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| {{Politics of Saudi Arabia}} | |||
| The '''Mutaween''' ('''مطوعين''' in ]) (variant English spellings: mutawwain, muttawa, mutawallees, mutawa’ah, mutawi’; better use mutawwa' since the w is stressed by tashdîd in Arabic script and the ' represents the Arabic letter 'ain) are the government -authorized or -recognized '''religious police''' (or clerical ] or public order police) who enforce varied interpretations of ] within ] ] (in which the governments are either directly controlled by, or fall significantly under the influence of, ]). | |||
| In contrast to the legislatively-restrained police forces of ] ], Islamist religious police have broad and arbitrary discretionary powers of surveillance and entry to property, detention and interrogation of suspects, and, in some places, summary judgment and execution of punishment for perceived violations of Sharia. While nominally tasked with disciplining ]s, religious police are less tolerant with non-Muslims. | |||
| ===Term origin=== | |||
| "Mutawwa'în" (plural; sing. mutawwa') originally referred solely to ]'s infrastructure of ] and enforcement of ] tenets; but the ] ] "mutaween" has gained increasing use as an ''']''' indicating any religious-policing organization in an Islamic nation with at least some government recognition or deference, ranging from official state bureaucracies to unabashed terrorist enforcers aligned to powerful local clerics (e.g., the Komité and more militant ] and Pasejis all simultaneously exist in ]). Recently (2005), "mutaween" has appeared to describe the enforcement of Sharia by autonomous groups within Muslim enclaves located inside secular nations, and has also entered the ] of ] ] as a ] ] describing politicized, non-Islamic religious groups. | |||
| ===Mutaween in Saudi Arabia=== | |||
| The Saudi Arabian Mutaween are tasked with enforcing Sharia as defined by the government; purportedly the ] "comprises more than 3,500 officers plus thousands of volunteers...often accompanied by a police escort" who have the power to arrest unrelated males and females caught socializing, enforce Islamic dress-codes, prayer schedules, and ] prohibiting the comsumption or sale of ]s and ], and seize banned consumer products and media regarded as "un-Islamic" (such as CDs/DVDs of various Western musical groups, television shows and film). Additionally, they actively prevent the practice or proselytizing of other religions within Saudi Arabia, where such is banned., | |||
| The Saudi ''mutaween'' recently launched a website where people can anonymously report tips about "un-Islamic" activities within that country. | |||
| A notorious incident attributed to the Saudi ''mutaween'' occurred on March 11, 2002, when they prevented schoolgirls from escaping a burning school in ] -- because the girls were not wearing headscarves and ''abayas'' (black robes). Fifteen girls died and 50 were injured as a result. There was widespread public criticism afterwards, both internationally and within Saudi Arabia itself. | |||
| There is also widespread criticism of ] as a means of punishment. | |||
| ===See also=== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ===References=== | |||
| * ''"A Catholic Indian priest had just celebrated mass in a private house , when seven religious policemen (muttawa) broke into the house.... The Saudi religious police are well known for their ruthlessness; they often torture believers of other religions who are arrested. AsiaNews sources said there were around 400,000 Indian Catholics in Saudi Arabia who were denied pastoral care. Catholic foreigners in the country number at least one million: none of them can participate in mass while they are in Saudi Arabia. Catechism for their children – nearly 100,000 – is banned."'' AsiaNews, April 10, 2006 | |||
| * BBC, March 15, 2002 | |||
| * Middle East Media Research Institute, January 19, 2004 | |||
| * NY Sun, May 2, 2005 | |||
| * | |||
| *, BBC, November 4, 2002 | |||
| * {{ar icon}} | |||
| * | |||
| ===External links=== | |||
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Latest revision as of 04:10, 13 April 2019
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