakan Undang-undang Syariah di dalam negara Islam.
CPVPV berasaskan amarannya pada fatwa diturunkan daripada jawatankuasa elit ulama Arab yang melarang sambutan itu, Okaz tempatan melaporkan setiap hari. Arab Saudi berikut kalendar lunar Islam, tidak seperti negara-negara Teluk lain yang menggunakan kalendar Gregory.
Walaupun pada rondaan, yang Mutawa menguatkuasakan beberapa peraturan, termasuk memeriksa bahawa wanita memakai Abaya yang . . . pakaian jubah seperti hitam, menguatkuasakan peraturan bagi wanita tidak-memandu, dan memastikan bahawa dadah tidak diniagakan. Polis agama juga melarang penjualan mawar merah dan hadiah untuk Hari Valentine pada 14 Februari.
Pada bulan November, Mutawa menahan 2 lelaki di ibu negara Riyadh untuk menawarkan pelukan percuma. Dilaporkan, pihak polis bertindak balas kepada aduan daripada keluarga tempatan dan individu tentang tindakan lelaki. Kedua-dua terpaksa menan-datangani ikrar bahawa mereka tidak akan menawarkan pelukan percuma lagi.
Cancel your New Year’s Eve festivities, Saudi
religious police warn . . .
Saudi Arabia's religious authorities have warned would-be revelers against celebrating New Year's Eve in the predominantly Sunni Muslim kingdom of 30 million people, local media report.
The warning was delivered by the Commission of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), the government agency that employs "religious police" or Mutawa to enforce Sharia Law inside the Islamic nation.
The CPVPV based its warning on a religious edict handed down from the elite committee of Saudi clerics that forbids such celebrations, the local Okaz daily reported. Saudi Arabia follows the Muslim lunar calendar, unlike all other Gulf states that use the Gregorian calendar.
While on patrol, the Mutawa enforce a number of rules, which include checking that women wear the abaya, a black, robe-like dress, enforcing the no-driving rule for females, and ensuring that drugs are not being traded. The religious police also forbid the sale of red roses and gifts for Valentine's Day on February 14.
In November, Mutawa arrested two men in the capital of Riyadh for offering free hugs. Reportedly, the police reacted to the complaints of local families and individuals about the men's actions. The two had to sign a pledge that they would not offer free hugs ever again.
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