Saudi crackdown on ‘un-Islamic’ clothing during Ramadan

A police clamp-down in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan resulted in the arrest of up to 50 men for wearing clothes deemed ‘un-Islamic.’ The men were arrested for a variety of fashion violations such as wearing ripped jeans, Crocs shoes, shorts, necklaces and having Western hair styles. Mecca governor Prince Khalid al-Faisal ordered police to crackdown on individuals wearing clothing that go against Islamic traditions. Authorities who processed the violations noted the arraigned were sporting “bizarre hairstyles, chains that are hung on the chest and arms, hair ties, shorts and immodest clothes” at malls and shopping districts in Mecca, according to Saudi newspaper Sabq. One of the dress code violators later expressed his remorse to police saying, “Today I have decided to wear long sports trousers instead,” Sabq reported. Saudi Arabia's strict "Mutaween," or religious police, also referred to as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice or CPVPV, is responsible for enforcing the laws of Wahhabism, the extreme religious branch of Sunni Islam that Saudi Arabia practices. Some laws include women wearing headscarves and loose fitting black gowns known as an “abaya,” men wearing full-length pants and shirts. Unrelated men and women must also remain separated from each other in public.