This article was in Al Riyadh newspaper on Thursday and I fully expected it to be translated and published in Arab News on Friday. As it hasn’t been, I thought I would do the honors:
A Saudi citizen, Al Qahtani, has requested that the authorities open an investigation with members of the PVPV, Badi’ah Branch, accusing them of assaulting him and tearing his clothes after he had dropped off his wife at a local mall.
Al Qahtani told the authorities that his wife had wanted to meet up with her family at a mall west of Riyadh and after he dropped her off he went to a nearby grocery shop where he was accosted by a group of men and pulled outside. They forced him into a car that had the PVPV logo on it.
Al Qahtani added that they then took him back to the mall where he had left his wife and during the trip they insulted him and called him names that he alleged should never come from a Muslim man’s mouth. At the mall, they forcefully pulled his wife outside amid her screams and a gathering crowd. They then interrogated us.
The PVPV members then took Al Qahtani to their Badiah offices and confiscated his car, mobile and wallet. They examined and searched the contents of each.
When the PVPV members finally figured out that they were wrong, the assailants warned Al Qahtani to not report the incident to the papers and one of the members even admitted that he had just finished a course in how to interact with the public.
Al Qahtani requests through this article that the General President of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ahumain investigate the matter and hold the assailants accountable for how they treated him and his wife. He added that his wife is now traumatized since the incident.
It should be noted that the citizen filed an official complaint at the Police Department against the individuals who assaulted him. And in turn, Riyadh Newspaper contacted PVPV Badi’ah Branch and could not get any response.
The comments on the newspaper website were 951. I glanced quickly through them and noticed a shift in that previously when such incidents are reported the majority of the comments were made by zealous fans of the PVPV who would go as far as blame those who write negatively about the PVPV for the bad weather because God is punishing us for criticizing the PVPV. And there are some who believe that the PVPV are the extension or at the same level as the Sahaba, the Prophet’s (PBUH) companions. These people did ot have the usual strong presence but there were a few who are in denial regarding the PVPV’s behaviour. They write that either the assailants were not PVPV but men posing as PVPV to dirty their reputation and others wrote that Al Qahtani has to have done something wrong, otherwise these men would not have done this. But I was happy to see that even those who seem like extreme fundamentals have started to write that we should hold PVPV individuals accountable.
I don’t know what really happened but I don’t think that Al Qahtani would take it this far if he had been lying or even exaggerating. I do know of a friend of mine who was out at a fast food restaurant with her brother for dinner and the PVPV refused to believe that they were brother and sister and took them to the PVPVheadquarters where their father had to come and get them. They were not physically harmed but it was distressing to have to prove that they were siblings just because they wanted a quick bite to eat. And a relative of mine has been interrogated several times at coffee shops whenever he takes his wife out. What my friend and my relative’s wife have in common is that both do like to dress in expensive and embroidered abayas and they both did not have young children with them. So maybe that was what caused the PVPV in Al Qahtani’s case to jump to conclusions.
Saudiwoman's Weblog 
I am perplexed at this group’s behaviour- a Saudi women would rarely want to go out without a family member; a Saudi brother would normally take his sister where she needs to; A Saudi husband and wife have every right to go out together where they please… So what can be done with the some times automatic assumption that two people of the opposite sex together in public are almost always viewed by this group as being in a compromising predicament!?
Its a double standard that I have yet to understand… If all women were out on their own; always seen on their own; maybe (naitivity on my part), just maybe the event would be less of an impact- meaning you get used to people being where they are…
But this constant “hiding” seems to be like pointing a flash light in the dark and saying that what was found was found because of the flash light- not- it was there all the time you just happened to focuse on it…
If a brother and sister can’t prove they are what they are in a society where women are viewed as separate and apart- it only helps to break the bonds of family in that subtle way that shows up when your brother will refuse to take you for a bite to eat because he knows he may be put upon for having you with him; or in the embarrassment of a Father having to pick his kids at the station; never mind that it was because they were having a bit in public- or utter outrage of a man who is pleasing his wife by dropping her off at the mall to meet up with her family and friends- it seems another subtle way to scare the populace into seclusion for even the most basic of things…
Thoughts and sorry for the long post.
I have been stopped by the PVPV, aka the Muttawa. My husband and I are a western couple, with no kids, and we’re located in the Eastern Province. The guy who stopped us wasn’t rude…but just being stopped was an insult. Once they realized I was American…he kinda just let us go. We didn’t even show proof of marriage.
It’s simple…as long as the Saudi people allow the PVPV to exist…it will…as long as they allow then to have power…they will.
Thank you for sharing and translating this article, I was also very interested in your summary of the comments.
This bit I think is especially fascinating: ”one of the members even admitted that he had just finished a course in how to interact with the public.”
Me and Mr. Man (the husband) were stopped too. After having lunch on our way to Jarirs with no kids the guy followed us in the car. He was nice about it, Mr. Man was used to it he has had to prove he was related to a few of his sisters in Jeddah growing up. I was offended because I only have to assume why he stopped us and that was the color of our skin. And I would say that is true in the case of BCIS and Mr. Man with his sisters (all of whom are lighter than him)… but another issue I suppose.
what strikes me as so ironic is that a Muslim is supposed to think the best of another Muslim, give them the whole 70 excuses ect ect. But the job of the PVPV tends to be to think the absolute worst of everyone.. how contrary to the religion they say they are there to uphold.
As Nzingha Said:
“what strikes me as so ironic is that a Muslim is supposed to think the best of another Muslim, give them the whole 70 excuses ect ect. But the job of the PVPV tends to be to think the absolute worst of everyone.. how contrary to the religion they say they are there to uphold.”
I could not state it any better.
Aaah for some reason i’ve been forgeting the ‘P’ in my nickname in many of my posts today :S
its simple Saudi not simle Saudi :p
Salam
As long as there is not a clear rules for them(PVPV),they won’t stop. There should be a clear policy, direction, and supervison from the government.
It’s frightening how much power these people have… I can’t imagine what it must be like to always feel you’re being watched and judged.
still goes to highlight a crash course in public relations does not help. I really do think it needs to be formalized more so that people responsible for breeching etiquette can be dismissed at worst and disciplined at best.
No body thought of this possibility what if the couple aren’t related? I know that in this article they are husband and wife but I’m just thinking what if they’re not!! Does that give PVPV the right to spy on them and humiliate them in front of public?!!!
I don’t think that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has asked his followers to spy on people and ruin their reputation!! Remember how he dealt with the woman who committed adultery. He told her several times to go back but she insisted to be punished. He then told her to wait till she gives birth to her baby….and during that time he didn’t send someone to spy on her, he didn’t even ask someone to force her to come to him after she has finished nursing her baby!!
So those guys should STOP chasing people wherever they go, STOP terrifying people, STOP ruining people’s reputation! what you’re doing is not Islamic!! Islam wouldn’t give you the right to do this even if people did wrong!
This is just plain sick. I do not think the messenger (PBUH) intended for people to haunt other people like prey. Saudis have to work harder to get the countries out of this nonsense.
i was thinking about this some more the other day and it occured to me exactly how effective are the pvpv. I mean sure we see cases like these being reported, but what about the flip side. I think i’d make for a really interesting study.
Also i don’t think the Prophet SAWS time can be compared to now where it is a trendy to chill with the opposite gender. In most cases one thing almost always leads to another.
Easy to criticize and institution but very hard to find better alternatives and or solutions. This is not to say i am okay with what happened to this particular couple but i did mention that the pvpv needs better structure and rules
Thanks for bringing this story to light. It’s just another example of disturbing behavior and liberties taken by the CPVPV in assuming innocent people are guilty of something made up in the CPVPV’s minds. These religious police are very sick men to always think that people are doing nasty things. BTW, I linked your post to a recent post on censorship that I did.
http://susiesbigadventure.blogspot.com/2009/03/x-treme-censorship.html
Mmmm P V P V ….let’s see what we can do with that…..
Are they the cancerous virus that infects women?
Oh no sorry, that’s papillomavirus (HPV)…..same idea tho’, don’t you think?
My son age 17 was stopped by the Muttawa in one shopping mall .The Muttawa was accusing my son that he dropped a phone # to a girl .He did not do any of that .Suppose so..this is a ridicioulos youth stuff .you don’t arrest a teen for such a trivial .The scared son never sat foot in this stupid mall ever again…Stupid thing .It appears that the Muttawa wanted the mall all for himself..let heim Shove it.
this is just a mistake, as police do arrest innocent ppl mistakenly. so whats the problem?
this saudi society seems to be very sick—even other muslim countries which i have visited such as egypt,pakistan,bangladesh,doha,dubai and malaysia are much better especially the last three. This is the problem which occurs when religion is not kept separate from government and politics. Religion should be a total private affair and no one should have the right to tell others how to behave in public as long as it doesnt go against common decency as perceived by most people in that culture or environment. and prohibiting males and females from intermingling or interacting is not the state’s business at all. i hope one day, saudi becomes a secular democracy with gender apartheid abolished.
Prophet S.A.W said:”When any one of you sees anything that is disapproved (of by Allah), let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue. And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the weakest (kind of) faith.”
That’s all I can say.
It amazes me that these religious men who are suppose to protect the public from indecent acts are the ones who are thinking of them 24/7 when all they think is of bad stuff, so surely that’s a sin in its self to be thinking haram thoughts is as bad as doing them? My main pet peeve is that Islam tells men to lower his gaze when a woman comes past, number one that means she doesn’t need to cover her face otherwise why would men have to lower their gaze and secondly they are committing a sin by approaching a woman that they are not related to and looking at her, pot calling the kettle black anyone???
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