Saudi Cleric Says Building Snowmen is “Un-Islamic” [View all]

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Source: Al-Akhbar

A prominent Saudi cleric whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, describing them as un-Islamic.

Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen for their children after a snowstorm in the country's north, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid replied: "It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun."

Snow has covered upland areas of Tabuk province near Saudi Arabia's border with Jordan for the third consecutive year as cold weather swept across the Middle East.

Quoting Muslim scholars, Munajjid argued that to build a snowman was to create an image of a human being, an action considered sinful under the kingdom's medieval interpretation of Sharia.

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A Saudi man and his son pose for a photograph in front of camels in the Aleghan Heights, located some 1500 km northwest of the Saudi capital Riyadh in the Tabuk region, on January 10, 2015, after a heavy snow storm hit parts of the Middle East. AFP/Mohammed Albuhaisi

Read more: http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-cleric-says-building-snowmen-un-islamic%E2%80%9D

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The article continues with criticism about the cleric's ruling, but:

Munajjid had some supporters, however. "It (building snowmen) is imitating the infidels, it promotes lustiness and eroticism," one wrote. "May God preserve the scholars, for they enjoy sharp vision and recognize matters that even Satan does not think about." ...