Snowmen have bizarrely been ruled as forbidden and anti-Islamic by a prominent Saudi Arabian cleric, sparking controversy and debate on social media.
It is an extremely rare experience for children to witness the sight of snow in Saudi Arabia. So after the country's north was hit by a snowstorm over the weekend, fathers inquired on a religious website if it was permissible in Islam for them to build snowmen with their children.
However, to the dismay of many, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid issued a religious ruling forbidding the act, Reuters reported.
"It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun."
As cold weather swept across the Middle East for the third consecutive year, snow has covered upland areas of Tabuk province near Saudi Arabia's border with Jordan.
Comparing the act of building a snowman to creating an image of a human being, an action considered sinful under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, Sheikh Munajjid described it as being against Islam.
"God has given people space to make whatever they want which does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so on," he wrote.
However, the bizarre ruling provoked immediate backlash on Twitter, with a majority of users responding in Arabic and identifying themselves with Arab names.
"They are afraid for their faith of everything ... sick minds," one Twitter user wrote.
Another posted a photo of a man in formal Arab garb holding the arm of a "snow bride" wearing a bra and lipstick. "The reason for the ban is fear of sedition," he wrote.
A third speculated that the country was plagued by two types of people. "A people looking for a fatwa (religious ruling) for everything in their lives, and a cleric who wants to interfere in everything in the lives of others through a fatwa," the user wrote.
But the religious ruling was also backed by some supporters, with a special appreciation for Sheikh Munajjid's knowledge, according to Reuters.
"It (building snowmen) is imitating the infidels, it promotes lustiness and eroticism," one wrote.
"May God preserve the scholars, for they enjoy sharp vision and recognize matters that even Satan does not think about."
