The radical Islamic Raza Acadamy based in Mumbai which supports the Sharia law has protested the decision taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under its Vision 2030 plan, to allow the building of cinema halls and entertainment centers in the city of Madina.

सऊदी हुकूमत ने मदीना शरीफ मैं सिनेमा घर
खोलने का ऐलान किया है
इसके खिलाफ 23 सितम्बर 2021 को मुंबई मैं उलमाये अहले सुन्नत का एहतेजाज होगा
आप भी टवीटर पर #BanCinemaInMadinaShareef के साथ टवीट करके इस एहतेजाज मैं शामिल हो#ShameOnYouSaudiGovt @KingSalman@KSAembassyIND
को टैग करे pic.twitter.com/EdEbecJUBq

— Raza Academy (@razaacademyho) September 22, 2021

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is home to Islam’s two most holy sites, Masjid al-Haram also known as the Great Mosque of Mecca which is also home to the Kaaba and Madina, home to the vast Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (Prophet’s Mosque) and the Raza acadamy is dead set against the opening of cinema halls in this two places.

But what this radical Islamic outfit does not understand is that the Saudi Arabia is now going through a change and wants to be diversifyed and reduce its dependency on oil which is its number one source of income.

Under the leadership of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia wants to become  a modern pluralistic country and wants to develop other sectors such as health, education, and tourism. But such reforms are viewed with hostility Islamist Muslims across the world, especially in India and Pakistan.

Now the Raza Acadamy is protesting against this new development by running a campaigns on social media platforms urging King Salman of Saudi Arabia to reverse the decision and called for a ban on cinema halls in Madina Shareef.

Mohsin Raza wrote, “Muslims go to holy cities to ask forgiveness from Allah not to commit sins by watching movies”. Later a protest was organised in which one could hear slogans of, “Saudi Hukumat Murdabad” and Muslims in India held placards that read, “Saudi Government Must Stop Desecration of The Holy City of Madina Munawwarah”.

https://twitter.com/MohsinK08774179/status/1440957663261515780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1440957663261515780%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.opindia.com%2F2021%2F09%2Fsaudi-arabia-kingdom-cinema-halls-madina-city-islam-raza-academy-sin-india-pakistan-muslims%2F

From Pakistan, Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani who is a former judge, Islamic scholar, and current Vice President and Professor of Hadith at Darul Uloom Karachi in November last year had said, “Now there are plans to set up ten cinema halls in Madina too,”.

His tweet also mentioned that the Saudis are planning to build 28 shoping malls, ten cinema halls, 32 restaurants, 2 locations for entertainment, 19 open areas, and more on King’s Road. The project was expected to be completed in 14 months which means work has already started

However, the commercial establishments will be outside the boundary of the holy place, as per reports.

Raza Academy is not new to controversies because in February 2021, the academy forced BBC to issue an apology for hurting the sentiments of Muslims as they ‘displayed a portrait of Muhammad’. They also bullied the Maharashtra government Of Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP to give permission to carry out the Eid-e-Milad procession during the Covid pandemic.

Members of Raza acadamy also provied to be a huge problem when Saeed Noori, the founding member of Raza Academy, had claimed that the Chinese vaccine contains pork and urged the Indian government not to order it and he and 125 other members from his group were booked for violating social distancing norms amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today Raza Academy staged a demonstration outside Minara Masjid, Mumbai against Saudi government for opening cinema halls in Madina Munawwara #BanCinemaInMadinaShareef#ShameOnYouSaudiGovt@KingSalman@KSAembassyIND pic.twitter.com/sxLCtKhISZ

— Raza Academy (@razaacademyho) September 23, 2021

In August 2011, Raza Academy held a protest at Azad Maidan ground against the alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar, and then rioted which led to the vandalising of public property and they also attacked police personnel. 

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In a quest to modernise and reform Saudi Arabia, the home to the world’s two holiest Mosques will now allow women to serve in the military.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman will now allow women to serve in the military establishment in several roles like soldiers, lance corporals, corporals, sergeants and staff sergeants, reports Economic Times.

This plan, first announced in 2019, will allow women to serve the nation’s military if they fulfil the usual weight and height criteria and the minimum qualification of high school education. However, applicants married to foreigners would continue to be barred from joining the service.

In the bid to modernise this oil-rich nation, last year, KSA’s Minister of Justice had also appointed 100 women as public notaries and had added that the Islamic Kingdom would soon begin to appoint women as court judges.

One of the major developments in this Sharia-compliant nation was when women were allowed to drive and leave the country without requiring permission from a male relative, ending a restrictive guardianship system.

Saudi Arabia has realised that the world is slowly moving away from fossil fuel and it can no longer rely on just selling petroleum, which is why Bin Salman is introducing several reforms to transform the Arab world’s largest economy.

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The Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has finally allowed women football and on Tuesday (November 17) the first matches were played. However, the game was not broadcasted or televised.

The Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) said that through the WFL it was striving “to empower women and to encourage them to become active and to participate in sports at the community level”.

This development is seen as a step forward for women’s participation in sport and emancipation of women in Saudi Arabia. In 2018, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman women were first allowed to watch football matches in stadiums in the kingdom that is home to the two most holy sites in Islam.

For decades, women in Saudi Arabia had been confined to there homes because Saudi Arabia is home to the Wahabi school of Islam. Under the strict Sunni Islam norms, many rights were denied to women such as the right to participate in sporting activities and driving.

Conservative Islamic clerics who advise the ruling Saud family had even warned that opening sports to women would lead to immorality.

The Women’s Football League (WFL) in Saudi Arabia was supposed to start in the month of March, however, due to Covid-19, it was postponed. On Tuesday,  seven matches were played in the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

This week in November 2020, seems to be quite momentous as the oil-rich nation played host to the first international women’s golf tournament also.

The post Women’s Football League (WFL) in Saudi Arabia finally kicks off appeared first on The Commune.