A campaign launched by female students on Wednesdays and Thursdays at Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University is calling for women to adopt decency.
However, officials at the General Presidency for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (GPPVPV) told Arab News that they have no information about the campaign, and their staff has nothing to do with it.
“We will not interfere in order to stop this campaign because this is not part of our job and we have nothing to do with any people going out to do good deeds and counsel people on how to be good,” said the official.
Students launching the campaign are asking women volunteers to engage in constructive debates to persuade other women to dress modestly while together in semi-public areas such as wedding halls and family amusement parks or women-only spaces where wearing the abaya is not required.
Volunteers will approach women dressed in clothes they deem immodest, pull them aside to a private corner or booth and discuss how they dress.
Their decency mission is to convince young women not only to dress more modestly, but to also urge them not to do “evil things” under the banner “My Veil is My Rescuer.”
Nourah Al-Qahtani, an academic at the university, told Arab News that from an academic point of view it would be better for those responsible for the campaign to use their pens and express their views through proper channels, like social networks.
“If there is need for these educational campaigns or programs, they should be conducted under the relevant and regulatory parties,” she said. “Those who provide these kinds of educational programs should understand their target audience and know their constitution and the best ways to deal with them. They should also choose topics that are more profound.”
Abdullatif Al-Ashaikh, president of GPPVPV, told a local newspaper that his organization has not received any formal application from the female volunteers.
“At any rate, we have no female staff that has any capacity in our organization,” Al-Ashaikh said. “However, the work of these fine women does not mean that they report to us. We only have authority over our staff.”
He added: “Actually, I have no idea what they are trying to do. I do not know whether or not what they are doing is legal under Shariah rules. Simply we have nothing to do with this. We do not even know if there are other agencies that are responsible for these activities.”
Abd Al-Muhsen Al-Hokair, chairman of Al-Hokair Group for Tourism and Development, said that they declined a request by the so-called “decency society” to organize their activities for two days on Hokair property in Riyadh. “We just do what is officially sanctioned by the state,” he said.
Many people on social networks said they are surprised at such a move.
One woman on Twitter wondered if the campaign “means we can be decent on two days of the week, does that mean that we don’t need to be decent for the rest of the week.”
Female students launch campaign to combat immodesty
