Mutawa Menace

Mutawas, the ruthless and primitive religious police of Saudi Arabia are a rule unto themselves. Joy C Raphael’s book on the mutawas and their modus operandi is an eye-opener.

BY A CORRESPONDENT

Ever heard of the mutawas? You may have heard something about the much-feared faith police of Saudi Arabia from your friends there. Or you may have read a bit here and there in the media or in books about the faith police spreading terror in the desert kingdom. There’s much, much more to know about them and their atrocities.

Who are they? What is their ‘holy mission”? How do they operate? “Mutawas: Saudi Arabia’s Dreaded Religious Police”, written by Joy C. Raphael (joycraphael@yahoo.com), who worked for 14 years in that country, provides answers to all these questions and tells a lot more.

Published by Turtle Books, an imprint of Zen Publications (zenpublications@gmail.com), “Mutawas: Saudi Arabia’s Dreaded Religious Police” is the first-ever book focusing solely on these ‘supreme guardians of public morality’ in the oil-soaked desert kingdom.

Offshoots of Islam’s Wahabi ideology, the mutawas — dressed in ankle-length white robes and chequered red and white head dress minus the circular black band on the head that all Saudis wear, are
everywhere in Saudi Arabia. Christians and Hindus are their primary targets. So are Islamic sects, like the Shiites, Sufis and Ahmediyas. Even liberal Sunni Muslims are in the mutawas’ crosshairs.

The great game of the mutawas is conversion. Those not converting voluntarily are coerced or blackmailed into converting by them or their agents. Mutawas also dangle financial baits to lure the
faithless to convert to Islam. The result: over the years, thousands of Hindus and Christians have gone over to Islam against their will.

Viswanath’s conversion is a case in point. The razing of the Babri Masjid, in the early 1990s, saw anti-Hindu sentiments rising to a crescendo in Saudi Arabia. Thousands of Hindus were summarily dismissed from jobs and expelled from the country. The sacking orders for Vishwanath, working for a prominent Riyadh computer firm, soon reached his table. In panic, he rushed to his boss.

“If you convert to Islam, you can save your job,” the boss coldly told him.

Seeing no other way out, since he had a huge housing loan to repay back in India, Vishwanath opted to convert.

There are thousands of Vishwanaths in Saudi Arabia today.

The mutawas are in every nook and cranny of Saudi Arabia. Do not pray if you are a Christian or Hindu. The mutawas are watching you. Do not watch porn films. The mutawas have their ears to your door. Do not talk to an unmarried member of the opposite sex. The mutawas’ eyes are alert. Do not drink. The mutawas are sniffing everywhere for the smell of liquor.

The mutawas, functioning under the Department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, are not alone in zealously guarding virtue in Saudi Arabia – the civilian police assists them. And they have spies among the expatriates, working for financial gains.

The mutawas are a rock-solid institution in Saudi Arabia. Mutawas: Saudi Arabia’s Dreaded Religious Police is an eye-opener which can shock you.