Flogging of a Saudi Professor!
May 15th, 2008A Saudi University professor is facing flogging and imprisonment for breaking the law. He was caught having a cup of coffee with a lady who was not related to him in a coffee shop. He is actually facing an eight month prison sentence and 150 lashes!
I was shocked when I read the news of his sentence. I am actually shocked that it went to court, for God’s sake the man was having a cup of coffee with a woman in a public place. The victim (and yes I believe both he and the lady are victims in all of this) teaches psychology at the University of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
How can drinking coffee be a crime? Not only that but the punishment itself be so harsh! Don’t these people (meaning the religious police known as the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) who arrested him have anything better to do than harass and attack innocent people? Aren’t there any real criminals to catch?
I have been thinking all day about this man, how he must feel, the humiliation.. not only that but the pain he and his family must be going through for having a cup of coffee with a lady.
These religious police are blinded by their own ignorance, they attack innocent people in the name of religion “Islam” yet their Islam in my opinion is so far from the truth. Even Allah in the Quran warned the prophet against being rude and ill mannered when dealing with people:
(It was mercy from GOD that you became compassionate towards them. Had you been harsh and mean-hearted, they would have abandoned you. Therefore, you shall pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, and consult them. Once you make a decision, carry out your plan, and trust in GOD. GOD loves those who trust in Him.)
Let us take a thoughtful moment upon reading this verse, Quran was saying that the prophet-hood of Mohamed with all its significance, magnitude and value would be jeopardized if he were ill mannered and it is a clear indicator of the value of leniency, compassion and forgiveness of Islam.
‘Saudi Arabia should stop needlessly persecuting people like this — we want to see a complete end to people in the kingdom being punished for ‘khilwa’ offences,’ Amnesty said.
“Khilwa” is when a man and an unrelated woman spend time together alone just the two of them behind closed doors such as a room with the door shut where sexual conduct might take place. The accusation of “khilwa” here is wrong in the first place so this is a different ball game all together. They were having coffee in a public place among people and I did emphasize the word MIGHT take place because as we know, not every man and woman sitting in one room have sex and in the second place, “Khilwa” is considered in some Islamic traditions as a door to committing a sin but there was never any Islamic text that set a punishment for anyone who is in “khilwa” but some judges consider it a matter to their own discretion or choice.
Why don’t they arrest salesmen working in shops for selling to women next? Or arresting and prosecuting male doctors for treating females?
Why don’t they just build a wall across the country and call it the wall of Saudia and split the country in two halfs?! one half is basically all female cities and the other is all men!
No worries.. I am sure they will make space for a procreation area between the two for couples to meet then go back to their designated place! At least women will regain their independence when they rule their half..
Actually.. come to think of it.. They would rather be tortured than see the day where women are empowered! That explains why this plan hasn’t taken place!
Gender segregation to this extreme creates an imbalanced and crippled society. It is so against nature to divide a society to this extreme and so unfair to punish and humiliate innocent people the way they have.
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I am so sorry to hear that. TI guess the court wanted to make an impression, to show others that the country would not tolerate any public show of man-woamn relationship no matter what kind of relationship that is. We have expreienced that phase as well. Well, perhaps very ruthlessly in a period of time. The guards who would not tollerate any thing that would not be in tune with the religous laws as they interpreted. Northern caspian reorts and the summer and the wave of arrsting girls with Lousey. One day we will grow out of that… I just don’t know when Rasha…
if that lady were not a married one, they would better have sex rather than a cup of coffee, for the former’s punishment is 100 flogs with no prison term.
This is not religion, it’s CONTROL. Saudis are supposed to be robots or something right? Disgusting! And totally ridiculous. And they wonder why so many former muslims are going apostate.
I think the real story is that the professor is alleged to have set up meetings outside the university with female students on more than one occasion in order to flirt with them.
When I was still at Arab News in Jeddah, we did a story on him and found out that he had been trouble several times with the religious police for these meetings.
I personally do not think he should be imprisoned or flogged, but his university should have warned him that if he continued meeting students in coffee shops he would be fired. Maybe that would have deterred him.
A society has a right to deter unwanted behavior like adultery. But the means you use says something about the legitimacy of your intentions. If the punishment is too severe, as in this case, then it undermines whatever legitimacy you may have had.
Implicit in any judicial system is the notion of fairness. When the punishment is disproportionate to the crime, then it implies that it is not justice you’re after, but something sinister, like political control, or intimidation through fear, etc.
The Bible contains all sort of heinous punishments of this sort. But Jews, for one, came to the conclusion that such punishments were out of step with what made sense. So they collectively “whited out” such passages, and virtually ignored them. Something similar has to happen in Saudi, so that a sense of fairness could be brought to the fore, which would pave the way to a coming to terms with modernity, even as respect is shown for the legacy of the past.
I have two comments to make on both Rasheed and Nissim Dahan
Rasheed,
As you mentioned in your comment that the professor even if he is known for meeting female students in coffee shops, the University should have sent him warnings instead of this cruel sentence.
But let me remind you that female students especially post graduates who have male supervising their research or thesis have to meet with their professors to discuss the research and since our Universities are segregated meaning female students can’t meet their male instructors on University campus so they try meeting them in public places such as coffee shops.. It makes sense to me..
Women are not allowed to go to male University campus let alone the offices of their professors and you really can’t discuss a thesis or research on the phone at least not all the time..
As for Nissim Dahan,
As I mentioned in the post that you will not find this harsh punishment in the Quran. Khelwa was not mentioned in the Quran script.
Rasha, if it’s not in the Quran, then it’s a matter of people making their own interpretations of how things should go. So in making such interpretations, they have a choice. They can interpret harshly, or they can interpret moderately. If they interpret harshly, they alienate the moderate majority and create an obstacle to progressive change. If they inerpret moderately, they will be in step with the moderate majority, and pave the way for progressive change.
So if we’re already going to make interpretations beyond the four corners of the Quran, why not interpret in a way that makes sense to most people, so as to increase your credibility in the eyes of the people? They will then take you more seriously.
I would take it a step further. Even if something is written into the Quran, it should be intrepreted so as to take into account present realities. Something that made sense hundreds of years ago may no longer make sense today, and I don’t thing it goes against God’s will to interpret the laws in accordance with modern sensibilities. In fact, I would argue that interpreting in this manner is precisely what God, the Creator of a changing Universe, and therefore the Creator of the possibility of change, would have wanted.
Thank you, that’s a great insight.
Is the female Psychology teacher also in legal trouble?
What happened with “the Girl from Qatif”? Was her flogging carried out?
[...] He is actually facing an eight month prison sentence and 150 lashes!” explains Saudi blogger Rasha. Posted by Amira Al Hussaini Share [...]
Hmm, well first I think that we all can agree that beating and imprisoning someone on what is essentially suspicion of something (in this case fooling around with female students) is unjust and completely heavy handed. At the same time, there is some doubt about the absolute innocence of the activity. There are teachers out there who abuse their authority and status to have affairs, but what really needs to be addressed here is should this be a criminal issue, rather than a civil one.
If there is a complaint from one of the students in question that said professor is using his position to get into other, more ‘ahem’ desirable positions, then he should be either disciplined or fired, since such behaviour is unethical. If he is married, news of this should be revealed to his wife so that she can take the appropriate steps and leave and bankrupt his cheating ass. However, I really fail to see how this is injurious to the public. Is there seriously some sort of concern that this fellow is providing an example to be followed?
Finally, what if the guy just likes to have a coffee and a pastry while having a discussion with his students? Is he also seen in the company of male students? Whatever happened to the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” or “innocent until you acutally do something wrong”?
That is so sad…it’s disappointing that men and women can’t even be seen in public in Saudi Arabia. I have a former roommate and a former boyfriend who both live in Saudi as American Christians, so, I hear some of the stories from their compound which are bad enough. But coffee? come on…
First of all
I am from Quetta Balochistan not a saudi but i think That Saudi govt and people have to have their Choice to have sharia law and Surre it benifts Women too. Why dont The Amnistey or this all who are barking in this site go and look at the Bastareds ( Born without Wedluck ) in USA and UK where they rape their mother sisters and each minute in USA more then 10 Rape took place . Where more then 2.3 million people are in jails because of commisted crims like killing, where no respect for perants . I think it is big shame to even think to make our Families values so much useless like in the West.
I love all my sisters in Saudi Arabia but Must watch http://www.youtube.com and search for Reverted american muslims women. they all will say we find Respect in islam and in The law of islam.
Shame on you Stupid Iqnorant keep saying about Coffee shop . U are not judge or you didnt seen them in coffee shop. so stop barking