|
August 21, 2008 11:41 PM
by Souhail Karam
RIYADH - Celebrating anniversaries, birthdays or mother's day is against Muslim 'righteousness', Saudi Arabia's top cleric has said, quashing suggestions by a colleague that Islam permits personal celebrations.
Media savvy cleric Salman al-Awdah told viewers during a
call-in television show last week that celebrating birthdays
and wedding anniversaries was not against Islam, sparking a
debate in the conservative kingdom and prompting the mufti to weigh in.
Grand Mufti Abdul-Aziz al-Shaikh said celebrating such
events would make Muslims like followers of other faiths
including Jews and Christians, al-Madina newspaper reported.
Shaikh embodies Wahhabism, the hardline Islamic doctrine
that has ruled hand in hand with the Saud family since the
kingdom was founded some eight decades ago.
Women are banned from driving and mixing with unrelated men
in Saudi Arabia, whose clerics issue edicts ordering Saudis not
to buy red roses on Valentine's Day on an almost annual basis.
"A Muslim should thank almighty Allah if his children are
healthy and if his married life is stable as the years pass
by," the paper quoted Shaikh as saying.
Two occasions call for celebration in the Muslim world,
Shaikh said: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting
month of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the
annual haj pilgrimage.
Awdah, who follows a relatively softer line, is widely
believed to be favored by circles close to King Abdullah. The
monarch has repeatedly said that Saudi Arabia needs reforms.
(Reuters Life!)
|
