Saudi Arabia has banned the color red for Valentine's Day!
"As Muslims we shouldn't celebrate a non-Muslim celebration, especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women, " Sheikh Khaled Al-Dossari, a scholar in Islamic studies, told the Saudi Gazette, an English-language newspaper.
Every year, officials with the conservative Muslim kingdom's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice clamp down on shops a few days before February 14, instructing them to remove red roses, red wrapping paper, gift boxes and teddy bears. On the eve of the holiday, they raid stores and seize symbols of love.
The virtue and vice squad is a police force of several thousand charged with, among other things, enforcing dress codes and segregating the sexes. Saudi Arabia, which follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism, punishes unrelated women and men who mingle in public.
Do some culture wading before you write up your dissertations.
I am a Muslim too and this is not entirely true, Radin. One Muslim should not tell another Muslim (or any other person from any religion, for that matter) that they don't have faith. It is true that Islam requires deep devotion, but it's a devotion between you and God alone; He is the only judge of character.
In the Qur'an itself, several verses mention that one should consistently focus on his/her own rightful actions and purifying one's own heart. If we judge other people or try to force others to act in a certain way, it hurts our relationships with people and can distract us from improving our own faith.
It's unfortunate that some so-called "conservative Muslims" around the world don't fully actualize all of the ideals in the Qur'an they claim to know so well. If we looked at all of the book and not just parts, you'll find that Islam is a balanced religion. It's the practice of Islam by Muslims today that is flawed, but then again, all of us are less than ideal in our own respects.
I, too, believe that these restrictions made by Saudi officials are ridiculous. I appreciate that some of you aren't judging the whole of Muslims by this stuff, though, even though I know it's hard to be open-minded after hearing things like this.