Defining the role of Haia is a must

What was supposed to be a routine trip for grocery shopping became a major media attraction around the globe for a Briton and his Saudi wife. Many people witnessed the incident — the video of which went viral on the social media within a few minutes.
The incident involved some members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice or Haia as it is commonly known in Saudi Arabia.
The concept of a team of volunteers (Hesbah) is as old as the religion of Islam. Those volunteers used to roam streets and were responsible for preventing people from committing any crime. They used to frequent marketplaces to ensure smooth functioning of the market and check any wrongdoing on the part of shoppers and the shopkeepers. It was their responsibility to protect the rights of consumers by ensuring the scales the traders used were not tampered with and nobody was adding water to milk etc.
Nowadays, many people see the role of such a group of people is just to control the behavior of the two sexes. Until recently, the sight of Haia members used to be very comforting particularly for the women shopping alone in the market and prone to sexual harassment. However, with the passage of time, Haia’s perception in people’s mind started to change as a group of people “interfering” in their personal matters at their own free will.
These days, it appears as if people believe that Haia’s role is merely to ensure closure of shops and markets during prayer timings and the rest of the duties are being taken care of by police and the judiciary.
We should ask ourselves some important questions. Why do we need the Haia? Is their presence at marketplaces necessary to check unscrupulous elements? Why most of the confrontations involving Haia take place in shopping malls?
After the Riyadh incident, that made me write these lines, raised many questions regarding the Haia. Since, I am not fully aware of the details, I can only say that the action appears to be provocative. My question is: Why do I need a commission to monitor my son or daughter’s behavior at public places. Isn’t it the duty of parents to teach their children to behave politely and not to annoy anyone in the mall or at some other public setting? Why don’t we set certain rules regarding all types of harassment?
In the absence of a proper upbringing and clear-cut rules, any commission be it Haia or otherwise can never be able to control or monitor people’s behavior. The problem is the way Haia monitors people’s activities sometimes makes fall prey to misjudgment. People should try to trust each other and if there is complaint then normal procedure should take place to address the issue. That is why; people sympathized with the couple not because the man was a Briton.
If one’s watches the video, it would dawn on him that there is nothing in the video showing any Saudi or expatriate complaining about the couple’s behavior. The video made it clear that they did nothing wrong. Most importantly, the Haia members could have acted in a different fashion. Now, what happened should be taken as a lesson.
It is very important to modernize the overall functioning of the Haia by reducing the number of its employees and by properly defining their jurisdiction and their actual role. They could help the needy and the poor. As for watching who is praying and who is not in the shopping malls, it is an insult to Saudis who observe their religious duties with full conviction in the Kingdom and abroad.
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Email: almulhimnavy@hotmail.com