|
 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."
Quoting from Muslim scholars, Sheikh Munajjid argued that to build a
snowman was to create an image of a human being, an action
considered sinful under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Sunni
Islam.
"God has given people space to make whatever they want which does
not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so
on," he wrote in his ruling.
That provoked swift responses from Twitter users writing in Arabic
and identifying themselves with Arab names.
 "They are afraid for their faith of everything ... sick minds," one
Twitter user wrote.
Another posted a photo of a man in formal Arab garb holding the arm
of a "snow bride" wearing a bra and lipstick. "The reason for the
ban is fear of sedition," he wrote.
A third said the country was plagued by two types of people:
"A people looking for a fatwa (religious ruling) for everything in
their lives, and a cleric who wants to interfere in everything in
the lives of others through a fatwa," the user wrote.
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Sheikh 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."
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.
(Reporting by Sami Aboudi; editing by Angus McDowall and Andrew
Roche)
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