The BBC reported earlier his month that religious police and commerce officials in Saudi Arabia were cracking down on what they thought were risque abayas.
The abaya, of course, is a head to toe black cloth government that women are required by law to wear in Saudi Arabia.
Officials in Saudi Arabia confiscated 82,000 abayas on the grounds that they were indecent because they contained decorations or they were not thick enough. According to an Arab News report,
The confiscated cloaks were found to be revealing, tight and carried drawings and decorations in violation of a fatwa, or religious ruling, which requires that “decent women?s cloaks” should also be thick and open from the front only.
These abayas are reportedly becoming popular with women in urban areas of Saudi Arabia. Thank goodness that country has a Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to prevent women from wearing loose fitting black head to toe garments.
Sources:
82,000 ?indecent? abayas seized from major cities. Arab News, May 6, 2002.
Saudi Arabia bans ‘indecent’ cloaks. The BBC, May 5, 2002.