KUWAIT CITY, 25 May 2004 — A Kuwaiti Ministry department yesterday prohibited all music shows involving women entertainers, including concerts by the controversial Lebanese reality TV program “Star Academy”.
“It is not allowed for any side to organize a concert by Star Academy, or under any other name, as long as they include practices forbidden by Islam,” said the fatwa, issued by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
Forbidden practices include “women singing to men not related to them, mixing between the sexes when women are revealing part of their body, and the use of vulgar words and dancing”, it stated.
“It is also forbidden to attend or watch these concerts, and provide any assistance or invest in them,” it added. The ministry also recommended that state institutions bar such concerts in a bid to “safeguard public morals”.
The ministry was responding to a parliamentary question submitted by Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabai, who spearheaded a campaign to prevent the holding of a show by young Star Academy personalities.
