A Kuwaiti fatwa, or Muslim religious edict, issued Monday prohibits all music shows involving women entertainers, including concerts by the controversial Lebanese reality TV programme "Star Academy."
| "Don't let us catch any of you suckers smiling or looking at titties!" |
"It is not allowed for any side to organise a concert by Star Academy, or under any other name, as long as they include practices forbidden by Islam," said the fatwa, issued by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
| "Practices forbidden by Islam include all things that do not include explosives, firearms, or reading the Koran." |
Forbidden practices include "women singing to men not related to them, mixing between the sexes when women are revealing part of their body, and the use of vulgar words and dancing," it stated. "It is also forbidden to attend or watch these concerts, and provide any assistance or invest in them," it added.
| "It is forbidden to even think about them! You'll go to hell! Hell, y'unnerstan'? [Drool!]" |
The ministry department which issued the fatwa also recommended that state institutions bar such concerts in a bid to "safeguard public morals."
| "Arrrr! Next thing y'know, they'll be humpin' in the streets, laughin' and singin' together an' dancin' the hootchy-koo!" |
The ministry was responding to a parliamentary question submitted by Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, who spearheaded a campaign to prevent the holding of a show by young Star Academy personalities. But the show was held May 6 despite stiff Islamist-led opposition and a demonstration by some 500 Islamist activists.
| "Hey! Ho! Whaddya know! Comely young babez is gotta go!" |
The staging of the concert prompted Tabtabaei and two other lawmakers to have a stroke threaten to publicly question the information minister. Apparently bowing to pressure, the government tightened controls on public concerts, banning all forms of dance and forcing families and unaccompanied men to sit separately while attending. It also outlawed concerts which promote concepts that contravene the "values of religion, society and traditions." |