FYI
Last Update: Sunday, 16 June 2013 KSA 21:53 - GMT 18:53
Traveling to Dubai is ‘forbidden,’ Saudi cleric tells a woman
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Saudi Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Fozan, professor of comparative
Islamic jurisprudence, told Al Arabiya the Dubai fatwa was "incorrect."
(Al Arabiya)
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Al Arabiya
A Saudi cleric has sparked controversy when he issued a fatwa
(religious edict) this week barring travel to Dubai because of the
spread of “immoralities” there.
Sheikh Mohamed al-Shanar used
his Twitter account to answer a question by a woman on whether a woman
can visit Dubai without a male guardian.
“A woman asks me if it
she may go to Dubai without a guardian. I answer her saying: going to
Dubai is forbidden, whether she was accompanied by a guardian or not
[because of the spread of immoralities], and sins increase if traveling
without a guardian was not a necessity,” the cleric said on his Twitter
account.
In Saudi Arabia, woman usually must be accompanied by a male guardian to be
able to travel.
His fatwa prompted a wave of reaction from social media users and even
from other religious scholars, with many criticizing him as “odd” and
“offensive.”
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Saudi Sheikh
Abdulaziz al-Fozan, professor of comparative Islamic jurisprudence,
described the fatwa as “incorrect and erroneous.”
Fozan
explained that while the cleric said a woman shouldn’t travel to Dubai
alone, he went a step further by “generalizing” and prohibiting both
males and females.
Paint brushing Dubai as an improper place is
“incorrect as there are a lot of suitable places for Muslims to visit
[in the emirate],” Fozan said, while highlighting how the Emirati city
offers “trade, tourism and shopping opportunities” to Saudis.
Unlike conservative Saudi Arabia, which follows strict Islamic
teachings, Dubai has opened up to expatriates from different
backgrounds, who are allowed to indulge in alcohol and a glamorous night
life in the Emirati city’s plethora of hotels and entertainment
venues.
“It is better to travel to countries that are similar
to Saudi Arabia in terms of religion, language and culture than
traveling to non-Muslim countries,” Fozan said, in reference to the
UAE’s more general similarities to the kingdom.
The fatwa
barring Saudis not to travel to Dubai was the latest in religious edicts
that are increasingly angering Saudis, especially those who are active
in social media, who soon lashed out in criticism.
Saudi
Twitter users urged the kingdom’s religious scholars to punish those
clerics who issue such fatwas, which they described as “odd” and
“offensive.”
Similar Fatwas such as prohibiting a male not to
be alone with another “handsome” man or requesting young “beautiful”
girls to wear the Islamic headscarves are among the edicts that have
previously sparked outrage
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