Wikipedia

Islamic religious police

(Redirected from Morality Police)
"Morality Police" redirects here. For the religious police in Iran, see Guidance Patrol. For other uses, see Morality police.

Islamic religious police (also sometimes known as morality police or sharia police) are official Islamic vice squad police agencies, often in Muslim-majority countries, which enforce religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regional authorities based on its interpretation of sharīʿah.[1] Modern Islamic religious police forces were first established in the late-1970s amidst the Iranian Revolution (1979) and the Islamic revival that the event brought to the Muslim world; prior, the administration of public morality in most Muslim-majority countries was considered a socio-religious matter, and was enforced through application of civil laws and/or through more informal means.

The powers and responsibilities of Islamic religious police vary by country, but in contrast to the enforcement of laws against crimes like robbery and murder by conventional police forces, Islamic religious police have focused more on such issues as preventing the consumption of alcohol among Muslims, mixing of men and women, playing of music and public display of affection, Western practices such as Valentine's Day or Christmas gifts,[2] making sure that Muslim women (but also sometimes men) observe Islamic dress code, and that Muslims are not skipping attendance to the Islamic daily prayers. They are sometimes portrayed as parapolice forces that mostly give citations and warnings, but some have powers similar to police officers, including the power to detain people.

The practice is generally justified with reference to the religious doctrine of ḥisba, which is based on the Quranic injunction of enjoining good and forbidding evil, and refers to the duty of Muslims to promote moral rectitude and intervene when another Muslim is acting wrongly.[3] In pre-modern Islam, its legal implementation was entrusted to a public official called muhtasib (market inspector), who was charged with preventing fraud, disturbance of public order, and infractions against public morality. This last part of public morality was missing in early and medieval Islam but the office was revived in Saudi Arabia, and later instituted as a committee, aided by a volunteer force focused on enforcing religious observance. Similar institutions later appeared in several other countries and regions.[4]

Islamic religious police organizations have been controversial, both locally and internationally. Although these institutions tend to have support from conservative currents of public opinion, their activities are often disliked by other segments of the population, especially liberals, urban women, and younger people. Legal reforms made by Saudi rulers in 2016 sharply curtailed the authority of the Saudi religious police. Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has criticized Iran's religious police, but the president does not have control over it under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the Kano State of Nigeria, the Islamic religious police has had a contentious relationship with the civil police forces; some incidents where the Islamic religious police has been involved were widely viewed as overstepping their mandate and have received broad public condemnation in the country.

History

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Main articles: Hisbah and Muhtasib

The classical doctrine of ḥisba, associated with the Quranic injunction of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, refers to the duty of Muslims to promote moral rectitude and intervene when another Muslim is acting wrongly.[3][4][5] Historically, its legal implementation was entrusted to a public official called muhtasib (market inspector), who was charged with preventing fraud, disturbance of public order and infractions against public morality. In 1976, the committees of Saudi Arabia were united under an official of ministerial rank, acting under direct royal command. The unified Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has been assisted by volunteers, who enforce strict rules of Islamic dress code, attendance of Islamic daily prayers, and gender segregation between men and women. With the rising international influence of Salafism and Wahhabism, the conception of ḥisba as an individual obligation to police religious observance has become more widespread. This has led to the appearance of activists around the world who urge fellow Muslims to observe Islamic rituals, dress code, and other aspects of sharīʿah,[4] with vigilante incidents in London (2013-2014) and Wuppertal, Germany (2014) resulting in criminal charges.

In Iran, the doctrine of ḥisba was enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran after the Iranian Revolution (1979) as a "universal and reciprocal duty", incumbent upon both the government and the people. Its implementation has been carried out by official committees as well as volunteer forces (basij).[4][6] Elsewhere, policing of various interpretations of sharia-based public morality has been carried out by the Kano State Hisbah Corps in the Kano State of Nigeria,[7] by Wilayatul Hisbah in the Aceh province of Indonesia,[8] by the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in the Gaza Strip, by the Taliban during their first rule of Afghanistan (1996–2001),[4] as well as by other groups.

Formal legalized enforcement by country

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Islamic religious police forces include:

Afghanistan

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A religious policeman beating a woman for removing her burqa headpiece in public, Kabul, 2001 (image obtained by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan)
 
Taliban police in a pickup truck patrolling a street in Herat, in July 2001.
Main article: Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)

Afghanistan's Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was first instituted by the 1992 Rabbani regime, and adopted by the Taliban when they took power in 1996.[9] Taliban's department was modeled on a similar organization in Saudi Arabia.[10] It was closed when the Taliban was ousted, but the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan reinstated it in 2003.[11] In 2006 the Karzai regime submitted draft legislation to create a new department, under the Ministry for Haj and Religious Affairs, devoted to the "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice".[9] When the Taliban took power again in August 2021, they established a new "Ministry of Invitation, Guidance and Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice", taking over the old regime's Ministry of Women’s Affairs building for use as its headquarters.[12]

Palestine

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Main article: Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Gaza Strip)

The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Arabic: هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر hayʾa al-ʾamr bil-maʿrūf wan-nahī ʿan al-munkar) is a group in the Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip, responsible for enforcing traditional Muslim codes of behavior (Sharia).[13][14][15] According to journalist Khaled Abu Toameh and Middle East researcher Dr. Jonathan Spyer, the group forms part of the police forces of the Hamas de facto government.[13][16]

In 2009, the Hamas government's "Islamic Endowment Ministry" deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the alleged "dangers" of immodest dress, card playing, and dating.[17]

The force was aimed to "fight those who are being corrupted by Satan, and do not observe sharia law."[13][14][18][19]

Iran

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Main article: Guidance Patrol
See also: Islamic Revolution Committees, Basij, and Hezbollah of Iran
 
A Guidance Patrol van parked in front of Mellat Park, Tehran

Guidance Patrol (Persian: گشت ارشاد,'[20] Gašt-e Eršād) is the main Islamic religious police, or vice squad in the Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic of Iran. It was established in 2005, succeeding institutions of similar nature.[21] Its mission is to impose Islamic dress codes and norms of conduct in public, particularly regarding the hijab of women, but also some men who are deemed improperly dressed according to the dress code.[22] In addition, the patrol also enforces Islamic codes of conduct in public, such as preventing the mingling of unrelated men and women without a male guardian (mahram) for the latter, and preventing other types of behavior that are un-Islamic. It has been viewed as a scourge by urban women, particularly those from more affluent circles, who try to push the boundaries of dress code. President Hassan Rouhani had expressed opposition to the Guidance Patrol, but it did not fall under his constitutional jurisdiction.[20]

On September 16, 2022, the Guidance Patrol arrested Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who they claim suffered heart failure, dying comatose two days later.[23] Bruises on her legs and face suggested to many that she was beaten, despite police denials. Multiple medical officials and detainees that witness her arrest claim that Guidance Patrol officials tortured her in the back of a van before arriving to the station. Her arrest and death instigated a wave of protests in Iran.[24] The alleged dissolution of Morality Police in Iran was later denied by Iranian state media.[25]

Malaysia

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Main article: Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM)

The Malaysian religious authority, known as the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (JAWI), enforces religious standards.[26] Its Chief of enforcement is Wan Jaafar Wan Ahmad.[27] Punishable offenses include khalwat, the offense of being in close proximity to any forbidden member of the opposite sex. Adultery is also an offense and may lead to up to two years in prison. According to local newspapers, the moral police have stopped hundreds of couples.[28] Other offenses include extra-marital sex, alcohol consumption, not fasting during Ramadan, and not visiting the mosque during Friday prayer. The department also punishes gay Muslims.[29] Malaysian morality police are often accused of overstepping their mandate, with legal confusion resulting from overlapping and ambiguously defined jurisdictions of secular and sharia-based laws.[20]

Nigeria

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Further information: Kano State Hisbah Corps and Sharia in Nigeria

In Nigeria, "religious police" are organized by state and called "Hisbah". Nigeria has twelve states—all in the north—where Islam is the dominant religion.[30] In 1999 the states made a "declaration of full Sharia law",[31] and consequently each state created institutions such as Sharia and Zakat commissions, and "to promote Islamic virtue" and discourage vice, "hisbah", groups.[31]

As of 2016, each of these hisbah is "unique", varying from state sanctioned, organized, commissioned, funded groups with thousand of people on salary in large states (Kano and Zamfara), to all-unpaid, volunteer groups (Gombe), and hisbah that "exist only on paper" (Borno).[31]

According to Human Rights Watch, as of 2004, Human Rights Watch sees as problematic the fact that "the majority" of hisbah members have "a low level of formal education, no background in law, and no training in law enforcement or procedures for arrest, investigation, or gathering of evidence. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any women joining the hisbah in Nigeria."[32] While there are not set laws on hisbah procedure, according to a "common understanding" of what hisbah are allowed to do, "they are expected to arrest criminals", but not "to enter people’s private homes or spy on them merely on the basis of suspicion". In practice, "these and other guidelines" have often been disregarded and people’s "right to privacy" violated.[32] Although abuses by the hisbah "appear to have decreased" since their introduction in 2000–2002.[32]

While Hisbah members have been responsible for "flogging and beating suspected criminals", unlike some vigilante groups" as of 2004, Human Rights Watch was not aware of killings by hisba members".[Note 1]

In Kano state, the religious police force responsible for the enforcement of Sharia—the Kano State Hisbah Corps[33]—was established by the state government in 2003. It institutionalized the formerly local and privately maintained hisbah security units. It operates under the jurisdiction of a Hisbah Board composed of government officials, secular police officers, and religious leaders, and is highly decentralized with local units supervised by committees composed of officials and citizens in the communities in which they operate. The Hisbah Corps does not have authority to execute arrests and are allowed to carry only non-lethal weapons for self-defense. Hisbah officers who observe violations of Sharia are expected to alert the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). The duties of the Hisbah Corps include arbitrating disputes on a voluntary basis, verbally chastising violators of Sharia, and maintaining public order at religious celebrations. Hisbah are also trained to assist with disaster response operations.[34] The Hisbah Corps has had a contentious relationship with the NPF, with the latter frequently refusing to cooperate in enforcement of religious law,[35] and on multiple occasions arresting Hisbah members for trespassing private property.[36]

An example of a Kano State Hisbah Board activity was the destruction of 1,975,000 bottles of beer worth over N200 million (almost US$500,000) in 2020 that had been confiscated within metropolitan Kano.[37] Another 2020 news report alleged frustration by Nigerian youths with zealous enforcement of hisbah in northern Nigeria in general and Kaduna state in particular,[38] quoting one resident as saying,

“Hisbah is punishing youths for keeping afro hair and sometimes it is accompanied with beating. They have also prevented women and girls from using smartphones, claiming that it is used to spread unIslamic behaviours. They are just terrorising us."[38]

Saudi Arabia

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Main articles: Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia) and Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia

The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, (abbreviated CPVPV and colloquially termed hai’a (committee), whose enforcers are referred to as muttawa, mutaween (pl.)), are tasked with enforcing conservative Islamic norms of public behavior, as defined by Saudi authorities. They monitor observance of the dress code, gender segregation in public spaces, and whether shops are closed during prayer times.[39]

Established in its best known form in the mid-1970s,[4] by the early 2010s, the committee was estimated to have 3,500–4,000 officers on the streets, assisted by thousands of volunteers and administrative personnel.[40][41] Its head held the rank of cabinet minister and reported directly to the king.[40] Committee officers and volunteers patrolled public places, with volunteers focusing on enforcing strict rules of hijab (which in Saudi Arabia meant covering all of the body except the hands and eyes), segregation between the sexes, and daily prayer attendance;[4] but also banning Western products/activities such as the sale of dogs and cats,[42] Barbie dolls,[43] Pokémon,[44] and Valentine's Day gifts.[2] Officers were authorized to pursue, detain and interrogate suspected violators, flog offenders for certain misdeeds,[45][46] and arrest priests for saying Mass in private ceremonies.[47] In some cases, the Saudi religious police were broadly condemned in the country, including cases of breaking into private homes on suspicion of illicit behavior,[39] and being staffed by "ex-convicts whose only job qualification was that they had memorized the Qur'an in order to reduce their sentences".[48] Perhaps the most serious incident for which they were blamed was the 2002 Mecca girls' school fire, where fifteen girls died and fifty were injured after the mutaween prevented them from escaping a burning school, because the girls were not wearing headscarves and abayas (black robes), and not accompanied by a male guardian. The firemen who arrived to help, were also beaten by the mutaween. Widespread public criticism followed, both internationally and within Saudi Arabia.[49]

The institution had general support among conservative currents of public opinion, but was widely disliked by liberals and younger people.[20] In 2016 the power of the CPVPV was drastically reduced by Mohammed bin Salman,[50][51] and it was banned "from pursuing, questioning, asking for identification, arresting and detaining anyone suspected of a crime".[52]

Sudan

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The Community Service Police serves as the Sudanese religious police. Originally called the Public Order Police, the enforcement agency was established in 1993 by President Omar al-Bashir.[20] The Public Order Law was initiated by the Sudanese government in the state of Khartoum in 1992, and later applied to all states. The name was changed in 2006. The Community Service Police is in charge of enforcing regulations on certain personal behaviors, including indecent clothing, alcohol consumption, offensive acts and seduction, among others.[53] In June 2015, 10 female students were charged with "indecent dress" after exiting their church. All of the women were wearing long-sleeved shirts and either skirts or trousers.[54] In December 2017, 24 women were arrested at a private gathering for wearing trousers. They were later released.[55] Punishment can include flogging and the payment of fines. The Public Order Court, which handles such cases, is a parallel court system which exercises summary judgements.[56] Many Sudanese resent the activity of the religious police as oppressive and arbitrarily intrusive, although it is supported by Salafists and other religious conservatives.[20] Following the July 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, Sudan began a "transition to democracy". In December 2019, it repealed a public order law that granted police the power to arrest women "who were found dancing, wearing trousers, vending on the streets or mixing with men who weren’t their relatives", who might then be punished by "flogging, fines and, in rare cases, stoning and execution".[57] A 3 September 2020 agreement (as part of a 2019 'legal reform program and rebuilding and developing the justice and rights')[58] declared Sudan "a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society", where the state would "not establish an official religion" and where no citizen would "be discriminated against based on their religion",[59] thus eliminating the raison d'être for the Community Service Police.

Tahrir al-Sham and ISIL-controlled areas

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Issues of enforcement

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Haircuts

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In 2020, the Kano State Nigerian Islamic police shaved off the Mohawk hairstyles of young men on the pavements of Kano City.[62] Another report state that afro hair was punished by hisbah in another Nigerian state, Kaduna.[38] In Afghanistan, it was reported on 25 January 2001 that the Taliban had arrested 28 barbers in Kabul for giving customers a haircut styled after Leonardo DiCaprio in the film Titanic, according to officials at the Embassy of Afghanistan, Islamabad.[63]

Hijab

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After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, hijab was made compulsory in stages.[64] In 1980 it was made mandatory in government and public offices, and in 1983 it became mandatory for all women, including non-Muslims and non-citizens.[64] From 2017–2019 protests were held against compulsory hijab, with authorities announcing the arrests of 29 women.[65]

Taboo and chastity

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Iranian government started a new program in 2023 to enforce chastity living law.[66]

Mannequins

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In 2009, Iranian police warned shopkeepers not to display female mannequins with bodily curves or without a hijab. In 2010, to protect "public morality", the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas ordered the removal of scantily-clad mannequins and pictures of models in underwear from clothing shops in the Gaza Strip. In 2021, the Islamic police force or "Hisbah" in Kano, a Muslim-majority state in Nigeria, ordered shops to use only headless mannequins to advertise clothing, and for the mannequins to be covered at all times.[62]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ ... in contrast to other vigilante groups like the Bakassi Boys in the southeast and the Oodua People’s Congress in the southwest of the country, who have committed numerous extrajudicial killings and other abuses.[32]

References

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  2. ^ a b "Saudi religious police see red over Valentine's Day". Syney Morning Herald. 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2013. Each year, the religious police mobilise ahead of 14 February and descend on gift and flower shops, confiscating all red items, including flowers.
  3. ^ a b Gauvain, Richard (2013). "Introduction". Salafi Ritual Purity: In the Presence of God. Routledge Islamic Studies Series (1st ed.). New York and London: Routledge. pp. 8–9. ISBN 9781138115514. LCCN 2012016460.
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  14. ^ a b Jonathan Spyer, Analysis: The Islamic republic of Gaza, Jerusalem Post 29-09-2009
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference police was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Jonathan Spyer, Analysis: The Islamic republic of Gaza Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, Jerusalem Post 29-09-2009
  17. ^ Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, November 30, 2009
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  19. ^ Hamas Rules: The Talibanization of Gaza. by J. Schanzer, National Review. August 15, 2007
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  21. ^ Erdbrink, Thomas (7 May 2014). "When Freedom Is the Right to Stay Under Wraps". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
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  23. ^ ""Iranian woman dies 'after being beaten by morality police' over hijab law"". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  24. ^ ""Mahsa Amini: dozens injured in Iran protests after death in custody"". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
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  26. ^ "Mustafa Akyol: Jawi didn't like my talk on commonalities between Islam, Christianity". Malay Mail. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
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  28. ^ "Malaysia: The sordid failures of the illicit sex police". The Independent. Singapore. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  29. ^ Salvá, Ana (22 February 2017). "Here comes the Malaysian morality police". The Diplomat. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  30. ^ "Nigeria International Religious Freedom Report 2008". US Department of State Archive. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  31. ^ a b c Mustapha, Abdul Raufu; Ismail, Mustapha (2016). Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria Over 15 Years. Policy Brief No.2 The Case of Hisbah (PDF). Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  32. ^ a b c d "The enforcement of Shari'a and the role of the hisbah". Human Rights Watch. 2004.
  33. ^ "The enforcement of Shari'a and the role of the hisbah". hrw.org. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  34. ^ Olaniyi, Rasheed (2011). "Hisbah and Sharia Law Enforcement in Metropolitan Kano". Africa Today. 57 (4): 71. doi:10.2979/africatoday.57.4.71. S2CID 154801688.
  35. ^ "Nigeria's religious police: Out on patrol". The Economist. 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  36. ^ Olaniyi, Rasheed (2005). Community Vigilantes in Metropolitan Nigeria. IFRA. p. 66.
  37. ^ Bello, Bashir (8 November 2020). "Nigeria: Hisbah Destroys Over N200m Beers in Kano". All Africa. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  38. ^ a b c "Sharia Court 'Hisbah' Bans Muslim Girls/Ladies In Kaduna From Using Mobile Phones And Wearing Sunglasses". NAIJAPLEDGE. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  39. ^ a b "Saudi minister rebukes religious police". BBC News. 4 November 2002.
  40. ^ a b Louise Lief (23 May 2013). "With youth pounding at kingdom's gates, Saudi Arabia begins religious police reform". CS Monitor. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  41. ^ Antoinette Vlieger (2012). Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates: A Socio-legal Study on Conflicts. Quid Pro Books. p. 45. ISBN 9781610271295.
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  43. ^ "Islam". Fox News. October 7, 2022.
  44. ^ Tripp, Harvey; North, Peter (2009). CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Saudi Arabia (3rd ed.). Marshall Cavendish. p. 180.
  45. ^ Feldner, Yotam (8 January 2004). "The Saudi Media Debates Flogging by the Saudi Religious Police". Middle East Media Research Institute. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  46. ^ "Saudi Arabia: Gross Human Rights Abuses Against Women" (PDF). Amnesty International. 27 September 2000. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  47. ^ "Catholic priest arrested and expelled from Riyadh". AsiaNews. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  48. ^ Wright, Lawrence (2006). Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York: Knopf. p. 149. ISBN 978-0375414862.
  49. ^ "Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue". BBC News. 15 March 2002.
  50. ^ "Haia can't chase, arrest suspects". arabnews.com. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  51. ^ Commins, David Dean (2015). Islam in Saudi Arabia. I.B. Tauris. p. 66. ISBN 9781848858015.
  52. ^ BASHRAHEEL, ASEEL (22 September 2019). "Rise and fall of the Saudi religious police". Arab News. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  53. ^ "More than 40,000 public order cases annually in Sudan capital: SDFG". Dabangasudan.org. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  54. ^ Eltahawy, Mona (19 August 2015). "The Middle East's Morality Police". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  55. ^ "Sudanese women arrested 'for wearing trousers' released". The New Arab. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  56. ^ Köndgen, Olaf (30 October 2017). The Codification of Islamic Criminal Law in the Sudan: Penal Codes and Supreme Court Case Law under Numayri and al-Bashir. Brill. p. 85. ISBN 978-9004357082.
  57. ^ Berger, Meriam (1 December 2019). "Sudan repeals public order law that let police flog women for wearing pants". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  58. ^ Political Agreement on establishing the structures and institutions of the transitional period between the Transitional Military Council and the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces. Transitional Military Council & Forces of Freedom and Change. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2020. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  59. ^ Michael Atit (4 September 2020). "Sudan's Government Agrees to Separate Religion and State". Voice of America. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  60. ^ McKernan, Bethan (16 February 2017). "Syrian schoolgirl arrested by religious police for 'inappropriate clothing' freed after classmate protest". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  61. ^ Charters, Justen (11 August 2014). "Life Under ISIS Religious Police is Brutal and Merciless". Independent Journal Review. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  62. ^ a b Orjinmo, Nduka (16 August 2021). "Nigeria's Kano state moves to ban mannequin heads on Islamic grounds". BBC News. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  63. ^ SHAH, AAMIR (25 January 2001). "Taliban ban DiCaprio HairstyleTitanic hairstyle". UPI. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  64. ^ a b Milani, Farzaneh (1992). Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers, Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, pp. 37–38, ISBN 9780815602668
  65. ^ "Jailed Iranian Anti-Hijab Campaigner Goes On Hunger Strike". RFE/RL. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  66. ^ "Iran is Set to Make Hijab Laws Stricter". 17 August 2023.

Further reading

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