The Religious Policeman

A new website has appeared, that documents the case of Muhammad Al Harbi, the Saudi schoolteacher sentenced to 3 years and 750 lashes for...well, I'm still not sure what for. It also gives us a picture of Muhammad, here on the left. And immediately we see one "problem". You see, really religious people, muttawa (as an adjective) people, grow their beards as long as the width of their fist, as commanded by the namesake of our teacher. They look like the guy in the top right, or Mr Scary further down this page. Yet Mr Al Harbi obviously goes to great lengths to trim his beard. Whilst not an offense in itself, it does suggest that he is perhaps not quite as reliable as his straggly-bearded compatriots, and could be prima facie cause for suspicion by his pious and devout colleagues.

The new site is www.malharbi.com/en/home.html

It gives some insight into his "Witchcraft" charge.

He invented an instrument that produces a sound before the fall of rain. He put this machine at the school's gate to help students know if the rain was coming in order to avoid getting wet in their way home. this machine produces musical sound; so his fellow opponent teachers accused him of legalizing music, which is banned in the Wahhabi sect of Islam, and when Muhammed's case went to court, the judge accused him of using witchcraft to operate this instrument!

Graduates of the Imam University do not study Physics, hence their complete ignorance of the effects of humidity, or indeed anything in the real world. They probably regard their vacuum cleaner as some form of witchcraft, which is why the maid is the only one to use it.

The site also covers two other cases, those of Dr. Hamzah al-Muzayni and Muhammad al-Suhaymi, which are equally ludicrous indictments of our theologically-trained judges. I would urge you to go over there and have a look.

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