Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil

[Born_again]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7651231.stm
A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.

The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.

Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd.

[JonyDarko]

I read about this yesterday and wanted to make a post about it, unfortunately I also read about how the Saudis are going to behead a woman for being a witch. And also about a fire in a Saudi school where young girls who were not wearing veils were not allowed to leave the building and fire fighters were not allowed to rescue them of course resulting in more then ten dieing. Then there is the on going Sharia court fiasco in Britain.

I found it hard to just pick one.




I firmly believe that if the Saudis did not own 8% of America and roughly 13% of the worlds oil everyone would tell them to die in a fire .


Obviously when I say Saudis I am referring to the government and the powerful religious groups, I am sure the small children and especially women are just fine..

[gardengirl]

I think the men should have their eyes plucked out, then the women could wear whatever the hell they want.

[Glacier]

I think the men should have their eyes plucked out, then the women could wear whatever the hell they want.

[Born_again]

Why stop at removing 2 balls? Hell, I'd prefer it if we could remove 4 balls from them! Problem solved.

[ferri]

it makes you wonder why they can't control themselves doesn't it? i also read in the last few days that some cleric has said it is okay to marry 9 year old girls.

[Captain Awesome]

I wouldn't put much thought into it.

News like that are equivalent of taking what Amish Leaders tell their followers to do (don't use cars, cell phones, use horse buggies and manual labour only) and projecting on the entire population. Clerics in Middle East usually represent whole rainbow of religious views and quite a lot of them can't be taken seriously. Just because some of them are pretty crazy. But they can't be silenced, after all religion has many colours.

Sadly, views like that get highlights in the media even thought they're far from representing average thoughts on the subject. And voila, everybody in US/Canada thinks that Middle Easterners are crazy fanatics.

Just the way today's media works.

[ferri]

Amish are in a free country though. you have to look at where this other news is coming from. am i right Born_again?

[Captain Awesome]

Amish are in a free country though. you have to look at where this other news is coming from. am i right Born_again?

Well, Middle East countries are quite free when it comes to religion. It's not like they cuff you and force to you to praise Allah at gunpoint.

[ferri]

you're joking. right?

[Captain Awesome]

you're joking. right?

Well, I might be painting rosey picture, but for the most part no, I'm not. Most countries in Middle East have Christian communities (some small some big). In some of them they face descrimination but no, you won't be killed just because you happen to be Christian. Saudia Arabia doesn't prosecute individuals for being Christian. At the same time if you try to convert people into Christianity, they will go after you.

[JonyDarko]

Sounds like freedom to me, where do I sign up?

[Born_again]

Amish are in a free country though. you have to look at where this other news is coming from. am i right Born_again?

Well, Middle East countries are quite free when it comes to religion. It's not like they cuff you and force to you to praise Allah at gunpoint.

I was taken to a back room at Riy@dh airport and thrown in front of the Police Captain. On the desk midway between us was his handgun, pointing directly at me. Over the next hour he toyed with the gun by aiming it at my head and making "bang!" noises, whilst telling me how he is totally within his rights to kill me on the spot(and he most definitely was!). He told me how he would be totally justified to do so under sh@ria law, and he would likely receive great awards for such a deed. This guy was UK educated by the way.
My crime: writing "N/A" in the "Religion" column of the landing card. Age: 14.
Note that I was actually a practising Christian back then, but I saw no reason as to why they should know which religion I belonged to. Welcome to reality, teenager!
All of my local visas and ID cards note that I am Christian to this day. We all have a cross to bear.

[Captain Awesome]

Amish are in a free country though. you have to look at where this other news is coming from. am i right Born_again?

Well, Middle East countries are quite free when it comes to religion. It's not like they cuff you and force to you to praise Allah at gunpoint.

I was taken to a back room at Riy@dh airport and thrown in front of the Police Captain. On the desk midway between us was his handgun, pointing directly at me. Over the next hour he toyed with the gun by aiming it at my head and making "bang!" noises, whilst telling me how he is totally within his rights to kill me on the spot(and he most definitely was!). He told me how he would be totally justified to do so under sh@ria law, and he would likely receive great awards for such a deed. This guy was UK educated by the way.
My crime: writing "N/A" in the "Religion" column of the landing card. Age: 14.
Note that I was actually a practising Christian back then, but I saw no reason as to why they should know which religion I belonged to. Welcome to reality, teenager!
All of my local visas and ID cards note that I am Christian to this day. We all have a cross to bear.

Oh god, that's a disturbing story.

[Born_again]

It was not nice. They literally had to pick me up at the end because my legs would not work properly.

As to the other nations around here, most have churches etc, but you don't actually recognise them because they cannot 'advertise'. Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey are notably secular states, but take that with a pinch of salt. The toughies are:
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Qatar
Yemen
Kuwait