Saudi Arabia: Fashion falls foul of religious guardians

In an attempt to reassert their power, Saudi Arabia's religious police have ordered shopkeepers in central Riyadh to get rid of all adorned abayas, the black robes worn by women in the kingdom, as shopping picks up ahead of the Eid holiday next week.

Salesmen in al-Maagaliah market, just across the block from the headquarters of the religious police, or mutawa'a , this week were turning away frustrated shoppers who wanted abayas with a hint of colour or decoration, telling them that shopowners could face fines or prison.

In recent years, the signature flowing robe that covers Saudi women from head to toe started to show some form, with trimmed sleeves, beads or colour, a sign of relaxation of the strict social norms in the kingdom.

Though the changes were subtle, abayas provoked a tug of war between the liberal voices lobbying to give women more choice and conservative religious institutions determined to impose their austere ways through the religious police.

Liberal commentators say the religious police who roam shopping malls and public places are using the crack-down to demonstrate their continued authority af-ter recent moves have curb-ed their arbitrary powers.

After allegations of gross violations of human rights led to media uproar, the mutawa'a have been banned from chasing suspects without an escort from the regular police. They have also been forced to carry government-issued identification cards.

Women's rights activists, however, are concerned that the crackdown on the abaya marks a setback after early symbolic gains achieved since King Abdullah came to power in 2005.

"They [the mutawa'a ] want women to be faceless, nameless and shrouded in blackness,'' said Samar Falan, a women's rights activist and writer based in the city of Jeddah. "We kept quiet when we should have confronted the radicals. I believe Muslim women should dress modestly and cover their hair but they do not have to look gruesome."

Saudi women have been pushing for more rights and the government has sought to promote the participation of women in the workforce. But with every step forward comes another step back.

The mutawa'a does impose its morality on men too, forcing them sometimes to cut their hair or choose more modest shirts. But while men have a range of dress options - western attire or traditional white Saudi garb - women essentially have none.

"They should focus on fighting vices, not women,'' says Buthaina Nassr, another activist.

By Abeer Allam for the Financial Times in Riyadh