Muttawa – first sighting

T's been in KSA for almost six months now and hasn't seen any muttawas so far, or at least hasn't realized having seen one. For those of you who are not sure what I'm referring to, muttawa is the infamous PVPV, aka “religious police”. You can read more about the muttawa here if you are interested.

Last night T and I ventured out to Ikea, to buy some Scandinavian designed dishes, bookshelves and alcohol free cider. As it started getting quite late, we decided to go and stuff ourselves with some Swedish meatballs. As we were walking out from the Ikea restaurant, we saw a muttawa and a policeman walking in. T's guess was that they came to check that the restaurant really closed since it was almost time for prayers. (In KSA businesses close for the duration of prayers, that's normally three times during business hours.)

I was of expecting to receive a lecture about not wearing a headscarf. I had one in my bag because on my first day here in KSA, the Australian lady who helped me pick out an abaya told me that I should always carry a scarf with me, just incase a muttawa asks me to cover my hair. (They can ask non-Moslems to cover their hair. To get rid of the muttawa the easiest thing to do is cover your hair and just take the scarf off as soon as they are gone.) I was surprised that this muttawa could not care less about my hair showing. He didn't give me a second glance although he saw me a few times in the shop after we’d left the restaurant.