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Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 10:14 a.m. EST Saudis May Ban Letter ‘X’
A group of Islamic clergy in Saudi Arabia has condemned the letter "X” because of its similarity to a hated banned symbol – the cross.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which has the ultimate say in all legal, civil and governance matters in the kingdom, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against the "X.” It came in response to a Ministry of Trade query about whether a Saudi businessman could be granted trademark protection for a new service with the English name "Explorer.”
The request from the businessman, Amru Mohammad Faisal, was turned down.
"Experts who examined the English word ‘explorer’ were struck by how suspicious that ‘X’ appeared,” Youssef Ibrahim writes in the New York Sun.
"In a kingdom where Friday preachers routinely refer to Christians as pigs and infidel crusaders, even a twisted cross ranks as an abomination.”
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In response to the turndown, Faisal wrote an article that appeared on several Arabian Web sites, sarcastically suggesting that the authorities might consider banning the "plus” sign in mathematics because of its similarity to the cross.
Among the commission’s earlier edicts is the 1974 fatwa declaring that the Earth is flat.
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well im not surprised. I read before they were banning the letter W as it is trying to look like the name Allah in Arabic. X is just the neXt letter along. Although as its the English letters they are banning why bother? Personally, I think they should be banned from using English letters with no rights to them. Think I will go and make a fatwa banning the Saudi lot from using the English language, then they cant ban any letters Posts: 15090 | From: http://www.egyptalk.com/forum/ | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Ayisha: well im not surprised. I read before they were banning the letter W as it is trying to look like the name Allah in Arabic.
I posted about this on some other board before.
Controversial Beauty Soap Logo Changed
Yousuf Muhammad, Arab News
MADINAH, 3 November 2006 — A soap product was pulled out of the market two weeks ago after members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice expressed concern that a letter in the logo on the covering of the soap resembled the name of Allah.
Spokesman for the commission Muhamad Al-Ahmadi said, “The product was taken down from shelves last month and will now be reintroduced with a new logo.
The letter ‘W’ in the name ‘Wadi’ resembled the name of Allah in Arabic. People seeing the product for the first time could be mistaken.” Meanwhile, Al-Ahmadi also added that the commission had distributed more than 1.3 million religious books, tapes to pilgrims and visitors to Madinah during Ramadan.
“The purpose of this is to increase religious awareness among pilgrims and visitors so that they can benefit from them,” he said. “This is a yearly activity done by the commission during the holy month.
We have teams near the Meqat Mosque and on checkpoints distributing material. The distribution generally begins in the afternoon and continues until a few minutes before Maghreb prayer,” he said.
I do visit extremist websites from time to time, it reaffirms my belief that they are crazy.
One of the most fun websites to check is the Saudi Religious Police’s official site (Arabic only since the muttawa believe that English is the language of Satan). We shouldn’t call them “religious police” though since they like the title: the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice better, let’s give them their due respect.
The Committee’s website has a section called “offense gallery” where they bolster their efforts to protect the faith. Here is their latest discovery:
The infidels are insulting the name of Allah
A floor mat uses the letter “W” in “Welcome” to resemble the word “Allah”
Be aware!
Don’t worry guys we shouldn't take more of these conspiracies against our religion: Let’s ban the letter “W”
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I don't think these news are real. Can anyone give a direct link from a SA-IAN website telling that?
Posts: 1007 | From: http://www.sultan.org | Registered: Mar 2006
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Think I will go and make a fatwa banning the Saudi lot from using the English language, then they cant ban any letters ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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