Saudi women should not have to wear the loose-fitting abaya robe to shroud their bodies in public, a senior cleric said, in the latest sign of a far-reaching liberalization drive. “More than 90 percent of pious Muslim women in the Muslim world do not wear abayas,” said Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, the kingdom’s highest religious body. ADVERTISEMENTSaudi Arabia, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, requires them to wear the garment by law. The government has not said whether it will change the law, but this is the first such comment from a senior religious figure. Saudi Arabia last month allowed women to enter a football stadium for the first time to watch a game.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 11, 2018 09:56 UTC