SAUDI Arabia’s second biggest industry – the first being oil – must surely be the production of mad Muslim clerics.
As soon as one utters a fatuous fatwa, another dozen or so clerics – candidates all for the bughouse -Â clamour from behind to utter something even more foolish.
This is the sort of provocative look the mad mullah wants stamped out in Saudi Arabia. The brazen chicks showing ID cards in this picture are, in fact, Pakistanis
Latest in line is Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan, who has called on women to stop being so brazen as to reveal both their eyes from under a full veil or niqab.
One eye, he said, is more than sufficient, according to this BBC report. The two-eyed look is far too seductive, as it encourages women to use eye make-up.
Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric with a distinctly cock-eyed view of women, is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis. He was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd.
Must have been the Saudi version of Loose Women.
His fatwa prompted Amit Varma of the Indiauncut blog to pen the loopy cleric the following open letter.
Dear Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan
BBC reports that you have recently called on women in Saudi Arabia to “wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.” You say that “showing both eyes encourage[s] women to use eye make-up to look seductive.”
I believe, sir, that showing only one eye will make matters worse. You see, whenever a woman and a man are together and the woman blinks, the man might think that she is winking. Is the hidden eye open or closed? If it is assumed to be normally open, then a momentary closing of the visible eye could be assumed to be a wink. If it is assumed to be normally closed, then the woman may be considered to be perpetually winking, which is equally problematic.
I have an alternative solution to your problem. I suggest that you introduce veils for men that cover both their eyes. That way it will make no difference if the women are winking, blinking or, heaven forbid, naked.
Good idea, no? You’re welcome.
The sheikh’s comments follow the loopy pronouncement last month by Saudi cleric Muhammad Al-Munajid, who condemned Micky Mouse as “one of Satan’s soldiers”.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
October 14th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Yeah, what do they need depth perception for anyway?
Clearly Habadan has been out in the sun too long.
October 14th, 2008 at 8:43 am
The obvious solution (duh!) is to poke one eye out, preferably when the girl is nice and small and unable to fight back or run away. It can be done at the same time as that other pious mutilation Muslim men find so attractive.
And why not lop off a limb or two, or at least a few digits, just to be on the safe side? We wouldn’t want the weaker sex to lure good Muslim men into the ways of Satan by suddenly revealing a delicate, five-fingered hand or – Allah forbid – a full set of five cute little toes!
Aaarggh! I must take a cold shower, then say my prayers to the Lecherous Misogynistic Bastard in the Sky – Blessed Be He.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
i want it imposed –its the only way i could get a woman to wink at me
October 15th, 2008 at 10:17 am
But if they take away their depth perception, how is a woman supposed to know they are walking the regualtion distance behind their man ?
Sounds to me like this guy gets a boner every time he sees a woman, and is too immature to do anything about it himself, so wants instead to convert women into amorphous shapes so he doesn’t have to keep dashing off to “bash the bishop” !!
Rog
October 15th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I thought it was the men who were the “winkers”.
December 24th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Well, pirates wore eyepatches so if they got into a situation where they had to fight in the dark, they could switch the eyepatch over and their one eye would be already adjusted. Maybe the Saudi women could arrange something similar and become a prominent crime-stopping force in the country, hunting down promiscuous women of the night.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Will extremist Muslims ever leave the Middle Ages behind?
December 31st, 2009 at 5:35 am
Get your story straight. No Muslim cleric ever said Mickey Mouse is a soldier of “satan” He was talking about rats in general and how they caused plagues in the middle ages. There’s even a youtube video on it, look it up.
The rest of it I agree with though, it’s pretty hilarious.
August 27th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Personally I feel Saudi men think the way they do because they have been living in such extreme heat in the desert for generations and generations and it has just literally fried the part of the male brain the monitors normal,rational and sane thinking as far as the female sex is concerned.When you think about it you will start to feel the same way,I mean with each passing year and each generation the way Saudi men think about and regard women just gets more and more ludicrous.Thats my opinion anyway. But what does that count for… I am just a woman!
September 17th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
I know that no one wants to bother reading the actual ruling given, but, it is really not irrational. First, it assumes the minority religious opinion that the niqab is wajib (mandatory) for all adult Muslim women as opposed to the majority opinion that it is wajib to cover everything except the face and hands while it is mustahaab (a highly recommended and blessed action) to wear the niqab. Second, it takes into account the long standing tradition of ultra pious women only leaving one eye uncovered so as to be able to see where they are going. Third, it addresses a real and growing social problem in Saudi Arabia of young women using extreme forms of eye makeup (vibrantly colored eye shadows, glitter, sequins, etc.) to attract sexual attention from men, which is exactly what the niqab is designed to prevent.
I have studies briefly with some of the top Saudi religious scholars including the Grand Mufti, members of the Council of Senior Scholars and Permanent Committee for Fatwa and Research, and while I do not agree with a lot of their opinions, they are highly rational, lucid and pious men. Their logic and intellectual integrity is unsurpassed and worthy of respect even if you disagree with their religious beliefs.