Saudi Cleric- Women Can Ditch The Hijab, Wear Makeup, and Post Selfies On Social Media

Saudi Cleric and former head of the Kingdom's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Sheikh Ahmed Bin Qassim al-Ghamdi has revisited his fatwa from several years ago claiming that women were not required to cover their faces or arms. Many in Saudi Arabia wear abaya's/niqabs that cover everything but one's eyes.

 It appears he is taking it one step further with another recent fatwa stating that a Muslim woman doesn't need to wear a veil at all:

 “Islam doesn’t require women to wear veil.” 

Plus they can wear makeup, take selfies, and post them on social media sites like Facebook.

Apparently, a Twitter follower asked if it was okay for Muslim women to post photos of themselves on social media, which prompted his response:

 “...there is nothing wrong if a woman showed her face or put make-up.”

He also posted on Twitter that it was only Prophet Mohammed's wives who were supposed to wear the hijab.

Quoting a Moroccan scholar, he said it was preferable but not mandatory.

More here.

Fatwa Bans Saudis From Traveling Abroad To "The Land Of Infidelity"

"God does not love" Muslims living alongside "infidels", so Saudi preacher Sheikh Abdullah al-Suwailem has issued a fatwa banning Saudis from travelling outside the country, unless they really, really have to.

“Travelling abroad is forbidden in Sharia except in cases of necessity and with conditions."  

because

 "..whoever dies in the land of infidelity could go to hell."

Muslim countries are "less undesirable."

Those conditions he talks about?

The traveler must be "a strong believer" with religious "immunity", so they don't give in to "desires", like alcohol.

“Whoever fears for himself falling for what is forbidden, such as drinking alcohol, should not travel except in the case of necessity,” he added.

And studying or doing business abroad in "the land of infidelity" is also a no-no unless "in extreme necessity."

Apparently Al-Suwailem helps rehabilitate al-Qaeda prisoners held In Saudi jails. Maybe some of that extremism is rubbing off on him. In fact, Saudi columnist Badria al-Bishr called al-Suwailem's fatwa "extremist bacteria." And former head of the religious police Sheikh Ahmed Bin Qassim al-Ghamdi, quoting from the Quran,  believes that "travel broadens one's mind"  and has "many advantages for all."

Actually, this might be a Godsend for the West, after all the majority of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi.

By all means, stay at home.

Source: Al Arabiya

Saudi Cleric Fatwa- Women Can Unveil, Travel Alone and Eat With Men

Saudi Cleric Sheikh Ahmed Bin Qassim al-Ghamdi has always been a progressive voice of reason in the Muslim world.  In 2010, after some comments he made regarding antiquated, outdated Saudi Islamic thought, al-Ghamdi was fired and then, thankfully, rehired. A senior officer, at the time, in the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) or better known as the Saudi religious police, he had caused a major commotion in the ultra religious Kingdom when he suggested that nowhere in Islamic scriptures does it mention that the mingling of sexes was forbidden. Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive countries in the world, has overly strict gender segregation laws which apparently have no basis in Islam. Not only did al-Ghamdi have the guts to challenge the religious status quo with regards to segregation of the sexes, but he then had the audacity to state that Muslims don't need to pray in packs at a Mosque, which is presumably the reason why he was sacked, before he was reinstated as general manager for the Mecca branch of the religious police.

Ghamdi was reportedly dressed down three days ago by the country's highest cleric for saying that Muslims are not necessarily required to pray inside a mosque with a group of other Muslims in daily prayers.

Apparently, one of the duties of the PVPV is to make sure that shops and offices close for the daily prayers so that men can pray together. Finding the closing of shops to be inconvenient, al-Mahdi made his statement that it was unnecessary for men to pray as a group.  But  these comments angered many.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh told Ghamdi he was getting involved in matters of Islamic sharia law that were outside his authority, the Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Friday.

Al-Sheikh also said in his sermon during Friday prayers that anyone suggesting that congregation prayer is not necessary is "leading people to hell," according to reports.

Although Saudi officials claimed his initial firing had nothing to do with his liberal statements, I think we all know it was. However, why they re-hired him remains a mystery, although he is no longer involved with the PVPV.

Then early last year he piped in about how there was nothing wrong with listening to music.

This year al-Ghamdi is back issuing fatwas that might just make the ultra conservative Muslim world explode. He has said that women can uncover their arms and faces, travel alone, and eat with men.

In statements posted on Twitter, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Qassim al-Ghamdi, the former head of Mecca's Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice committee, said: “It is permissible for people to look at what is not forbidden in women like their faces and their arms.”

In other statements, the cleric said women can travel without a male guardian provided that there is safety.

Al-Ghamdi backed his statements with references to sayings by prominent Muslim scholars in history.

This is pretty major, if anyone bothers to pay attention.

Maybe with people like al-Ghamdi Saudi Arabia will eventually reach the 19th century, since I think it will take at least another century before the Saudis reach the 21st.

Voices of Reason In The Muslim World- Egyptian al-Aswani and Saudi Cleric al-Ghamdi

It's hard to tell if the dearth of voices of reason in the Muslim world is because they simply don't exist, or because they're too afraid to say anything because their extremist brethren will more than likely make them their next targets.  There are a few, however, willing to say something.

Egyptian writer Ahmad al-Aswani is one of them.  Translating Jihad has posted a commentary by al-Aswani where he places full blame on Muslims and Islam for terrorism in the world. A refreshing take, for a change, since so many (including Westerners) love to blame the West.  Although it was posted on elbashayer.com on 22 December 2011, and just posted on Tranlsating Jihad today, I think it was actually written quite a few years ago. Jihad Watch has excerpts from it in 2008.  But he makes some cogent points from an Arab's perspective that I feel are worth sharing: 

Who Offends the Prophet?

I don’t believe that cartoons, books, or movies can offend any religion, or affect the faith of those who adhere to that religion with truth and conviction.

The ones who offend the Prophet are those who slaughter and blow up innocent people throughout all the world—from New York to Madrid, in London, Bali, Riyadh, Cairo, Kabul, and Baghdad—even now, after mentioning Allah and the Prophet under the banner of Islamic jihad. Protests come out in support of all this, and internet forums sing praises to the knight Usama bin Laden, the hero of the raids of  New York and Washington.

Who offends the Prophet is a man like al-Qaradawi, who incites people to kill Jewish children in their mothers’ wombs (from an interview with Egyptian journalists in 1996), and incites people to carry out suicide operations. In the name of the religion and the Prophet, he declares jihad in Iraq, and innocent victims are killed.

Who offends the Prophet are those who demand that the world issue a decision preventing the disrespect of religions while they practice it themselves in every prayer in their mosques, schools (madrasas), and on their television stations. They especially disrespect Christians and Jews, and curse them in every prayer (after the Islamic bloc offered a decision on this issue in the Human Rights Council in the United Nations, the Saudi Shura Council objected to this decision because insulting other religions is one of the rites of Islam, according to what was published on the Saudi site al-Arabiya).

Who offends the Prophet is he who issues a fatwa, ruling that adults should be breastfed, and that the urine of the Prophet is blessed. It is he who allows hadiths like these to be studied in religious schools (madrasas) and colleges, such as the hadith of the fly, hadiths about holding the dhimmis (Jews and Christians) in contempt and humiliating them, hadiths about Paradise being under the shadow of swords, and thousands of other hadiths like these, whose mere existence offends the Prophet and Islam.

Read the rest here.

Not quite as brave, but considering the source brave enough, we have Saudi cleric Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamdi.  Al-Ghamdi was the former president of the virtue and vice police in Mecca has actually issued fatwas saying that listening to music and the mixing of genders should be allowed.  He also believes that one should be able to pray alone, not just in groups.  He, of course, has been savaged for voicing those opinions, but has asked those in opposition to debate him in a civil manner.

In his special interview to Al Arabiya, he said that his edicts are the result of extensive research based on experienced scholars’ clarifications. He expressed surprise at the amount of criticism that he receives on his social networking site, Facebook and accused extremists of resorting to abuse to whoever speaks of revivalism in religion or espouses values that do not conform to theirs.

He said: “I have received both support and criticism for my views, but sadly the debate is not about concepts, the problem exists in the nature of the dialogue. We are not brought up to accept different views, which is an essential component to knowledge growth.”
[snip]
In reference to his fatwa against the prohibition of listening to music he said this was nothing new, as senior clerics have ruled on this in the past.

He said: “Let’s ask those who are against music whether they consider ‘duff’ (local instrument) as musical? If they say yes then we have evidence from credible sources about the Prophet listening to ‘duff’, thus he wouldn’t listen or do something forbidden.”

He has been  slammed for issuing fatwas that are not authorized by the King, but he has this to say about those charges:

"I did not go against the decision of the King. I don’t issue fatwas; what I came up with was a point of view, everything I said was the result of my studies, I have gained wider knowledge in this field of research and I felt obligated to deliberate it.”

This isn't the first time he has been vocal about reform, he was fired and then rehired for his positions on gender mingling and praying in mosques in the past.  You have to give him credit for continuing to promote change in Islam when so many refuse to evolve.

We need more like al-Aswani and al-Ghamdi.