Blind Faith

Mutawas throws light on the bigoted religious police in the Holy Land of Saudi Arabia

On October 4, 2009, international media reported that a Saudi cleric, Sheikh Saad bin Nasser al-Shithri was removed from Saudi Arabia’s Council of Senior Clerics. Reason: He had opposed gender-mixing at King Abdullah Science and Technology University, the first co-ed institution in the Desert Kingdom. King Abdullah, the country’s ruler, has been battling opposition from within the deeply fundamentalist ranks of Wahabis in his own country for a while. This time, he had his way. But, the setback for fundamentalism is still the exception, not the rule.

Joy C Raphael’s book Mutawas, Saudi Arabia’s Dreaded Religious Police, tells the story of the origins of the country’s religious Gestapo, and how they have become an integral part of the Saudi society. Speckled with terrifying real-life stories and observations on the way of the Saudi religious police, Mutawas is an eye-opener for outsiders dazzled by gleaming minarets and oil wealth of Saudi Arabia.

Raphael, who spent 14 years of his career as a journalist in Saudi Arabia, grew curious about the working of the Mutawas ever since he set foot in the Holy Land. Over the duration of his stay in Saudi Arabia – he later moved to other, more humane countries in the Middle East – he collected information about the religious police, finally leading to the birth of Mutawas, published by Turtle Books, an imprint of Zen Publications.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Prophet Mohammed, is the land of Wahabism. Muhamed Abdul Wahab entrenched his Islamic fundamentalist ideals on the desert nation with a wedding alliance with the ruler of Saudi Arabia. This means that the ruler of Saudi Arabia is the moral guardian of Wahabism, one of the most primitive forms of Holy Islam. Iqawan, an early band of religious zealots were the forerunners of Mutawas.

Supported by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mutawas have a free run in the Saudi society, with forced conversions, physical assaults and personal espionage. In Saudi Arabia, women are prevented from exposing any part of their body, and are expected to be in long body-enveloping black gowns. Men and women are segregated, and even married couples are not allowed to be together in public. Women are no allowed to drive. There are no movie theatres in Saudi Arabia, though a flourishing market in pirated movie CDs survives. Worshipping false gods of Christianity, Hinduism and
Sikhism are barred, and even keeping a crucifix, a picture of Guru Nanak or a statuette if Lord Ram can attract jail terms and lashings. Beheadings are reserved for more serious crimes, and are not uncommon. And lording over this fundamentalism mechanism are the menacing Mutawas, who consider it their sacred duty to keep the Holy Land “pure”.

Technically, Mutawas have no powers to police: they are supposed to inform the police when they spot violations of morality. They are not expected to enter homes, or conduct searches. However, these rules are observed more in the breach. Except Riyadh’s diplomatic quarters which are out of bounds for the religious zealots, no place in Saudi Arabia is safe from the tentacles of the marauding Mutawas.

Mutawas are dressed similar to most Saudis – in ankle-length robe, with a head-scarf, but no black band. They have long beards, and wear leather sandals. Moving around in the residential and commercial nooks and crannies of Riyadh’s busy entrails in their large GMC Suburbans, they spread fear in the hearts of even god-fearing Saudis, and most expatriates in the city. After numerous complaints from foreign diplomats and wealthy Saudis, Mutawas were put through a training
programme in the past, but that has served little to reform the Wahabi bigots. Joy Raphael narrates the true-life tales of several Indians, Filipinos and westerners who fell afoul of the Mutawas, and had to pay dearly for their indiscretion.

Apart from watching over public morality, Mutawas also have a sacred duty to convert as many non-Muslims to their own faith – they call it reversion. Wahabis believe that everyone is born a Muslim, and some are then distracted and misled to worshipping false gods. Reversion will bring them back to the right path. Non-Muslim expatriates are forced to convert through threats, blandishments and outright bribing. One expat coming back to Saudi Arabia from Cairo was stopped at
Immigration and asked to convert to Islam because “Muslims are good. Very good. Your religion not good.” Those who struggle to make a living in Saudi Arabia to support families at home acquiesce, or at least do not object. Some workers are arbitrarily terminated from their work, and asked to convert if they have to continue in the country. If they do agree and change faiths, they receive cash gifts, salary hikes and favorable treatment.

Many expats work as spies for the Mutawas – some for financial gains, some out of religious conviction. They move around in expat circles, feeding inside information to the religious police.

There have been occasional, half-hearted attempts to reform Mutawas, but to little avail. Joy Raphael’s book throws light on the dark deeds of the Mutawas and what drives them. The cleric who poured scorn on co-education at King Abdullah University may have landed in trouble, but Saudi Arabia is still far from leaving the Middle Ages, where the Mutawas feel they truly belong.