The troublemakers are religious figures who are given free reign in Saudi, Qatar. And yes also in Iran but one has to start solving the problem, now it would be nice to hear about their execution instead. The great Nasser dealt well with the problem
The clergy in the GCC is state-controlled. This is also the case with all mosques. They have rules to follow. The troublemakers are usually those that act on their own whether Sunni or Shia. Or if they cross the line in general when controversial/heated/political topics are discussed. If they cross the line they will receive punishments of various sorts or sanctions. In fact the power of the religious police and the clergy has been diminishing in the past few years in KSA.
You would not be seeing news like this for instance if that was not the case and 100's of other examples that I could give:
Women in Riyadh feel more at ease without niqab
Understanding change
Nov 18, 2016
Rawan Al-Wabel
By Dina Al-Shibeeb
THE land-locked Saudi capital Riyadh has long been culturally conservative in comparison to other areas in the Kingdom requiring its women to cover their faces with what it is known as niqab. But women there no longer feel fully obliged to move around its streets covering their faces with a veil known as the niqab, now considered by many as non-mandatory requirement in Islam anyways.
Instead, more and more women are opting to wear the Islamic veil that covers the hair known as hijab, sometimes even with strands of their hair showing, combined with colorful abayas or cloaks instead of the traditional black color.
“I know families [in Riyadh], the eldest sibling could not wear hijab alone — she had to wear niqab, but the youngest sister can now walk even without a scarf on her hair in some places,” Rawan Al-Wabel, a mother of three and a healthcare worker, told Al Arabiya English.
Women sit in a cafe in Riyadh.
Al-Wabel says women in Riyadh now can walk even without a scarf to cover their hair in some places.
Wabel, who is also a columnist, has long enjoyed the cultural freedom of a being a modest Muslim woman, wearing her hijab and not niqab, as she originally hails from Dammam, the capital of the Eastern Province.
“I have been living in Riyadh for the last four years, but I am the daughter of Dammam,” she said. “In Dammam, it was much easier to be a hijabi,” attributing her home city’s much liberal climate due to its “diversity” where “people come from different areas.”
With the intermingling spurring more of a freer space in Dammam, the port city of Jeddah, a gateway for pilgrimages to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, “is the most liberal,” Wabel said, where “one could see Saudi ladies without scarfs over their heads.”
Asked if women in Riyadh are becoming bolder in their dressing like their eastern and western counterparts in the Kingdom, Najla Al-Sulaiman, 30, told Al Arabiya English, “Of course.”
People in the capital are becoming “bolder, and more accepting,” said Sulaiman, who works as a compliance manger in an international bank in Riyadh.
Sulaiman, who has did a Master’s in the United States from 2011 till 2015, said “the difference through the three years was extremely striking” when she returned to Riyadh. “You see more colorful abayas, more women who are not covering their faces.”
Sulaiman, who does not wear hijab when traveling outside Saudi Arabia like many other compatriot women, said: “While the overwhelming majority are still covering the hair, I have seen girls without head scarfs.”
“Before, when we used to see girls wearing really bright colors and not wearing veil to cover their hair, we used to feel surprised,” she added. “But now we see this and not at all feel surprised.”
Nouf Al-Wabel, 33, who works in the human resources sector in Riyadh, said the “change itself is in wearing more colors and not just black.”
“While there are women, who wear the traditional abaya with hair showing,” they are “still not the majority in Riyadh,” she said.
“We see it in hospitals, medical centers, and banks,” she added. “The change is happening in media, and media is changing many people.”
This “noticeable change,” however, cannot be “generalized all over Riaydh,” said Sulaiman, who nevertheless dons her trendy abaya with colors ranging from baby blue to beige and brown, and head scarf not to be an “oddball.”
“There are parts of Riyadh more modern than others,” said Sulaiman. “When I go to south of Riyadh or other areas in the capital, status quo is still there.”
The compliance manager is from northern Riyadh, considered “more modern.”
But with all the changes, Sulaiman still feels “surprised” if she sees a woman not wearing abaya.
Like her, the human resources employee Wabel also concurred that it is “strange” to see a woman not clad in abaya.
Different cultures coming together, whether it is Saudi Arabians coming from different parts of the Kingdom or expats, social media, globalization or women going to work and earning their own income, are all factors these women consider behind the change.
A law passed by the Saudi cabinet in April, which restricts the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, often referred as “the Haia” to pursue and arrest violators, has also helped.
“The law passed has helped but it was not an obstacle earlier,” the columnist said. “Before, women did not prefer to appear when they [the Haia] were present.”
Sulaiman said “people were leaning toward being bolder, more courageous which led to the formulation of the law,” dubbing it as a “request.”
Nouf Al-Wabel also said college girls now enjoy far more freedom than her time when she graduated in 2007, as now they could leave their campus with their faces uncovered, although there are colleges that mandate young women to cover their faces.
“This is a far cry from my time,” she said, remembering her high school days when it used to be drilled into them how niqab was compulsory, that it became almost “holy.”
“But we started reading and learning as we grow older, and we started comparing with other cultures,” she said. “I have realized that moderation is the way to go, and it will always succeed.”
For her, a Saudi woman is far more “protected with good morals than a piece of cloth on her face,” stressing that modesty begins from within.
http://saudigazette.com.sa/saudi-arabia/women-riyadh-feel-ease-without-niqab/
Anyway those Wilayat al-Faqih clerics in Bahrain should not be executed but it should be made clear to them that their ideas are not accepted and that they will not be accepted. A very small minority within Bahrain supports this ideology and system so to try and change the current system using violence is pointless. Besides Bahrain is a liberal country for the standards of the MENA region. Won't succeed. Alcohol is legal in Bahrain for instance, night clubs are widely available etc.
The solution is simple. Monitoring and dealing with bad apples. This can be done more lightly or more harshly depending on the case.
There are many good clerics in KSA and only a minority are of dubious quality.
In KSA quite a few clerics are in fact highly educated (engineers, doctors, lawyers etc.) people who also engage in other fields.
A good example:
https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/خالد_الجبير
https://twitter.com/khaled_Aljubair?lang=da
http://www.heartdes.net/en/default.aspx
https://twitter.com/khalid_aljubair?lang=da
Khaled al-Jubeir.
A professor of cardiology and a heart surgeon. He has been a doctor for almost 40 years. Published much work internationally as well.
However if you judged him by the looks you would probably believe that he was a "Wahhabi". So generalizing makes no sense.
One of my favorite clerics. Great person. He is also related to Adel al-Jubeir another masterclass.
