According to a Saudi cleric in Riyadh, only Muslim domestic maids should be allowed in the country and they should be kept away from men in the home which they are working. He also said that the domestic maids should wear hijab (veil) and should not mix with the men in the family nor serve them. These ladies are to be accompanied by a male relative or guardian when they come for working.
Sheikh Yousuf Ahmad, a lecturer at the prestigious Imam Mohammad bin Saud University in Riyadh, has given latest diktat on an to an Arab news site. He says that the local people should appoint only Muslim maids and they have to work in the houses without interacting with the males of the house. Also such maids should be accompanied by a male relative of theirs.
Call for Muslim Maids only in Soudi Arabia
A lot of foreign workers from countries like India (especially from Indian state of Kerala) and Indonesia do work there as drivers, maids and waiters. It seems this diktat is to scare others so that local people gets more job opportunities. Some even see this in favour of Muslim countries like Indonesia.
According to Los Angeles Times – “This is not the first time the Ahmad has made controversial statements. He created a stir a few months ago when he called for the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site and the world’s largest mosque, to be demolished and rebuilt in a way that would ensure segregation between the sexes in the shrine.”
Do you think giving such fatwas is justified? Is it not against equal opportunity for all? Write your comments below.
Reference:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=§ion=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2010/July/middleeast_July509.xml
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/07/saudi-arabia-cleric-calls-for-muslimonly-maids-in-saudi-homes.html
