Weird news: Snowman declared anti-Islamic by Saudi cleric
Building a snowman is an activity much liked by children and even adults. After all, when there is snow falling and a lot of snow on the ground, what can be more interesting than building a snowman and decorating the snowman with hat, muffler and other items to make it more lifelike. What can be more innocent ? So what would you say if people in Saudi Arabia, who managed to get some snow, decided to ask a religious cleric about whether it was within religious principles to make a snowman ? Sound a bit off, doesn't it ? After all, what would be the need to get religious approval for this ? Well, if this was not weird enough, the religious cleric came back with the advice that since Islam does not approve the creation of the human form (only God is allowed to make the human form with a soul), and hence the advice was that this is not allowed as per Islamic principles. (link to article)
Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen for their children after a snowstorm in the country's north, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid replied: "It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun." Quoting from Muslim scholars, Sheikh Munajjid argued that to build a snowman was to create an image of a human being, an action considered sinful under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.