One of the top senior clerics in Saudi Arabia said that Saudi women do not need to wear the abaya. During a radio programme on Friday, when asked about the ruling for wearing an abaya, Sheikh Abdullah Al Mutlaq replied by saying “More than 90 per cent of pious Muslim women in the Muslim world do not wear abayas, So we should not force people to wear abayas.

Women should dress modest but not be forced to wear the abaya

Saudi Gazette reported that this move means greater freedoms for women, in line with the current reforms and Vision 2030, that is being led by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Al Mutlaq, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, did say that women should dress in a modest manner, but that there was no necessity for wearing it. 

This, however, does not guarantee a change in the law but it has made headlines due to the fact that this is a never-before-said-statement coming from a senior religious figure. It is also a big deal because government-appointed clerics associated with the mentioned Council of Senior Scholars have the authority to issue fatwas or legal opinions based on Islam. 

Twitter peeps were surprised 

This is significant —> Member of Official Saudi Arabian Council of Senior Scholars (Ulema): “‘More than 90 percent of pious Muslim women in the Muslim world do not wear abayas,’ Sheikh Mutlaq said on Friday. ‘So we should not force people to wear abayas.’” https://t.co/NiUyV0LyNO

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— Mohammed Khalid Alyahya (@7yhy) February 10, 2018

… some were not too excited

‘The key distinction between an abaya and a hijab’

‘People should think before they tweet’

“The sheikh did not call on women to wear make up and revealing clothes. Please should really think before they tweet.”

Other Tweeps fully interpreted from their own understanding of it

“The sheikh is saying that every country has their own version of conservative and modest clothing, and we shouldn’t force one color and one design on everyone. Women from different nationalities can dress modestly in their own national clothes”

‘The abaya is not a religious requirement’

“The abaya is not a religious requirement, if it was it wouldn’t be exclusive to saudi women”

The Kingdom is already seeing major developments, such as the lifting of the ban on women driving, allowing them into sports stadiums, and creating more career opportunities.