More than 200 workers from Bangladeshi and Myanmar have been arrested in Saudi Arabia for celebrating Valentine’s Day. The men, aged 16-28, had been employed to clean up after the Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca. But they were found partying inside a tent that had been used by the Muslim devotees. To compound their error, they were found drunk in a country where alcohol is banned.
"Here! What are you people drinking?"
[Hic!' "I shink it's English Leather..." |
Valentine’s Day is banned in the kingdom as an "infidel tradition" and is not recognised by Islam.
All Valentine’s Day-related celebrations are banned.
Saudi media reports said the men were found partying at dawn by the religious police next to a site where Muslims gather to "stone the devil" during the pilgrimage. Some of the group, including members of a band that had been hired, escaped. It is not known whether the men will be prosecuted. The kingdom’s grand mufti and highest religious authority, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, said: "What these workers did in a holy place by celebrating and singing and drinking alcohol is a very grave sin. Committing a sin in a holy place is doubly sinful. Valentine’s is an infidel tradition that has no place in Islam."
| "That's cuz feeling affection for anybody is un-Islamic! And, yes, I mean you, too, Mom!" |
The religious police bar shops from selling red roses, teddy bears, greeting cards or even red-coloured gifts to celebrate Valentine’s Day. They also warn shops, hotels, restaurants and public parks not to stage any special activities on the day named after the Christian patron saint of lovers.
| "If you're staying in the honeymoon suite, just do your business and get the hell out. There are others waiting to use it, you know." |
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