RIYADH, 14 February — The authorities have barred shops from selling red roses, teddy bears and greeting cards in celebration of Valentine’s Day today.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Evil has given shops all over the Kingdom three days to clear red-colored gifts normally used to mark the day in which lovers celebrate their love for one another.
The action is based on a religious ruling, which states that Muslims can only celebrate two feasts — Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, and Eid Al-Adha, which marks the culmination of the Haj.
The Higher Committee for Scientific Research and the Issuing of Fatwas said Muslims are prohibited from celebrating or supporting Valentine’s Day or other holidays contravening Islam.
Valentine’s Day, named after a Christian patron saint for lovers and celebrated on Feb. 14, has become a popular informal holiday in Asian countries. Sales of roses, chocolates and greetings cards surge as couples and suitors express their affection with presents.
However, the commission’s head in Riyadh, Othman Al-Othman, said the authority had warned shops, hotels, restaurants and public parks a long time ago not to stage any special activities on Valentine’s Day.
A joint committee has been formed by the Riyadh governorate, the commission, police and the public prosecutor to conduct round-the-clock patrols to impose the ban, Othman said.
Othman also warned drivers against decorating their cars with any red or other Valentine-associated items.
In schools, teachers have been warning students during the past two weeks against wearing red clothes or displaying any item related to the occasion.
Jabir Al-Hakami, head of the commission in the Makkah region, said the commission has been geared up to enlighten young people on the dangers of blindly following worthless foreign customs. The ban has come into force following the efforts of the commission to stop the import of any articles used for practices that do not conform to Islamic values, he said.
However, the ban will not be applicable to all imported red roses, but only to the flowers to be used on the Valentine’s Day, Al-Hakami clarified.
Nevertheless, a famous restaurant in Jeddah published an advertisement in a mass circulation newspaper yesterday for a "very distinguished" dinner on Feb. 14. The invitation says nothing about Valentine’s, but the colored ad features red roses.
Festive fever sweeps Kuwait
In Kuwait, the Social Reform Society issued a statement yesterday denouncing concerts and other events held on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. It also cited the fatwa by the Saudi scholars.
But many Kuwaitis are undeterred. King-size fluffy toys, tacky heart-shaped velvet vases, elaborately decorated chocolates — you name it — Kuwaitis are on a Valentine’s Day buying mania sweeping across the Gulf country.
In shopping malls in and around the capital, Kuwaiti males and females of all ages are crowding stalls to splash out on saying it with artificial roses or any other ornamental expressions of love.
Balloons hang everywhere, cardboard love hearts dangle from ceilings and shop windows, as the color red overpowers everything in celebration of the event.
In the city’s largest modern market, competition is so tight among the abundance of stalls that some owners complain of lower sales this year, despite the unmistakable obsession with Valentine’s Day knickknacks.
The celebration also falls during "Hala February," Kuwait’s annual shopping festival, which offers cultural and entertainment activities, including musical shows, and which is denounced by Islamist MPs for featuring "immoral practices."
Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabai said "we object to and refuse the import of this Western practice ... because at its origin it allows relationships between men and women outside marriage.
"We found that the rush by the media and some department stores to promote this practice and utilize it for commercial marketing represents a danger to the Islamic identity of our Kuwaiti society," said Tabtabai, an outspoken critic of any occasion involving a mixing of the sexes.
Tabtabai, who said only a small minority of people in Kuwait associated with Valentine’s Day, called on the ministries of information and commerce to protect society from the "overpowering cultural globalization and the blind import of various types of Western culture, including Valentine’s Day."
Though the enthusiasts were queuing up to buy, stall owner Masood Bitar insisted profits are down on last year.
"There are so many more stalls and shops selling Valentine things this year," he said, boasting his own arrangements which sell for between $6 and $60.
Last year, Bitar said he made $2,000 a day in the run-up to Valentine’s Day. "This year, I’m barely making 150 dinars ($500) a day," he groaned, blaming his losses on an occasion made too commercial.
