Arrested for hugging in Saudi Arabia

So apparently in Saudi Arabia, hugging people can get you arrested by the ‘religious police’, as this story in The Independent reports.

 
Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested the two men in Riyadh for violating local laws and engaging in “exotic practices”, Al Hayat newspaper said. They were then made to sign a pledge that they would not go out again.

Since when is hugging an ‘exotic practice’? Next, they are going to say smiling is a ‘Western imperialist’ idea?

The religious police in Saudi Arabia are tasked with enforcing the government’s Sharia law.

They are also known as the Mutaween and empowered to stop unrelated men and women socialising with each other, as well as any homosexual activity and prostitution. They enforce strict Islamic dress codes and dietary rules.

They have come under heavy criticism in the past, most notably in March 2002, when they prevented schoolgirls from escaping a burning school in Mecca because they were not wearing headscarves and abayas (black robes) and accompanied by a male guardian. Fifteen girls died and 50 were injured as a result.

Don’t you just love Sharia law? Sorry? What? You don’t like the notion of religious law wherein women are classed as inferior to men, worthy of less inheritance, less freedom, and inherently lacking the intellectual prowess of men? You must be a racist! You should actually be okay with sacrificing brown/Muslim women to save the image, face, and honour of religion and culture. It’s okay to be a passive misogynist, you see, as long as you don’t come across as a racist.

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