Egypt Get's Its Unofficial Morality Police Force

So Egypt is taking the next step to turning into another Iran or Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan with the creation of a brand-spanking new 'unofficial' morality police force for Cairo.  The newly minted Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will make sure no-one strays from the Islamic moral path, although the founder- Cleric Hisham al-Ashri- swears it will be nothing like its Saudi namesake. Only "non-violent methods" for the Egyptian CPVP. According to the IB Times:

El-Ashri said: "We will only offer advice to those who want to listen. We shall have no business with people who refuse to listen to us."

Right. Maybe for now but that will definitely change once they get established.  In fact, Bikya News said the Salafists will have canes to punish violators, and eventually will move into the 21st century by getting tasers.

Al-Ashri is the same man who,

Following his recent return from the U.S. al-Ashri gave a television interview during which he declared: "It is the dream of my life to wage war against Israel." He also stated: "There is no such thing as a Christian religion."

Interesting to note that back in 2012, President Mohammed Morsi vowed to deal with "moral" vigilantism", and denied the existence of any morality police, even though there have been several incidents of vigilantism.

There is no 'Committee for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice' in Egypt as has been rumoured of late, Yasser Ali, acting spokesman for Egypt's newly-inaugurated President Mohamed Morsi, said on Wednesday.

"It's not true that there is such a committee; the incidents that have happened of late were all instigated by individuals and investigations are still underway," he said.

I can't imagine Al-Ashri would have set up his CPVP without Morsi's approval. I hope the Egyptian people continue to take a stand before it's too late.

Sadly, not unexpected.

Saudi Woman Fights Back At Morality Police Harassing Her

There's something righteous about a harassed Muslim woman fighting back. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's terribly satisfying.

The Saudi woman who taped the following on her cell phone apparently was being harassed by the morality police (mutaween) in the Hayat Mall in Riyadh for wearing nail polish. She emphatically refuses to leave after they tell her to get out, and tells them she is posting the video on Twitter and Youtube, which she did. I guess those fingernails were just too darn sexy.

According to the Saudi Gazette, there will be an inquiry into the incident.

This Iranian woman fighting back, though, is a classic.

Gotta love social media.



UPDATE 6/4/12

Sheikh Abdullatiff Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, the somewhat 'moderate' chief of the Saudi Vice Police, has publicly criticized the agent who harassed the Saudi nail-polish woman. He said "...even if the girl had gone too far. He should have offered her advice and left instead of arguing with her and escalating.”

The "Love Hotel" - Evading The Morality Police In Banda Aceh

There's no stopping people in love from 'getting together', even in ultra-conservative Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Apparently there's a military-owned motel, called the 'love hotel', which is off-limits to the morality police, so it's doing a booming business amongst the not-so-overly-religious types (although there is a prayer mat in a cupboard for those who might feel a little guilty).

According to a soon-to-be divorced 45-year-old man named "Fauzi", who's a regular there with his 25-year-old girlfriend until they can get married,

"Everyone comes here. Married, not married, military, police, civilians."

Although the hotel looks like one of those flea-bag, rent-by-the-hour cheapo hotels, Fauzi doesn't seem to care.

"All I need is a bed, air conditioning and a toilet."

Unfortunately for the majority of people in Aceh, Sharia Law was instituted in 2001 as a concession from the central government to quell a rebellion in that region of Indonesia. Fauzi claims only about 10 percent of the people there want Sharia,

"and they would all be over 50."

Unmarried people caught by the Sharia police being in "close proximity" (drinking, or gambling) face public caning, fines and in some cases prison time, but a law to implement death by stoning for adultery was shot down by the governor Irwandi Yusuf.

But that won't stop young people in love.

As they say, where there's a will, there's a way.


Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Egyptian Women Beat Up Salafi Morality Police

"Give them a finger, and they'll take the whole hand" is an apt cliché for the ultra-conservative Islamists in Egypt.  For decades they were banned from forming a political party under the mostly secular Hosni Mubarak's regime.  But now that they've won a majority, with the Salafists garnering about 30% of the vote in recent elections, they're like caged animals who have suddenly been set free.  The Salafists (the most fundamentalist of them all) want to impose their skewed religious ideology on the rest of the Egyptian population, whether they want it or not.

Of course, those who will suffer the most under an Islamist majority government would be the women of Egypt.  But after decades of secular living and actively participating in the Arab Spring movement, I'm not sure they won't go down without a fight. At least the more secular ones won't. And they proved that in Benha, a town in north-eastern Egypt.

A group of ultra-conservative Salafis got more than they bargained for after bursting into a beauty salon in the Egyptian town of Benha in an attempt to enforce “God’s law” on the women inside reported the online newspaper, Bikya Masr.

The women were told to stop what they were doing or face physical punishment from the group.

But instead of complying out of fear, or calling for help, the women took matters into their own hands by striking back.

They beat and whipped the vigilante gang “with their own canes before kicking them out to the street in front of an astonished crowd of onlookers,” Egyptian online newspaper, Bikya Masr, reported

It looks like the Salafists are already trying to flex their religious muscles, and if Egyptian women don't nip it in the bud before it's too late, they're going to find themselves dressed in niqabs like their Saudi sisters.

Apparently the beauty salon incident wasn't the first of its kind. Salafis (like their Saudi brothers) have recently been conducting surprise inspection raids on other shops to make sure everyone (owner and customers alike) are in compliance with "God's Law". That means no more clean-shaven faces, and 'indecent' clothing is a no-no. And we all know that in Islam anything other than a niqab and abaya is considered indecent. And it's not just Muslim businesses they're targeting, they've also allegedly destroyed any Christmas decorations in area shops and malls because Christmas is for infidels and therefore forbidden.

Granted, this particular group of zealots was just created, fashioning itself after the similar Saudi 'Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice' (CPVPV), and even going so far as using the same name. But no-one wants to claim ownership of that group including Al-Azhar (Egypt's main mosque in Cairo) and the Salafi al-Nour Party, which denies any connection whatsoever to that group in spite of the CPVPV claiming they are.  In fact, in response to Al-Azhar's rejection they posted a statement to their Facebook page:

“The Committee, which millions of Egyptians have agreed to, and expressed their desire to see its members diligently apply God’s law, draws the attention of our brothers in Al-Azhar to what happened in the last elections when millions of citizens voted for Salafi parties.”

Trouble is brewing in Egypt, if even the Islamists can't control their ultra-conservatives. But hopefully the women will save the day. You go girls!