Saudi cleric says people need to quit taking selfies with their cats

People need to stop taking selfies with their cats.
(Image credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Ultraconservative Saudi cleric Saleh bin Fawzan al-Fawzan was recently shocked to learn that people take pictures with their cats, The Washington Post reports. Fawzan was then forced to clarify for his audience that, according to hard-line Islamic codes, cat selfies are strictly forbidden.

A member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, Fawzan appeared on a television program in April that was recently translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Center. At one point in the appearance, someone off-screen tells the cleric that "taking pictures with cats has been spreading among people who want to be like the Westerners."

The cleric apparently can't believe his ears. "They are taking pictures with them," the person is forced to repeat.

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Fawzan then stresses that such selfies are "prohibited," although "the cats here don't matter."

"Taking pictures is prohibited if not for a necessity, not with cats, not with dogs, not with wolves, not with anything," Fawzan says, citing a view held by some hard-line Islamic scholars who believe photos violate rules against depicting human or animal images.

However, it is not a view held by many in Saudi Arabia — in fact, ordinary Saudis take cat selfies a-plenty, just like anyone elsewhere.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.