Published: September 07, 2008 12:54 am            

Happy birthday to you, but not in Saudi Arabia

It is our staunchest ally in the most volatile region in the world.

It is a rich and powerful country, possessing more than 20 percent of the world’s known petroleum reserves.

It also is the center of the Muslim world, it is the birthplace of Islam and is home to that faith’s two holiest shrines, Mecca and Medina.

It also just doesn’t seem like a very fun place to be.

Saudi Arabia is like an acquaintance we struggle to like, and to understand.

Women there are not allowed to drive or to travel without the permission of their husband or male guardian. While women make up more than 70 percent of university students, they constitute just 5 percent of the Saudi workforce.

This is dictated by sharia religious laws and, while the Saudis certainly have the right to practice their religion as they see fit, those of us in the West don’t necessarily have to like it, or understand it.

On your next birthday, when you are blowing out the candles on your cake with your friends and family nearby (and, in my case, with a fire extinguisher handy, as well), just consider you would be violating religious law in Saudi Arabia.

The nation’s grand mufti and top religious authority, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheik, recently said birthday parties have no place in Islam. The grand mufti also had harsh words for Mother’s Day and Arbor Day.

Grand muftis, it seems, have long been down on birthdays. The previous Saudi mufti, Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, once said “It’s not permissible to take part in them. Birthday parties are an innovation ... and people are in no need of innovations.”

Of course they aren’t.

And as for Saudi children asking for a puppy or a kitten for their birthdays, that concept took a double hit recently when the sale of dogs and cats was banned in the nation’s capital, Riyadh.

One reason for the ban? Othman al-Othman, general manager of the quixotically named Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, said the ban was enacted to stem “the rising phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families.” In other words, single guys have long known cute little animals are chick magnets.

Men found outside with their pets will have their furry companions confiscated by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and the perpetrator will be forced to sign a document he will never repeat his crime. If he does, he’ll be turned over to the authorities.

Dogs, in the Islamic tradition, are kept primarily for hunting or as guard animals, since they are considered unclean and dangerous. But cats are favored in many Middle East cultures. In ancient Egypt, for instance, cats were revered and were mummified after death, just like their human masters.

Even the Prophet Muhammad had a close companion, who was given the name Abu Huraira, Arabic for “the father of the kitten,” because he always carried a kitten with him. There also are a number of traditional stories in which Muhammad encouraged people to be nice to cats.

Of course, some Saudis agree with the ban on birthdays. Arwa Ahmed, a young Saudi woman, told the Associated Press, “I missed my 25th birthday by two days last month and only remembered it when I checked the calendar for prayer times. I don’t like it when someone tells me happy birthday. It’s like a reminder that I’m getting closer to death.”

Yeah, but for cake and presents, it’s worth it.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.