Samar Al-Miqrin

Al Jazeera

 

There is something that you see every now and then at malls and in public places in Riyadh. A woman will often criticize another woman if she does not like the way the woman is wearing her abaya or if the woman is wearing an abaya that is unlike the one worn by the first woman.



Sometimes, harsh words are exchanged and in some cases things can develop into a heated argument. Another frequent sight is of a man who sees a woman on the street and feels sexually aroused.



He then proceeds to criticize the woman in the form of offering her advice. We occasionally see and hear about such incidents.



To date, there is no legal mechanism that prevents such occurrences. What makes these volunteer Dawah (the act of preaching Islam) activists who are ordinary people think that they have the absolute freedom to criticize others and dish out advice about what others wear? We already have the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) and its members are the ones authorized by the government to criticize what women wear when they go to malls.



Promoting a virtue and preventing a vice is a wise thing that should not be restricted or reduced to how women look and what they should wear.



It is wrong to think of it like that. Every one of us can promote virtue and prevent vice using different ways without criticizing or attacking anyone.



We can fight negative practices or traditions by educating people about them. If we see a woman beating her child in public, we should advise against that.



In this case, our act falls under the promotion of virtue. The same thing holds true for people who do not respect traffic rules or who throw litter on the street.



In a nutshell, acts of promoting virtue and preventing vice vary and are not restricted to what women wear or the color of their hijab (headscarf).



Restricting such acts to women’s hijabs reflects the superficiality of the criticizer. Women’s clothes do not harm society nor do they threaten national unity and security.



When some members of the public become Haia members, many mistakes occur. Anyone who thinks that he can change people’s behavior by criticizing them and infringing on their freedom is dangerous to society.



Such acts cause chaos. If we look around, we will see that people follow basic Shariah rules and respect social norms and traditions when it comes to what they wear.



If you do not like the way someone is dressed, you do not have the right to criticize them, let alone the right to infringe on their privacy.



We need a law that prohibits people from interfering in the affairs of others.