Oh Christmas Tree? Oh Christmas Tree!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Thou tree most fair and lovely!
Oh Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
Thou tree most fair and lovely!
The sight of thee at Christmastide
Spreads hope and gladness far and wide
Oh Christmas tree, O Christmas tree 
Thou tree most fair and lovely!

Saudi version:
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
thou tree most scarce and forbidden

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
where are thy branches hidden?

The sight of thee in Saudi-land
Spreads fear and loathing in the sand


O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
thou tree most scarce and forbidden


Christmas decorations such as trees in public are pretty much non-existent during the holiday season in Saudi-Arabia. Christmas is viewed as a Christian religious holiday and all items that celebrate it are supposed to be forbidden here. Christmas trees would be seen as religious symbols (which they are not really). Despite the lack of holiday spirit in the public sphere, many expats and even locals celebrate the holidays in the privacy of their homes.
The only Christmas tree that I know of on public display in Riyadh was in Hayat mall and it was not even decorated. It's pretty amazing how they pulled that one off without the Hai'a having a say. Maybe there were too many women with nail polish around on that day for the religious police to notice anything. My friend sent me this pic:

The only way I knew people got Christmas trees in Saudi was if they had shipped theirs in like my friend Nicole who managed to ship in a pretty large fake tree among her stuff from the States not so long ago.
That's why I had given up on the idea of ever having a tree here.

How I found my own fake tree was by pure accident. I was in an area in Riyadh which could be called a ghetto, looking around for some holiday decorations. We went there knowing they sell Christmas-sy decorations such as lights and those colorful frills people here use on Eid.


I entered one of the shops that sells all sorts of tawdry stuff and plastic crap. In Finnish I would call it a rihkama store. The place was packed with people and I saw an entire shelf full of what could not be mistaken for anything else than Christmas ornaments. I was shocked a little but happy to have found them. Out of the blue I asked the salesman if they happened to have Christmas trees for sale.

The look on his face was as if I had just asked him for drugs.

The salesman turned red and whispered back to me, yes we do have as if he was letting me in on a state secret. I remained calm but inside I was now very excited. I had not expected this at all! Christmas trees for sale in Saudi-Arabia? No way!

I excitedly asked what sizes they had since I didn't want to leave the store dragging a huge log behind me. He tried to show me the sizes with his hands while constantly eyeing the nearby Saudi customers with suspicion. He pretended to arrange some boxes around while doing it. I asked if the trees were decorated and did they have a stand. His nervous replies started to make me nervous too.

I told him I needed to see it before I could buy anything. The salesman hesitated but then motioned me to follow him. My heart was now beating faster as I realized my dream of having a cute little tree might come true after-all but at the same time I was nervous because the salesman was acting like we were about to commit a horrid crime.

It felt like he was a drug dealer about to show me his stash of cocaine.

The man walked to an aisle in the middle of the store fearfully glancing around, now visibly anxious and fidgety. He said "if any man with beard come, problem".

I nodded and said mafi mushkila. He kneeled down and removed the screws that had been loosely placed on the bottom of the corridor shelves. The front came off and revealed the long cardboard boxes hidden inside.

Now two Saudi women walked by. The salesman scrambled quickly closing the door and stood up while I pretended to browse through the cheap alarm clocks on top of the shelf. I wondered what my husband would say about the tree.

The women finally left and the salesman opened the door again. I could see three different sizes of boxes. He asked me which one I wanted. I told him I would have to see the actual tree before purchasing, but I wanted the smallest one. He opened one of the boxes and showed me the top of the tree which in all honesty looked really darn crappy, but beggars are not choosers.

"Will you take it ma'm?" I told him yes, I will take "it"!

The man pulled the box out of its hiding place. Suddenly the box fell apart and a portion of the tree was now showing.

My heart almost stopped.

The salesman panicked and started shouting in Hindi to his co-worker while trying to hide the branches with his arms. The co-worker flew to rescue with two large white plastic bags. With trembling hands they shoved the tree in the bag and placed another one on top covering all the green parts.

He told me he would take this "ahem" to the cashier to wait for me. Luckily it seemed as if the Saudi customers around the store were oblivious to our sneaky Christmas tree business and no bearded men were in sight.

With my heart still racing from the adrenaline rush this piece of green plastic had triggered, I tried to pick up some decorations for the tree. Strangely they were all out on display. I found colored pine cones, ball ornaments, frills and stars. One salesman even brought a big box of stars to me.

I wondered why it was acceptable to sell these ornaments but the actual tree was treated like the anti christ.

When I was done I apprehensively approached the cashier. I tried to wait for a moment when there was no queue but that was not going to happen on a busy evening like this. When my turn came I quickly handed him the basket full of tree decorations. He glanced around from the corner of his eyes and took the things directly into a plastic bag.

Next I wondered how I was supposed to tell him about "it". I said there was 'ahem ahem' something for me here. I tried to look for the white plastic bag and noticed it stashed behind his chair. The cashier did not understand my code language for hidden christmas tree so I had to point to the bag and say I think that was mine. "Oh OK ma'm". He did not even touch the bag.

At this point my husband suddenly rushed into the store. My first thought was he came to warn me about approaching muttawa but he wanted me to hurry up because the children were crying in the car. I pointed to the tree bag saying that's ours. He asked, "are you sure? Why is it there?" I told yes I'm very sure. So then my husband just threw it on his shoulder unknowing it was in fact a Christmas tree.

I tried to act normal but couldn't help laughing at the situation and the very pale face of the cashier. My husband with the tree hanging on his shoulder asked what's in here anyways? Weren't you supposed to buy some candles? I told him "oh, nothing special, I will tell you later."

So we ran to the car parked close by with the Christmas tree on my husbands shoulder. He opened the back door and threw the bag in. We ran not because we had just purchased a black market Christmas tree but because of the crying babies, but admittedly it might have looked suspicious. I giggled about the experience for a long time and managed to keep the tree as a surprise for my husband.

The next day I set up the tree and decorations. Although very small, it didn't look too bad at all. My husband laughed when he saw it and realized that he had been running around the ghetto with a Christmas tree on his back!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

You fill my heart with music.
Reminding me on Christmas Day
To think of you and then be gay.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
You fill my heart with music.

Muttawa And Learning Disabilities

After my last post on the Saudi religious police aka muttawa, a friend of mine suggested I make a poll to see what people really thought them. Many it seems are afraid to express their disapproving thoughts on the moral cops publicly, even anonymously on blogs. Judging by the comments to the posts, I often get the impression that most people are very supportive of the concept of Hai'a in Saudi-Arabia and wish they will continue terrorizing advising people.

That's why I was very surprised to see the result of the poll I kept running for a few days on the blog. Here are the results:

Do you think the Saudi religious police should:
Continue operating as they are now: 11 votes (7%)
Continue but with complete reform:  36 votes (25%)
Be abolished altogether: 84 (58%)
Be granted more power and authority: 12 votes (8%)

Over half says good riddens to the muttawa. I was expecting the second option of complete reform to have the most votes and only a few to say they saw no need for the religious police whatsoever. Of course this is a poll everyone around the world can answer. If asked from Saudis only I bet the result would be different. But still interesting to see. Most hilarious I thought was how many said Hai'a should be granted more power, I mean seriously? Someone must have clicked on that just as a joke, right?

More on Hai'a matters, the new boss Al-Sheikh commented on the "nail polish girl" incident which happened a few weeks ago in Hayat Mall. Again, we can see from the comments to my post and all other forums how the public opinion was mostly condemning this woman. Surprisingly and sadly, many of those negative judgmental comments were coming in from women, fellow Muslims calling her the worst of names.

In the past when there's been incidents in the news (and there has been MANY) of Hai'a officers harassing women, the official response has been either completely lacking or then supportive of the officers. This time around was different though, and you can read what Al Sheikh had to say in full here: http://arabnews.com/haia-chief-asks-staff-be-lenient. 
"The way the commission member behaved was not right, even if the girl had gone too far. He should have offered her advice and left instead of arguing with her and causing the situation to escalate.”
I wonder what all those evil tongues have to say now? Al Sheikh is clearly condemning the actions of his field officer. This was not the first time he said the muttawa should be lenient toward citizens and "kindly remind or give advice, then leave". He was even moved to tears when talking about the issue.

This might be a good indication that change would really be around the corner for the religious cops. Ahmed at Saudi Jeans had this to say about it: http://saudijeans.org/2012/06/14/commission-makeover/

Despite their leader's appeals and demands for a more lenient, friendly approach, it seems the field officers are either not listening, not registering or blatantly disobeying the orders.
I wrote about how one of my friends had an incident at the Riyadh IKEA with two Hai'a officers, ending in a shopping cart tug-of-war between her and one of the muttawa. Just after I wrote that post I saw this very same lady two times. On both occasions we went out for some shopping and she was again harassed.
For this woman and many others this is an almost every-time occurrence when they go out shopping, to be attacked by vicious muttawa.

The first incident happened at Diira souq in the old area of Riyadh, close by to the infamous chop-chop square. My friends were walking ahead of me pushing the stroller and a muttawa approached them aggressively, loudly shouting "cover your head, you are in Saudi-Arabia", as if they had not noticed that little detail. He did not just say it once, but three times and aggressively, without an ounce of kindness or leniency in his tone of voice. The officer pointed his finger at them and I snapped an epic pic of this very moment.

This Hai'a guy was in a hurry to go check that all the shops were closed for prayer and moved along.
A few days after that we were in Riyadh Gallery and spotted a pair of muttawa patrolling the mall. My friend and I separated from each other for a while and when I called her, she had been forced to leave the mall because those very same religious men had actually harassed her so bad she was compelled to leave.

Later I saw them at H&M checking that the newly appointed female cashiers were not working anymore. Funny how religious police are demanding something which is now mandated by law to end, that female sales personnel need to be present where women's lingerie, make-up etc is being sold. Just because the muttawa officers have come to the conclusion women shouldn't be working there (or anywhere in public), they think they have the right to actually go AGAINST the law and ban the women from working.

At another H&M in Granada mall I was glad to see the Saudi women and men working side by side in harmony, at least on that day. And guess what? The world didn't come to an end. In fact, it continued like it normally does all over the world where women work in such positions. Here's a quick snapshot of this historical moment:

So is there really a need for a commission whose members seem to enforce the law quite randomly, according to how they've interpreted religion in their own minds, not necessarily by what's been mandated or requested by their leader? Why is there seemingly no change to the rude behavior of the field officers despite the pleads from their chief? 
Some food for thought from Saudi Jeans article: "the Commission employs 4389 men, 60% of these employees do not have a college degree, and half of those did not even finish high school. It's safe to assume that most of them are field officers, the ones you see in malls and patrolling the streets"

In other words, every third muttawa out there has not even finished high school. How on earth are these people allowed to make citizen arrests based on erm..what qualifications or education actually? Will they ever learn from their mistakes?

The only hope I see is that Al-Sheikh is serious about reforming the CPVPV, but how is he going to achieve any kind of change in his ranks when the field officers seem to stubbornly ignore him? Seems very complicated, if not almost impossible. As the saying goes, if you give a dog a bone, it's very hard to get it back without being bitten.

Muttawa Encounters Volume 2

I noticed that a post on one of my favorite subjects, the Saudi religious police, was long overdue. "Muttawa" is actually the third most popular search word that lands people on Blue Abaya, so something about them just fascinates (or disturbs) people and they want to find out more.

Read volume 1 of muttawa encounters here.

For many expats coming to the Magic Kingdom the concept of a religious police force is just incomprehensible or downright insane. Why do Saudi people need morality cops to tell them how to behave? Are they really THAT bad? If Saudis are supposed to be the role models of Muslims to the rest of the world, then why is it the only country that needs religious police chasing down people on the streets and enforcing morals on its citizens?

I hear so many muttawa stories from my friends all the time and unfortunately they are 99% negative. That said, there are some smart religious cops out there, I swear! Check this post for one example: Muttawa Gets It Right.
There are too many similar stories to mention here, most relating to women and covering hair and being chased by muttawa in malls. I thought of compiling another muttawa encounters list with the top most disturbing or hilarious incidents. These are all very recent cases from around the capital that happened to friends and family.

My mother visited us for few months here in Saudi and the few times we went to the mall (she hates malls) every single time would a squad of the morality cops chase her. I think we had bad luck but also during that time muttawa were on a roll. This was before the old Hai'a boss was sacked.
Her first encounter happened at Sahara Mall, she was on her own browsing shops while we were with the baby in another shop. Three muttawa came up to her. She said they could not have been much older than her teenage son (19yrs) and there she was, a 60 yr old woman minding her business when suddenly these three men started very aggressively shouting at her.
At first she did not even understand and just got scared and thought she had committed some crime. When they motioned at the scarf she understood and put it on. But that did not satisfy this blood thirsty moral squad. They continued shouting at her and by this time everyone was looking and she was mortified.

Apparently they didn't like how she had wrapped the scarf on. My mom walked out of the shop and tried to escape because she didn't understand what was wrong but they followed her like sharks. She had felt frightened and cornered.
Finally when they saw my husband and he shouted for them to go away they left. After confirming he was the "owner" of this red haired woman causing a stir of course. The same squad came three consecutive times to check on her if she still had the scarf on. I was so angry when I heard this that I wanted to go check their ID's and names and make a complaint but they had already left the mall by that time.

Mom wanted to make a complaint to the human rights commission because she felt her dignity and basic human rights had been violated, which was of course true. I felt so angry and frustrated that this was the experience and image she was getting of Saudi-Arabia. And of course she told everyone about it, so this is how muttawa vicariously spreads image of muslims as aggressive harassers, hostile toward foreigners, women haters and intolerant people.

Another incident this year that happened to two young Finnish women in IKEA. Two Hai'a officers were browsing for Vice which apparently IKEA has plenty to offer. Just look at what they have to deal with:

The horror. An uncovered smiling woman, with a dash of lipstick and some decolletage to go with it!

The muttawa at IKEA had spotted the sinful uncovered westerners and started their customary yelling. These two women have been here for years and become accustomed and immune to the harassment so they continued shopping as if nothing had happened. This angered the bearded bullies and they started following the women repeating the same over and over and now adding they should leave the store. The women ignored and cheerfully talked in Finnish about the furniture, as if there was no disturbance whatsoever. They knew muttawa cannot touch them or make an arrest without policemen present. Pretending muttawa were just a tiny mosquito making some buzz had gotten rid of them every time. The muttawa left but this time only to return with two police officers.

The women did not give up and continued walking around trying to seem calm but at this point they were furious. Now one of the angry beards lost his cool. He grabbed the shopping cart one of the women was pushing and started to drag it in the opposite direction yelling barra (out)! She held on to it with all her might and pulled the cart back yelling no! This tug of war lasted for a while with onlookers gathering around. It ended in the victory of the woman and the defeated muttawa leaving with his tail beneath his legs.


Another Finnish iron lady and long timer here who also uses the ignoring tactic was shopping by herself in the Riyadh Gallery Mall. While inside a clothing store the muttawa squad entered and asked her to cover. She initially ignored but when it became apparent they would not leave she got frustrated, took a dress from the clothing rack and placed it on her head saying inshallah! She had forgotten her scarf home. Muttawa was satisfied.

Another similar incident at the same mall, a western woman is shopping with a group of friends, muttawa approaches and they all cover expect her, she had forgotten to take a scarf. The muttawa did not leave her alone but started getting aggressive and shouting for her to cover her hair. The resourceful woman took the plastic shopping bad she was carrying and placed it on her head. Muttawa left the scene.

A friend of mine was at a frozen yogurt place and wanted to sit down but saw a sign saying women are not allowed to sit inside. She asked why not and the worker said Hai'a officers won't allow it. There was no clear indication it was single section, the place was secluded and there was nobody else around, so why not?

Why were woman allowed to enter, but not sit? The friendly salesperson then told her how the some Saudi women had sat there and muttawa had raided the place to prevent this HUGE vice. The women had left but the poor Filipino worker was accused of not preventing it and his "charge" was allowing women to sit inside. What happened then is the Riyadh Vice Cops had actually hand and LEG CUFFED the worker like he was one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. He spent two nights in jail for this horrid offense.. I don't think they even leg cuff mafia bosses. Or Hannibal Lecter.

Once while we were in a women's clothing store with mom, a muttawa came up to the entrance and started shouting in Arabic. First we thought he was shouting at us but he was targeting one of the male salesclerks. The Turkish clerk looked anxious as the muttawa approached him. The 4 ft tall muttawa continued for a good five minutes of nonstop blabbering and preaching and the clerk was nodding his head, staring at the ground, looking humiliated. By now everyone in the store and the hallway had stopped shopping and were staring at the clerk in a condemning manner as if he had committed a big crime.

When the muttawa finally left we went to talk to the salesclerk because he looked absolutely devastated and about to cry. He told me how this same muttawa comes to his shop almost everyday and always picks on him. I must mention this was a well mannered, friendly young fellow, he was definitely not one of those overly "helpful" and slimy salesmen there are out there. He continued that the muttawa always complained and lectured him on his appearance and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The first time the muttawa midget came, it was the ear length hair which had been deemed too long. The Hai'a guy made him leave work right there and then to cut the hair short or face jail sentence.
Now the hair was short but he'd put hair gel in it which was what the lecture had been all about this time.

The young man said it felt like being publicly shamed and bullied by this so called religious representative. He told us how he couldn't wait for his contract to finish to get out of this horrible country! I told him to please ignore what the Hai'a say and that they don't represent Islam or Saudis. We tried to make him feel better, he had done nothing wrong. We told him we understand how bad that feels and were sorry he was targeted. My mom talked with him too and afterward he seemed more cheerful about it and thanked us for the support.

Last week there was an incident in Riyadh where a Saudi woman got harassed by muttawa because of her nail polish and asked to leave the mall. The video has now gone viral all over the internet. Here is the video clip with English subtitles:

Thumbs up for this brave lady for standing up for herself against her harassers. Saudi-Arabia needs more women like her!
More on this incident from these two blogs:
Saudi Jeans: http://saudijeans.org/2012/05/25/saudi-jeans-8-nail-polish/
Saudi Woman's Weblog: http://saudiwoman.me/2012/05/25/the-immodesty-of-nail-polish/

Some more reading about the religious police on Blue Abaya:

Meet The Saudi Religious Police

Lower Your Gaze Mr. Muttawa!

Muttawa Gone Wild

Commission Of Ex Thieves And Drug Addicts

Do you have a muttawa story, positive or negative, to share?

P.S Non-Muslim women are not required to wear head scarf or face veil In Saudi-Arabia, only the abaya is compulsory and all women mentioned in this post were wearing abayas.

An Expat's Tale From A Saudi Jail

It's my pleasure to introduce you to an expat nurse and friend of mine who worked in Riyadh for a few years. Her memories from Saudi are positive despite some negative incidents that occurred during her stay here such as a short jail sentence! Read on to find out more about her life in the Magic Kingdom!


First of all thank you for agreeing to this interview and for sharing your experience about life in Saudi-Arabia as a working western expat woman. You had some pretty out of the ordinary experiences while you were here! 
What got you interested in coming to Saudi-Arabia in the first place?
What was your very first impression about the Kingdom, and did it match what you had expected it to be?
You worked as a RN in a large government hospital. How would you describe the hospital compared to ones in Finland and what was the most difficult thing to adjust to in Saudi?


So how did I end up in Saudi-Arabia for work? It wasn't my plan... I just needed to get out of Finland during that time and do something extreme. One call to the agency, and next thing I noticed I was filling up the papers to Saudi! Nobody believed I was really going there, neither did I, but 6 months from that call I was packing my life to move to Saudi. 

I left with mixed feelings, didn't know what to expect, so I didn't expect anything. I only knew I will wear abaya for next one year and work like crazy! 
I landed in the scary Riyadh airport after midnight. Men all around and all looking at me! Where's my abaya?! Of course I didn't have one at the time..Only thing I knew I needed to get out of this airport as soon as possible, luckily after passport check there was a hospital sponsor waiting for me. 


It took me a short time to settle down around my hospital, I was open to everything! Seemed everyone were super friendly and helpful! I met loads of people, and started to make contact with the surroundings. Hospital was massive, things looked and sounded as if they were going smoothly there. But after working a while I started to notice many things that only sounded good but in reality they didn't actually work. As long as things were looking good to outsiders, people were satisfied with their work. That was hard for me, but then I realized it was impossible to come and change anything, only thing I could do is follow my nursing ethic and do my work, do my 12h shift and go home. 


What were your days off like, and your typical weekend like in Saudi?

Free time in Saudi surprised me in a positive way, there was loads of things to do on your days off. 

Many daily activities like dance lessons, pool days, tennis and gym kept us busy after work! On weekends we had dinners with friends, embassy events, desert walks and camping, snorkling in Jeddah! We did traveling around Middle East, around the world! I met awesome people in Saudi and shared these experiences that I could not have ever thought of experiencing back home! These experiences and possibilities kept me working there up to 2 years. 

I always admired your courage to walk long distances around the city, which is so uncommon in Saudi! There are no sidewalks and traffic is very unfriendly toward pedestrians. What sort of places would you usually walk to and how was your experience, did you get harassed a lot?


 We did walks around the city to the malls from the hospital compound even though it was a bit scary sometimes since the streets weren't made for walking! Many stares from men, but we kept walking! I missed the feeling back home where you could walk freely.

So now to the jail incident..
Tell us what was the situation before you were confronted by the Haia (muttawa)?
What were the factors that lead to your arrest?Were they accompanied with police officers?
How did the Haia treat you and others involved in the incident? Did you feel you were treated with respect? Did you understand what was happening at any point?

I had some incidents during my 2 years there with muttawa, but the scariest one was when I ended up in Saudi jail during Ramadhan. The worst nightmare I could ever think that could happen to me! I was asking my male Arab colleagues (western nationality) to pick me up after work for take away food. While we were waiting for the food to be ready, I decided to step out of the car and wait outside since it was crazy hot! In a few minutes there were muttawa and policemen around me asking questions! 

My friends were inside the restaurant picking up the food. Things started happening when they came out with the food, no questions were asked anymore, we were separated. I was put inside a different car and my friends were taken away in another. I sat in the back seat, doors were locked. I didn't know what was about to happen. I was scared, they took my phone and talked only in Arabic. I couldn't reach out to anyone! Worst case scenarios crossed my mind, horror stories that I had heard happening in Saudi to females - is it about to happen to me? 

After driving around quite along time, I was brought to a big building and saw Saudi females in their uniforms. I felt relief seeing females.. But when I was entering to the building I realized it was a Saudi female jail! I saw scary looking females banging the bars and screaming and crying! And in no time I found my self inside with them, I was so scared. I really thought they would hurt me. I was so shocked of the situation, I separated my self from everyone else, I was just sitting in a corner for hours.  


At the prison, who dealt with you, and how was their treatment toward you?
Did they search you and how was that done? Were you told what they were they jailing you for? Did you have a chance to inform your family or anyone from your employer?

 Female guards asked me to undress for 'inspection'...I was feeling a bit uncomfortable, because I was wearing a top and a short skirt under my abaya. Anyway had to do what they asked and so I removed my abaya. First thing I hear is laughter and words in Arabic, judging my outfit I assumed. I was asked to strip to my underwear and show that there was nothing inside my clothes. They kept looking and going around me, repeating the word mashallaah all the time. After having their fun, they were ready and I was put into the jail cell with my own clothes on. No one spoke in English nor even tried to explain what was the reason I was there at any point of my arrest or stay and no one told me how the process will continue later on. I tried asking many times can I make a phone call, or could somebody explain what will happen next.. but they just ignored.  

What was your prison cell like? 
Did you have other women sharing the same space? How did you spend your time there and how long were you in jail?
Did you get food, water and toilet facilities? What were your inmates like?


It was a big hall with many doorless rooms, in every room there was 6 bunk beds. There was maybe 40-50 prisoners in that area where I was. I saw females socializing with each other, they came to me offering food and water. I realized that these women were like me, jailed for similar cultural reasons like me. One had a newly born baby with her and quite many were with their kids there. 
In that big hall they had a washing room that included 5-6 toilets. Going to toilet, washing yourself, doing your dishes (people had their cups for food)all were done in that same space. Also the kids were washed there too. It wasn't too bad, but maybe too small for that amount of prisoners. 

Also there was a minimarket where you could do your shoppings, it was open certain hour a day. I didn't have any money so I couldn't buy anything, but some prisoners had some. I don't know how they had money since all my personal belongings were taken before they locked me in. In that shop they had snacks, toilet paper (yes you needed to buy your own toilet paper if you felt like you needed one) clothes, like pyjamas, hygiene stuff etc... 

As the night turned into morning, we were offered our first meal because it was Ramadhan also the prisoners had to fast. They threw a big tray on the floor for everyone to pick up their food from there. Next meal would be only later in the evening. I was starving between that time! My jailmates where friendly, and I had a few chats. But only thing in my mind was how to get out of here. They didn't allow me to call anyone, only asked few questions once a while.
I ended up spending two nights there because of the weekend.

What happened to the males involved in the incident?
Were you scared something serious would happen to you, or did you trust your sponsor to help you out?
How did you get out?


Afterwards I heard that my male friends were jailed also, but only for 1 night and were able to inform my family, friends, and the hospital about the situation. After the weekend was finished they called me out for an interview, I told the story as it was, signed some papers and then the officer said I was ready to leave. I couldnt believe it, the sponsor representative for these cases was there waiting for me to drive me back to hospital compound! I was so relieved I didn't care even if I was  going to be sent back home, I was only happy being safe! 

How did this whole incident make you feel? What are your thoughts afterwards?


I was lucky because my jailmates were super friendly to me, some of them gave me things to use. I remember one lady giving me a new pyjama to wear to feel a bit comfortable for sleeping. Most of the ladies in jail where from Asian countries like India, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh. Many of them maids. I think I got along so well with them because my origins are Asian too. I never actually told them my real western nationality, I felt being 'one of them' would make my stay there easier, and it did. There was only one white western lady there, but she came just before I left. I saw her crying most of the time and nobody in jail tried to approach her and offer their friendship like they did to me. But she looked she didn't want to be approached either, I think she was having the first after shock hours like me when I got there. 
Things ended up well for me, but I'm sure not everyone will be as lucky as me if they would end up in the same situation! 

You always have such a positive outlook on things, I think that helps in coping with the sometimes stressful life in Saudi.
What would you give as advice to women living in or planning on moving to Saudi? How to cope with the different culture and customs?


 Respect the cultural rules, don't cross the boarders if you don't need to. Breaking the rules has consequences. It's hard in Saudi to adapt the western life style, but you should be aware that you are living in Saudi... exceptions may be allowed, but don't trust that you will always get away with it! 

I would recommend Saudi Arabia to anyone who is open for cultural differences, to new perspectives in life and who are easy going. Don't come to change things, come to experience. You wouldn't want to experience the same things that you have already experienced back home? Wishing everyone unforgettable moments in Saudi! I surely did and I'm happy I exceeded myself, my life is so much richer, full of great memories after Saudi!

Thank you very much for the interview and best wishes to you and your family!

8 Things To Do In Riyadh This March

Here's a list of some suggested activities for those in Riyadh this March.

1. Visit the International Riyadh Book Fair. The fair starts 6th March and runs through the 16th, open daily from 10 am to 10 pm at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center. There is an English books section, a female only area and an excellent children's book and activity area. Be sure to check out the religious police's hilarious stall where they display confiscated items such as T-shirts and poker chips.

2. Go to the desert! Spring is almost over and now is the time to see the desert in full bloom and the weather is not too hot yet. Easy to reach even with two wheel drives are the Red Sands area on Mecca highway and Thumamah sand dunes and park in the North. For further expeditions out of the city try Rawdhat Khuraim, directions in desert treks tab.

3. Visit the National Museum. SCTA is holding an exhibition "Recovered National Antiquities" in conjunction with the events of Al Janadriyah Heritage and Cultural Festival 2012 until the 12th of March at the National Museum. Around the museum you will find lovely parks and fountains perfect for a stroll. http://www.imagesofsaudi.blogspot.com/search/label/National%20museum

4. Visit a compound function. For the expat ladies in Riyadh there are monthly coffee mornings in compounds such as Kingdom and Jadawel. Kingdom compound has the largest expat bazaar in Riyadh every first Monday of the month(5th March) and Jadawel 11th March. This month there's also a bazaar at Cordoba on the 15th and a craftsmarket at Najdi compound on the 21st.

5.Go watch the horse races at Riyadh Equestrian Club!
Located next to the Janadriyah village, the Riyadh Equestrian Club is open and free entrance for all. Races start after Asr on Fridays. There's singles, family and a VIP sections. You can rent your own viewing room complete with private service and dinner included, no abaya needed.
http://www.imagesofsaudi.blogspot.com/2012/02/winner-takes-it-all.html

6. See (or participate in!) a golf tournament. The Dirab Golf & Country Club is hosting the AMEX 19th Annual Golf Tournament on the 28th and 29th March. This golf club is worth visiting because it has stunning scenery, a nice restaurant, swimming pools and horse stables with beautiful Arabian horses. http://www.dirabgolf.com/Default.aspx

7. Join the Riyadh Road Runners! The running season continues until end of April and all levels of runners are welcome to participate. The next 10 km run is in Salwa compound on the 16th March starting at 8 am. More info on their website: http://riyadhroadrunners.com/index.html

8. Go to the desert every weekend for a nice walk with a group of expats! Email me for details, expats only!

P.S for those asking details for opening times/family days of National Museum please check this link: http://www.arriyadh.com/Eng/Tourism/Left/KingAbdula/getdocument.aspx?f=/openshare/Eng/Tourism/Left/KingAbdula/National-Museum.doc_cvt.htm

The Commission of Ex-Thieves and Drug Addicts Should Be Abolished

I found this interesting and surprising article, it's an interview with a prominent Saudi Sheikh who criticizes the Saudi religious police, aka muttawa, check it out:

Report by Sattam al-Ruwayli, from Riyadh: 

“Saudi Cleric: The Past of Some Members of the Commission Is thieving and Addiction”

"Well-Known Saudi Islamic cleric Abd-al-Muhsin al-Obaikan has stressed, in a sensational interview with Saudi local station Radio UFM, that some members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were either drug addicts, thieves, or something similar in their past. Al-Obaikan adds that after they abandon their past, they come under the influence of a strong religious sentiment, and adhere to the teachings of religion, and to the prevention of vice.

Al-Obaikan, who is an adviser to the Saudi Royal Court, explains: “Some people want to remove vices in the way they themselves want, and not by the shari`ah way, which was drawn up for us by the Prophet, God`s prayer and peace be upon him.”

Al-Obaikan stresses: “There is a difference between the exposure of sin, and spying on people by arresting the culprit. God Almighty says, `And spy not on each other [Sura Al-Hujurat, from Verse 12],` and He does not exempt anyone from this order. The Prophet, God`s prayer and peace be upon him, said: `Negotiate the punishments among yourselves, because if the issue comes to me, the punishment is mandatory.`”

Al-Obaikan criticizes severely the members of the commission who stop the car driver to ask him of what proves that the woman with him is his wife; he describes this behaviour as “contradicting the shari`ah texts.”

Al-Obaikan, who is the only licensed mufti outside the official religious institution in Saudi Arabia, adds that there is a hadith saying: “Help those who err to stand up after they stumbled, because the person who is not a professional criminal, if he commits a sin and hides, we ought to shelter him before his issue reaches the Sultan.”

The General Chairmanship of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is considered an independent government organization affiliated to the Saudi Council of Ministers, and some media organs call it, the “religious police”.

In his interview, Al-Obaikan praises this “great organization,” as he describes it. He says that the leaders in the kingdom have not established this organization for any reason other than the acquiescence to the order of God and the Order of the Prophet, and out of commitment to the implementation of the shari`ah rulings on all affairs. Al-Obaikan describes the dysfunction in this organization as similar to any dysfunction in other government organizations, and says that it ought to be rectified.

Al-Obaikan explains that the solution lies in intensive training courses before the individual undertakes field work, so that it would be explained to him through the Shari`ah texts how to deal with vices. Al-Obaikan points out that some individuals start field work before they join the training courses.

Al-Obaikan says: “Once, I was in a market, and some enthusiasts went to advise an individual. The adviser was raising his voice, and I said to him: Brother, take the man aside and talk to him, but to raise your voice, and embarrass him in front of the people, this is unacceptable, and your advice in this way is unacceptable.” Al-Obaikan continues: “The system of promotion of virtue and prevention of vice does not endorse some practices.”

Al-Obaikan adds: “There are many people who aim for what is good, but do not reach their target. Therefore, we ought to draw up strong boundaries so that these people do not deviate from the organized shari`ah boundaries in field work.”

Call to abolishment of commission

Within the context of his talk about the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Shaykh Al-Obaikan proposes that the commission should be abolished and replaced by “Al-Hisbah [guarding against religious infringements] Ministry,” which should be delegated to perform other duties, such as collecting alms, and monitoring the prices.

Al-Obaikan justifies this by saying: “The commission should not be called with this name, because the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice is not the exclusive duty of one person and not the other.” He continues: “God Almighty says: `Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah [Sura Al Imran, from Verse 110].` Therefore, this is the duty of every Muslim according to his ability, capability, and guardianship, and is not at all the exclusive duty of an organization.”

Al-Obaikan stresses that this ministry should not be restricted to alerting people to perform prayers, or to improvising and hunting down some criminals; he says: “I would like them to undertake at least some of the missions mentioned by the scholars, such as monitoring the markets, because the work of these members is field work.”

Al-Obaikan says: “Their name is long (the General Chairmanship of the Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah), and the plaque is not sufficient. We ought to say: `this is Muhtasib` and the organization should be called Hisbah, because if you say `member of the commission`, there are many commissions.”

Al-Obaikan adds: “I propose that we change the name to become the name known in the books of the scholars and to turn this organization into a ministry to be calls `Ministry of Al-Hisbah.` If we want to make it a ministry, then its statutes ought to be revised, and it should be given powers and duties including collecting alms, and monitoring the prices.”

Al-Obaikan stresses that correcting the vice by hand is up to “those authorized who have been given the power by the guardian.” He says that describing the members as “Muhtasibs” is more correct, because they are working for the sake of God, and every Muslim is supposed to promote virtue and prohibit vice according to his abilities.

With regard to his proposal of a Ministry of Al-Hisbah, Al-Obaikan adds that he would like to participate in drawing up the Al-Hisbah system with the jurists and scholars of the promotion of virtue and prohibition of vice; moreover the organization ought to be consolidated by qualified employees so that the ministry can perform its duties at the required level.

It is well known that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is an official Saudi organization commissioned to implement the Al-Hisbah system, which is inspired by Islamic shari`ah, according to the Saudi religious viewpoint.

Abd-al-Muhsin al-Obaikan is well known for issuing fatwas that aroused a great deal of controversy in the Saudi society, especially with other ulema, such as allowing a woman to travel without a Mahrem [unmarriageable companion], allowing insurance, and other issues that have been considered to be axiomatic to some Saudi clerics."

Source: Elaph website, London, in Arabic 26 Aug 11

For once I agree wholeheartedly with a Saudi Sheikh. Change the name CPVPV and their job description! Train the muttawa before you let them on the loose to terrorize people and monitor them, especially the criminals! 

Ramadan- Favorite Month For Saudi Religious Police

Ramadan, the busiest season of the year for the members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) aka Saudi religious police force. I like to refer to them
more familiarly as the muttawa.

DISCLAIMER: This entire post is written in a sarcastic tone, tongue in cheek. For those readers that suffer from over-sensitivity and lack sense of humour, I recommend you don't read any further, because you might get offended :)

During Ramadan malls all over Riyadh will fill up with Saudis shopping until they drop (which would be around 3 am). What a better opportunity for the moral cops to get some serious moral enforcement done! If you don't know what Saudi religious police are read more here and find out some of my previous encounters with them here and here.

New toys for the bearded boys
Before the Holy Month the muttawa have been busy preparing their fleet of white GMC Suburbans in anticipation of making many new arrests. CPVPV recently received some (about 53 million dollars) bribery ahem sorry support money from the royal family and they were able to pimp their 600 rides with hi-tech anti-immorality gadgets. The GMC's now contain laptops, scanners, fax and copy machines and I bet a coffee machine and a plasma TV too.

Why is Ramadan such a fruitful time for muttawa?
Firstly because the pure numbers of immodestly dressed women and men at malls nearly triple compared to normal months. Uncovered faces, male-leggings (meggins), pink shirts on men, shorts, flashy abayas, high heels, t-shirts with the highest button left unbuttoned.

You name it- surely the muttawa will find it.

During daytime the religious police will be on the look out to catch foreigners secretly taking a sip of water or chewing gum in public places which is viewed as forbidden during Ramadan daylight hours (but only in Saudi-Arabia!)

Ramadan also enables easier entry to malls for single men who are normally unable to enter malls without a female (guardian). They might try to sneak into crowded malls by infiltrating into groups of women as fake brothers.

Special opportunities 
Food courts are another place of interest for the religious police since lots of haram mixing happens if the food court counters are not separated by screens. Women tend to remove their veils partially when eating in the closed family sections. This poses great potential for eager officers who've specialized in terrorizing dining females.

Women's clothing stores might have hidden dressing rooms in the back rooms and if found the muttawa have really hit the jackpot!
Another point of interest for muttawa are mirrors. Some shops for women's clothing actually hide mirrors behind the racks.

Religious cops are also keen to check on the abaya shops for anything with too much color or bling-bling on it. In other words, anything other than ALL BLACK is a big no-no. There is no point of going to the abaya shops when the CPVPV members are present at the mall (if looking for anything else than the standard all black version). Abaya salesmen are clever enough though and often manage to trick the muttawa by hiding the flashy abayas and scarves. Even the catalogs for the embroidery and sequins have magically disappeared.

Muttawa field trips
Just the other day the Saudi religious police force were having a blast at one their favorite hangouts Granada Mall, known to locals as "Gharnaata Moll". As my husband and I entered I noted the presence of not one but two CPVPV vehicles parked outside the entrance. I made a remark to my husband betting we will run into them inside the mall. I counted a staggering seven muttawa apprentices in addition to the Big Boss donning the black cape (bisht), all accompanied by one or two security officers. They were armed as if going into war.

We actually went to this mall specifically to check out the Saudi Cancer Society Photo Exhibition held there. Funny how they allowed that btw.

I took some pictures of the expo and before I could say "maashallah" I spotted the muttawa.

The commission members didn't seem to have any interest in the exhibition itself (although images of living things and art by Saudi women were on display and there was no segregation of sexes) but instead they were going in and out of stores checking for above mentioned forbidden things.

The bearded bullies enter a kids clothing shop 
The store we were in was packed with women and children when the joyous mood suddenly changed to silence and wary looks when a religious police officer entered with a mall security guy.

The bearded threat naturally did the most important thing first and went around telling all women to cover (all had niqab on). He then picked out one of the salesmen and took him to the back room with the visibly awkward mall security officer. Everyone in the store was quiet and the atmosphere was like being in a horror movie, will he return alive?

After they emerged (the clerk looked very pale) the commission officer approached my husband. He started interrogating him; name, family, tribe, workplace and so on. The muttawa had an issue with my husband's shorts, which were below the knee length and should be OK, but nevertheless were deemed inappropriate. The muttawa told my husband to immediately leave the mall! 
My husband did not take him seriously but politely promised not to wear them next time.

During this grilling session the security guy stood nearby looking extremely squirmy and embarrassed trying to motion for the commission member to leave to the store.

The muttawa ignored his request and then shifted his interest to me, asking my husband: "Why doesn't your wife have a niqab (face veil) on? Her face is exposed!" My husband replied: "What she is wearing is fine. What is your problem?"

The muttawa replied "Saudi men should keep their jewels hidden."
Hehehe. How nice to be called a jewel ;) And what was this exposed jewel doing during all this? Laughing to herself and snapping a pic of this silly situation.

So what happened to the salesman they harassed? The highest button on his T-shirt had been open and muttawa had given him a long lecture about it in the back room.

Interesting to see what the priorities of the CPVPV members seem to be during this Holy month.

The Return of the Naughty Little Elves

You have probably heard and read about Manal al Sharif and the ongoing heated debate on women driving ban. I haven't wanted to write about it after this post because the whole issue just seems to be so worn out. Of course I remain hopeful that Manal's example of courage would trigger some real results this time.
The way the Saudi media just beats around the bush on the issue is just so frustrating to me. I'm tired of reading their crappy coverage and outright lies. And its just incomprehensible to me how religious clerics continue to come up with the most ridiculous excuses as to why women shouldn't drive. And yet again they have gone and blamed it all on the Shiia and other scapegoats. And people actually believe them!
I'm so bored of reading all the crap the media feeds us! They might have just as well written a fairytale about it and not even bothered to write anything else. It might have gone something like this:

A fairytale from the Magic Kingdom..

Starring: Manal Al Sharif as "Princess Lionheart "
             Shiias, Jews and Westerners as "the Elves"
             Religious clerics and Hai'a as "The Evil Wizards"
             Saudis as "The Fools"

Once upon a time in the Magic Kingdom there lived a Princess named Lionheart, she was known for being very couragous and smart.
One morning the Princess woke up full of enthusiasm: "Today I shall ride my carriage outside the walls of my castle, why do they have to make life for women such a hassle?" 
"I can rein my horses inside where its hidden, but why when I venture out is it forbidden?"
The more the Princess thought about this nonsense, she became convinced now was the time to make the women driving ban past tense.
She knew quite well that the Evil Wizards would say "woman, how do you dare!" But the Princess thought of all the poor women that suffered and did not care.
So on she went, with her brother in tow. The children were seated in the backrow.
She rode her golden carriage, and showed all the people her tremendous courage.
But all hope was lost when the guards came, she was stopped and put to shame.
Why, she asked do you stop me, have the Evil Wizards cast a spell on thee?

Back at the palace in the dark of the night, the guards of the Evil Wizards had heard of her fight.
They dragged the Princess into jail, and her plees for freedom were of no avail.
She was asked to confess to the Evil Wizards, but she couragously replied  "I would rather eat lizards!"
For five days she lay on the dungeon floor, only food was brought to her door.
The Wizards were worried and dreaded, could their spell on the Magic Kingdom be beheaded?
They had cast the spell of darkness over the Kingdom long ago, now they were in danger to be exposed by this foe!
"We must again blame the elves, those naughty little elves, it's the only way to save ourselves!"
"They will believe it again those fools, look how we already fiddled with their schools!"

So the Evil Wizards told the people of the Magic Kingdom:
The elves only want to cause chaos and turmoil! Thank us that we keep them away from our soil!

They have done it again. Those sneaky, naughty little elves!
They managed to creep into the castle of the Princess! Hear her now how she will confess!
"The elves tiptoed at night into my room, because I am a poor woman without a groom."
"They whispered into my ears when I slept, this is a secret best to be kept: Go and ride your carriage outside the palace walls! Do it on June 17th and drive to malls! Tell others to follow you! Do this and no harm will come to you! You will enjoy riding in your carriage outside in the freedom! What a perfect magical Kingdom!"
"I had no understanding of my actions, I am but a foolish woman that wanted male attraction."


So the fools believed the lies of the Wizards and all was well in the Magic Kingdom, but Princess Lionheart remained locked up in the dungeon.
To this day her voice can be heard in the tower, "You will never break my spirit and women will one day take power!"
And the Evil Wizards laughed into their beards, we rule the Magic Kingdom by creating these fears!

Read about the story from Saudiwomans blog http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/second-update-on-manal-al-sherif/

 or Susies blog: http://susiesbigadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/manal-gets-another-10-days-for-her.html