A Senior cleric in Saudi : Women in Saudi Arabia are not obliged to wear abaya

News24xx.com - It is a common thing, that women in Saudi Arabia have many restrictions that must obey. Starting from not to wear minimal clothing, driving a car, until not to visit the gym.

Currently, women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear clothing that is strictly regulated by the rule of law in that country ie to use abayas. Women who do not wear abaya in places where they are seen by men, who do not have relationship with them, will get punishment from the religious police.

But over time, the rule began to erode. And most recently, a shocking rule was issued by a cleric in Saudi Arabia, ie an Arab's woman should not wear a loose abaya or robe to cover their bodies in public.

Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, a member of the Saudi cleric's board and also a senior cleric in the country, said women should not wear abayas, but they must dress modestly.

The statement comes amid a rolling out of the modernization movement in Saudi Arabia that marked the lifting a ban on women to driving vehicles and watching football at the stadium. This is the first time for a senior Saudi cleric has made such a statement, which could become the legal basis of the country in the future.

"Over 90% of pious women Muslim in the world, do not wear an abaya, so we should not force the women here to wear abayas too," Sheikh Mutlaq said on Friday, February 10, 2018.

The statement of Sheikh Mutlaq have generated mixed reactions in online media, some claiming to support and others to opposed.

Mutlaq considers that this policy have aim to giving more freedom to Saudi Arabian women, who face strict gender-segregation rules for many decades.

This discourse also reap criticism, one of them from a Twitter user, Mashari Ghamdi.

"Abaya is a tradition in our territories, and now it is applicable to all, it is not a matter of religion," he wrote.

Sheikh Mutlaq's statement is in line with the modernization efforts of Saudi society, which is part of a social reform plan that pioneered by Saudi Crown, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This reform effort has been marked by the lifting of the vehicle's driving ban for women in September 2017.

Currently, the Saudi Arabian government gives freedom to Saudi women, after for decades, they has faced various regulations related to rules gender-based.

 

 

 

 

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