According to a state-run media report, Saudi Arabia’s “morality police” detained a group of young men for dancing at a birthday party and referred them to prosecutors.
The news website Ayn al-Youm reported Saturday that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice raided a private property in the city of Buraydah, arresting the men inside for “loud music and inappropriate dancing.”
Buraydah is home to Saudi Arabia’s most conservative clerics.
An unnamed official told the website that when members of the morality police raided the private property, they found the young men in “a comprising situation in their dance and shameful movements.” The official said there was also a cake and candles to celebrate one of the men’s birthdays.
In addition, the men had hairstyles and dress that were not traditional according to officials who added that parents need to monitor this behavior “because it can lead to immorality and even homosexuality.”
Wahhabi clerics view Western music as sinful and birthday celebrations as un-Islamic. The morality police are empowered to enforce Islamic law as practiced in Saudi Arabia, including enforcing dress codes.
The story went viral on twitter, with many Saudi’s “ridiculing” the raid. Some pointed out that the men were not caught drinking or partying with women, both of which are serious crimes.
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