Islamic Religious Police

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The Islamic Religious Police ( Arabic مطوع muṭawwiʿ , plural: مطوعون muṭawwiʿūn - derived from the classical Arabic: mutaṭawwiʿa / muṭṭawwiʿa) is the official police force of some Islamic states, whichenforcesthe Sharia regulations on religious behavioron behalf of the state.

The establishment of a religious police is justified with the Koranic rule to command the right and forbid the reprehensible .

A Taliban religious policeman beats a woman who has not properly worn her burqa in public. Recorded in 2001 in Kabul by RAWA with a hidden camera

tasks

The tasks of the Islamic Religious Police are to enforce the Sharia law and to prevent rule violations, such as the legal clothing of women. She has the authority to arrest men who converse with women to whom they are not married or related (related to siblings and parents only). It is also entitled to ban and confiscate products that are considered un-Islamic, such as B. Barbie dolls, CDs / DVDs from Western music groups, TV shows and movies.

The Islamic religious police also ensure compliance with Islamic food laws, which include preventing the sale of alcohol and the sale of pork.

Another task is to prevent the conversion from Islam to another faith ( irtidad ), which according to Sharia law is punished with death, both for converts and for missionaries, in lighter cases by exile and deportation of the missionaries. Other tasks are: prosecuting homosexuality and prostitution and controlling shop closings during prayer time.

distribution

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In January 2006 there was an Islamic Religious Police in Egypt , Saudi Arabia , Iran , Indonesia , Yemen , Libya , Malaysia , Sudan , the Palestinian Territories, and parts of Pakistan and Nigeria .

Saudi Arabia

Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر
Mukfellas.png
Supervisory authority (s) Ministry of Justice
Consist since 1940
Headquarters Riad
Authority management ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl al-Sheikh , President
Employee approx. 3500 (as of 2006)
Website pv.gov.sa

In Saudi Arabia , the religious police is known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV). The religious police in Saudi Arabia come from the conservative movement of the Salafists or Wahhabis , whose interpretation of Islam is the state religion under the House of Saud .

History and legal basis

The authority was founded in 1940. It is justified by Article 23 of the constitution , which says: “The state protects the Islamic faith, applies the Sharia, commands what is right and forbids what is reprehensible. He fulfills the duty to invite (people) to Islam (Da'wa). "

In early 2009, on the orders of King Abdullah, former President Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al-Ghait was replaced by Deputy Justice Minister Abd al-Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh , who is considered more moderate and more open to reform. He advocates the agency's work with “mild” means and without violence.

activities

The religious police patrol the streets of the country to monitor, among other things, the behavior and the correct clothing of women. It also has an "internal department" that combats the smuggling of alcohol and other drugs.

On Valentine's Day , the sale of many products in the "love color" red is prohibited in order to keep the population away from this "pagan" spectacle. The religious police prevent the sale of red roses, red plush teddies, red greeting cards and other red gift items, reported shop owners.

15 schoolgirls died in a school building fire in Mecca in March 2002 because they were prevented from leaving the burning school building by being beaten by guards of the Islamic religious police because the girls were not wearing headscarves and long robes. As a result of this incident, 8 years later the Ministry of Education issued a decree to all school principals and security personnel that rescuers must be granted direct access to the school premises in the event of an emergency.

According to their own statements, the religious police also arrested over one hundred so-called “ magicians ” between 2006 and 2007 . Magic is a criminal offense in Saudi Arabia. In some cities such as Jeddah , Mecca and, more recently, the capital Riyadh , the sale and walking of cats and dogs is forbidden because, according to the religious police, this often promotes contact between men and women. The animal can be confiscated if it is violated.

The religious police have their own homepage, on which un-Islamic behavior could be reported for a long time.

Reforms

In May 2006, the Ministry of the Interior issued a decree forcing the religious police to hand over those arrested to the regular police if they are arrested. The decision to report and to involve the public prosecutor also rests with the regular police.

In July 2006, the Ministry of the Interior announced that the officers of the religious police were only allowed to intervene in exceptional cases and to detain people until the police arrived. In the same year it was declared that the religious police could no longer stop, arrest or interrogate anyone for “un-Islamic behavior”. Before that, she enjoyed wide-ranging powers.

On June 10, 2007 the religious police announced the establishment of a "department for rules and regulations", whose task it is to monitor the activities of the religious police and, if necessary, to stop them. The aim of the reforms is to curtail powers and, in the long term, possibly to abolish the authority. From April 2008 it is planned to introduce regular courses for the police, in which the behavior towards non-Muslims and foreigners will be trained.

In January 2012, King Abdullah announced an even more “moderate” pace for the religious police. Abd al-Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh then issued a report that banned volunteers from serving. In April 2012, he issued another expert opinion in which he forbade harassment of the citizens and threatened to take decisive action against intrusive and violent religious police officers. The task of the religious police is only to point out wrongdoing. He advised women to report intrusive religious policemen to the regular police. Only this has the authority to take legal action against citizens. Since the reforms, the religious policemen have usually been on the road with an officer of the regular police who is authorized to determine the identity of passers-by and to record personal details. In October 2012, the religious police announced that they wanted to employ women in order to be able to better fulfill certain tasks.

According to media reports, the religious police in Saudi Arabia no longer forbid women to ride bicycles since 2013, provided that they do so in recreational areas accompanied by a male relative and in compliance with the legal clothing regulations.

Iran

In Iran , the religious police are recruited from the Twelve Shia , as this is also the state religion , and was brought into being directly after the Islamic Revolution .

Pakistan

In mid-2005, parliament in the Pakistani city ​​of Peshawar decided to set up a religious police.

Egypt and Yemen

In Egypt and Yemen , the Mutawwaʿīn are under the leadership of the regular state police to enforce state interpretations of Islam. Here the Mutawwaʿīn do not have far-reaching powers. In addition, there is no influence on the public, as is the case in Saudi Arabia . In Egypt in particular, the Muslim Brotherhood was not supported by the government until 2012 and was contrary to the interests of the state. Hence the power of the clergy is particularly limited here.

Nigeria

In northern Nigeria , the Hisba groups are Islamic vigilante groups. After the election of the Christian Olusegun Obasanjo as President of Nigeria, the following states have accepted the Sharia as their legal system since 2000 , thus becoming Islamic states of God and using the Hezbah as an institution :

The Hezbah groups are not well organized and are not under any central command. But they are often the trigger for violent conflicts with Christians and other "unbelievers". Most of the Hisbah groups are sponsored by the governments of their theocratic states. The Human Rights Watch reported in September 2004 in detail on the application of shari'a and the Hisbah groups in the above states.

Afghanistan

After the religious police was disbanded when the Taliban regime was overthrown , a Muslim council called for reintroduction in early June 2006, which was also supported by the former Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai . The religious police should not act as strictly as in the time of the Taliban. B. there should be no compulsory veil for women. The issue divides Afghan society. Since Parliament is largely conservative, its introduction is likely.

Indonesia

While most of the people in Indonesia follow a moderate Islam, Sharia has only been in effect since 2001 in Aceh Province . There, the Islamic religious police are taking massive action against behavior that has been declared "un-Islamic": Anyone who disregards dress codes will be punished. For example, violations by public punishment with the bamboo cane can be punished. Other deviant behavior in everyday life can be punished with "re-education measures" staged as a deterrent, as a group of 64 punks learned in December 2011 . Their heads were shaved and they were given a re-education program outside of town. In June 2012, an avowed 30-year-old atheist was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The religious police also ensure that women in general are not found on the street after 11 p.m. without a male companion. Even homosexuality is punished. In 2016, 339 people suffered corporal punishment , including flogging, for violating Sharia law , according to Human Rights Watch .

Malaysia

Although only about half of the population of Malaysia is Muslim, there is an Islamic religious police in the Islamic country. Even non-Muslims have been checked by the Islamic religious police to see whether they are adhering to Islamic principles.

Palestinian territories

In the West Bank a "morality police" was established to, in competition about who is the most Islamized next, with the autumn 2007 Hamas in the Gaza Strip to keep up. There, Islamic rules are rigorously enforced by Hamas.

"What is permitted and what is not, is interpreted by the moral police at their own discretion," writes the NZZ on the situation in the West Bank.

See also

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 7, p. 776
  2. ↑ Philipp Abresch: With the baton for the Sharia. Weltspiegel , June 18, 2017, accessed June 18, 2017 .
  3. ↑ BBC: Major reshuffle in Saudi Arabia
  4. ↑ Saudi Arabian religious police ban red goods from shops ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Saudis allow fire brigade to save girls , May 18, 2010, SPIEGEL ONLINE, accessed October 22, 2017
  6. ↑ uq / dpa: Islam police are hunting magicians , Focus Online , July 19, 2007.
  7. ↑ Saudi Arabia Bans Dogs N24 from August 3, 2008
  8. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from January 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=19217&prog=zgp#tamanini
  10. ↑ http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=18528&prog=zgp&proj=zted#reduced
  11. ↑ sada.com : Reduced Powers for Morality Police in Saudi Arabia
  12. ↑ Vatican Radio : Saudi Arabia: School of Behavior for Religious Police January 26, 2008
  13. ^ Saudi Arabia religious police chief announces new curbs
  14. ↑ Saudi Arabia Crawls Forward: Women Can Now Serve On Religious Police Force Saudi Arabia religious police chief announces new curbs
  15. ↑ travel.state.gov USA: KSA Crime ( Memento from February 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ^ Saudi Arabia to recruit women to religious police force
  17. ↑ Saudi Arabia: Religious Police allow women to cycle. In: World N24. April 1, 2013, accessed September 15, 2017 .
  18. ↑ The Islamic Revolution in Iran. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009 ; Retrieved May 20, 2009 .
  19. ↑ Vatican Radio 2005 Pakistan: New Religious Police ( Memento of October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Middle East Online June 5, 2004 Al-Azhar confiscates publications ( Memento November 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ Nigeriafirst April 9, 2003: Ethnic militia groups of Nigerian societies ( Memento of August 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ↑ Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung August 3, 2006 Discussion about the religious police divides Afghan society ( memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ Flooded Souls , Stefan Klein, December 20, 2014, Tages-Anzeiger , accessed October 22, 2017
  24. ↑ Punks in Indonesia should be reeducated tagesschau.de, December 14, 2011, accessed October 22, 2017
  25. ↑ Indonesian man jailed for two-and-a-half years for writing 'God doesn't exist' on his Facebook page dailymail.co.uk.
  26. ↑ Indonesians convicted of Facebook confession ( memento of March 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) June 15, 2012, ZEIT ONLINE, accessed October 22, 2017
  27. ↑ Document - Indonesia: Atheist imprisonment a setback for freedom of expression. Amnesty International, June 14, 2012, accessed October 22, 2017
  28. ^ Sharia police in Indonesia: first touch, then punishment. faz.net, April 25, 2016
  29. ↑ Sewell Chan: 2 Men in Indonesia Sentenced to Caning for Having Gay Sex. The New York Times, May 17, 2017, accessed May 17, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Phelim Kine: Indonesia's Aceh Authorities Lash Hundreds Under Sharia Statutes. Human Rights Watch, February 8, 2017, accessed October 22, 2017 .
  31. ^ From moral guards and alleged sodomites , Kurt Pelda, January 21, 2010, Neue Zürcher Zeitung ,
  32. ↑ Malaysia: "Religious Police" terrorized US couple ( memento from October 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), Vatican Radio, November 8, 2006, accessed October 22, 2017
  33. ↑ NZZ online October 14, 2007: “Hey, you pretty ones” are over. A moral police should make the capital of the West Bank a godly place