A new convert to Islam, fired with zeal to do a righteous act, had no idea that he would pay a heavy price for helping a sick woman, one that has landed him 50 days and counting behind bars.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice found him guilty for committing a crime: Being in the presence of a woman who is not a relative (a so-called “illegal state of seclusion”).
Ibrahim Mohammed Lawal, a Nigerian student of Islamic studies at Badiya Islamic Center in Riyadh, learned that his neighbor, a 63-year-old woman, was indisposed and needed medical attention. So he took her to various hospitals in Riyadh, including the Riyadh Medical Complex at Shumaisy, all of which refused to treat her. It was only after the intervention of Sheikh Fawaz, director of Badiya Islamic Center, that the Badiya Hospital admitted the case. Despite the charitable act Mohammed ended up in detention, accused of immoral behavior because he was neither married nor related by blood to the elderly woman.
But before Mohammad can go anywhere, he has to figure out why he is in prison and how to get out. Mohammed, who embraced Islam recently, said he was unable to understand the reason behind his continued detention.
“I wanted to do a good thing for a woman who was sick, and this is what I get in return,” he said. “I lost the support of my family in Nigeria, where my wife and children are upset with me — and here I am languishing in prison.”
So the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice found him guilty for committing a crime, the crime of doing charity to a neighbour, the crime of obeying the Prophet, the crime of doing a good deed. This is not the first time they have caused havoc. Remember years ago when they prevented the rescue of the girls from a burning school resulting in the death of 15 girls in the most horrible way? All that because they were not veiled properly? Remember the many death in their detention? And many other cases that are buried in the drawers.
At least now they are getting the first case against them: A Saudi civil court is getting ready to hear the first ever case brought against the religious police, known as the Muttawa. The unnamed woman wants compensation after she and her daughter were allegedly wrongfully arrested in a car park of a shopping center in 2004 for "not wearing decent clothing," her lawyer, Abderraham al-Lahm, said.
Hats off to that woman!!!
Looks like the Saudi interior ministry which has told the kingdom's controversial religious police force not to overstep its authority after the deaths of several people in its custody is talking to a bunch of deaf officers.
Perhaps - as a preliminary step - they should to change their name to the Commission of Promoting Vice and Preventing Virtue.
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