The Saudi religious police launched yesterday a nationwide crackdown on stores selling items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned celebrations of Valentine's Day, a Saudi official said. Members of the feared religious police were inspecting shops for red roses, heart-shaped products or gifts wrapped in red and ordering store owners to get rid of them, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Red- colored or heart-shaped items are legal at other times of the year, but as Feb 14 nears, they become contraband in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom bans celebration of Western holidays such as Valentines Day, named after a Christian saint said to have been martyred by the Romans in the 3rd century.
Most shops in Riyadh's upscale neighborhoods have removed all red items from their shelves. A statement by the religious police, informally known as the muttawa, was published in Saudi newspapers warning shop owners against any violation. 'Those who don't comply will be punished,"the statement said without spelling out what measures would befall the offenders.
The Valentine's day prohibition is in line with Saudi's strict Wahhabi school of Islam that the kingdom has followed for more than a century. The birthplace of Islam also bans several Muslim holidays except the two most important ones because it considers them "religious innovations"that Islam doesn't sanction.
Be aware, many Saudi's who still want to mark the popular Valentine's do their shopping weeks before the holiday. Attitudes toward Valentines Day vary across the Arab world, with devout Muslims opposing the holiday as a Western celebration of romantic love that corrupts Muslim youth.
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