News

Saudi Arabia's consultative assembly has passed a law requiring female television to wear "modest dress", according to local media reports.

Arab News, which is part of a group of companies owned by King Salman's son Prince Turki, said the law passed in the Shura Council, an advisory body, will make it mandatory for women not to "show off their beauty" while on air.
Some members of the council said there are other more important matters to focus on: "There are many other pressing issues such as the danger posed by the media activities of the so-called Islamic State terrorist group," Latifa al-Shualan, a Shura member, was reported as having said.

Comment

What is most disturbing about this story was a statement of Ibrahim Abu Obat a member of the Kingdom's "Shura" Council: "We need to have a clear Islamic dress for all women as their national dress".

Whilst women covering and maintaining their modesty is an important instruction in Islam, Saudi Arabia is once again conflicted in their objectives as they pick and choose which of Allah's laws that they wish to implement. This is illustrated most clearly in this bill, where female presenters now have to dress according to Islam, but this is not for the sake of their belief in Allah (swt) and respect for His laws, but rather to show the world that this is Saudi Arabia's "national dress". The concept of a nation state, defined by a flag, anthem and dress code is alien to Islam. Saudi Arabia contradicts Islam in its very nature of being a monarchy, and implementing a system that is not based on the Islamic sharia. Whilst some laws that are implemented are based on Islam, it is not implemented holistically, resulting in numerous problems such as women not being allowed to drive or vote; things Islam permits and advocates respectively.

Under a truly Islamic system, women are given the rights Islam accorded to them; to vote, to own property, to be educated, to work, to marry someone of their choosing, to inherit - rights they gained 1400 years before women in the West. A truly Islamic state would not pick and choose which aspects of the Sharia they wish to implement, or make up laws as they go along. Rather by implementing Islam entirely women would be able to enjoy all the benefits of living under Islam and reach their full potential in every aspect of life. As a result, such laws requiring women to cover according to Islam would not be contradictory because it would not restrict them from playing an active part in society, but instead ensure they are respected and valued.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Aisha Hasan