This Is No Joke: New Fatwa Prohibits Building Snowmen in Saudi Arabia  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A Saudi having coffee with snowman. Photograph shared by @Aalthekair on Twitter
A Saudi cleric decreed that building snowmen and snow camels is not acceptable in Islam. Many saw the fatwa (religious edict), by Mohamed Saleh Al Minijed, as a kill joy, particularly after Saudis in the northern part of the country started sharing photographs of their artistic snow creations online.
According to the fatwa, published on Al Minijed's webpage, all those who make sculptures would be punished. He says snowmen are forbidden because they try to “replicate human beings, with eyes, a nose and a head.” He adds that if people insist on building snowmen, then they should be headless.
The fatwa concludes:
“It is forbidden to make sculptures out of snow, even if it is for fun and entertainment. God has given people a choice to build whatever they want, provided it is without a soul, like trees, ships, fruit, buildings and the like.”
Saudi blogger Ahmed Al Omran is quick to remind us that this same clergyman had actually earlier called for killing Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse:
Quick reminder: Saudi cleric who said making snowmen is haram is the same guy who called for killing Mickey Mouse.
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) January 12, 2015
That was back in 2008, when Minijed called for killing all rodents, including Mickey Mouse, during a television interview.
This did not stop Saudis from sharing their snow creations online. On Twitter, Arwa Flemban shares two photographs, one of a camel and the other of a snowman:
Saudi snowman, and snow camel – pic.twitter.com/rG05yG9fq6”
— Arwa Flemban (@ArwaFF) January 10, 2015
Another user, who goes by the name Om Bsayl3bl, shows us what happens when Saudis build snowmen:
when a Saudi build a snowman pic.twitter.com/tBSpBePLfq
— أم بسايل عبل (@OmBsayl3bl) January 11, 2015
And Ahmed Althekair shares a photograph of a snowman and a snow woman and pronounces them husband and wife:
#Snow_Man and #Snow_Woman in Saudi Arabia Getting Married pic.twitter.com/w816M6SaKM
— Ahmad Althekair (@Aalthekair) January 12, 2015
Palestinian blogger Iyad El-Baghdadi describes Minijed as a “buzzkill.” In a series of tweets, he writes:
It snowed briefly in northern Saudi Arabia, so some “scholar” issued a fatwa against making snowmen. http://t.co/Se3EArussA
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 12, 2015
According to “Islamic” buzzkill Al-Munjid, making snowmen is “an imitation of the West” and is close to idolatory. http://t.co/Se3EArussA
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 12, 2015
Coz you know, our faith is so weak that if we build a snowman we may mistake it for a god and start worshipping it or something. #facepalm
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 12, 2015
I also love the part about how we should imitate the West in good things like science & technology, not bad things like… um, snowmen. #pt
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) January 12, 2015
And needless to say the fatwa did not go well with all Saudis.
Fashion Slave notes:
ناس مشغولة بفرنسا و ناس مشغولة بالقولدن قلوب و فجأة يطلع علينا شيخ يقول صنع رجل الثلج حرام ارجع الى جحرك يا عديم الموضوع .عايز يسرق الاضواء
— Fashion ▼ Slave (@zepertooo) January 12, 2015
While some people are busy with what's happened in France and others with the Golden Globe, suddenly a clergyman comes up with a fatwa which says that building snowmen is forbidden. Get back into your hole. You just want to steal the limelight
Ms Abeer is exasperated everything is banned in Saudi Arabia. She says:
@massaaed بلد كل شي حرام طيب بيسيح اللا غصب لا تفرحون المفروض يسوون رجل الثلج من دون راس يمكن كذا يرتاحون
— Ms Abeer♓️ (@Al_ka30) January 11, 2015
Everything in this country is banned. It will eventually melt. You just don't want us to have fun. Now we should make headless snowmen so that they become happy
Another user tries to reason:
خير ؟ مين الي أفتى وقال ان رجل الثلج حرام؟ ارحمونا بليز كل شي خليتوه حرام ترا الدين مو كذا وبعدين وش الضرر منه عشان تحرمونه؟ مجرد تسليه.
— ميشز . (@Upqi1x) January 12, 2015
What? Who issued the fatwa that building snowmen is forbidden? Have mercy on us please. You have forbidden everything. Religion is not like this. And what's the harm in it for you to forbid it. It is just entertainment.
If building snowmen is frowned upon in Saudi Arabia, one wonders what will happen to those who reportedly dared build one in Ar-Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the IS, in Syria. Photographs floating online show us a snowman waving the IS flag:
A snowman allegedly in Ar-Raqqa in Syria