Saudi Sheikh on United Arab Immoralities
Al Bawaba, June 17
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.
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.
http://www.albawaba.com/editorchoice/un ... twa-499832
I agree, this place has became gaalo galore, no Muslim feels safe from fitna there.
