- Global Voices - https://globalvoices.org -

Egypt: King Abdullah's Glass of Wine

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, International Relations, Politics, Religion

A rumor has been spreading in the blogosphere, accompanied with a photograph of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia showing him seated beside US President George W Bush while holding a glass of wine in his hand. And as you all know, alcohol is prohibited in Islam, and it is a sin to drink or even stay in a place where it is being served or available.

King Abdullah\'s Glass

Abu Ammar (Lukmet Eish) wrote here [1]:

هل رأيتم صورة الملك السعودى وهو يتناوب ويشارك مع الرئيس الأمريكى المنتهية ولايته سيء الذكر جورج بوش كؤوس الخمر .. نعم إنها كأس الخمر هل رايتم تلك الصورة يا أصحاب الفضائيات الدينية ، هل رأيتم تلك الصورة يا رجال الدين فى كل الدنيا ، إياكم أن تقولوا أن الملك أخذها كتقليد ولم يشربها وربما يكون هذا صحيحا ، لكن ألم يكن من الأولى أن يرفض الجلوس على مائدة يشرب عليها الخمر ، ومن قبل فعلها السيد محمد خاتمى الذى رفض زيارة لفرنسا بسبب تقديم الخمر على مائدة الطعام والسؤال الذى يطرح نفسه ماذا لو كان هذا الأمر من عامة المواطنين كنا سمعنا صراخا من مشايخنا الكرام الذين لا يستأسدون إلا على أمثالنا شأنهم شأن الحكومات العربية يضربون شعوبهم بالأحذية ، لكنهم مثل النعام إذا وجهت لهم إهانة من الأعداء وهذا الذى يحدث من هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهى عن المنكر الذين يجلدون الأطباء المصريين فماذا هم فاعلون فى كأس الملك
Have you seen the photographs of the King of Saudi Arabia drinking with the the ill mentioned President of the United States, George Bush, whose term will end soon? Yes, it was a glass of wine. Have those clerics and religious satellite channel owners seen this picture. Please don't start telling me that it was just some kind of custom, and that the King was just holding the glass without drinking from it. He would have better refused to be seated in such place where alcohol is presented. Mr. Mohamed Khatami – the former president of Iran – did it before and refused attend an event in France because alcohol was served in a meal. What if it was an ordinary citizen and not the King? I am sure the clerics then wouldn't have remained silent like they are now. Are they only brave when it comes to us, and they are just the Arab governments who only punish their citizens but not the rulers. The Saudi authorities have sentenced some Egyptian doctors living there to prison and ordered for them to be whipped [2], and I am really eager to see how will they act towards the King's glass of wine.

And also Nawara (Tahyyes) wrote here [3] about the incident:

يا فضيحتي؟ بتشرب خمرة يا سعادة التقي
هي حصلت خمرة على الملأ؟
What a scandal! Are you drinking alcohol Mr. Religious One?
How dare you drink wine in public!?

And although, Nawara's post was so brief, a huge debate was started in the commenting section on her blog. Some bloggers, like Tafatefo, were against the post, and he wrote:

بس الصوره دي شايفها امبارح عند واحد .. وقلتله حرام عليك .. مين قالك انها خمره
وكنت فاكر ان حضرتك شفتيها .. وقلتي انها يمكن مش خمره
بس حضرتك مش أهل للوقوع واتهام الناس بالشبهات
I saw the photo yesterday at someone's blog, and told him, how can you be that sure that it is wine?
I thought you also saw it and expected you to give yourself a break, and not to be that sure that it is wine.
You are not supposed to accuse people without solid evidences.

I personally don't think the photograph is clear enough, and it is really hard to tell if it is wine or not.