Arab News today reports on an interview with the director of the Madinah branch of Saudi Arabia's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Sheikh Suleyman Tuwaijri outlined five roles for the Commission: preventing "the growth of deeds and ideologies that pollute the pristine Islamic religious faith"..., "maintaining the practice of religious rites in society"..., "maintaining a sense of morality among people and protecting the honor of women by protecting them from being violated or harassed..., protecting the sanity and soundness of the human mind and intellect by preventing the manufacture and circulation of narcotics and intoxicants..., [and] protecting the cultural and ideological identity of society by [keeping] ... deviant ... publications ... and material from the reach of the public."
Tuwaijri rejected the allegation that the Commission denies women their rights. He said that the Commission "strongly intervenes when men try to harass [women] or tempts them to gratify their undignified impulses. The commission gives utmost importance to protect women’s rights and freedom that are accorded to them by the Shariah." He added, however that there are some things, which "are mistakenly claimed to be part of women’s freedom such as the immodest exhibition of their body and some other activities considered beyond the permissible limits of moral regulations fixed by Saudi society and the Shariah." He said that these "are in fact violations of the rights of other members of society who want to live in a morally chaste and unpolluted environment."
