It’s dangerous to criticize a Muslim cleric, even one whose fatwas promote hatred and violence.
So the Saudi government is fighting fire with..humor. They’re using semi-official press to make fun of frivolous fatwas. They republished, for example, this recent fatwa against playing soccer by regular rules…
3. Do not call “foul” and stop the game if someone falls and sprains a hand or foot or the ball touches his hand, and do not give a yellow or red card to whoever was responsible for the injury or tackle. Instead, it should be adjudicated according to Sharia rulings concerning broken bones and injuries. The injured player should exercise his Sharia rights according to the Koran and you must bear witness with him that so-and-so hurt him on purpose…
14. You should use two posts instead of three pieces of wood or steel that you erect in order to put the ball between them, meaning that you should remove the crossbar in order not to imitate the heretics and in order to be entirely distinct from the soccer system’s despotic international rules…
Bogota’s use of “traffic mimes” cut their pedestrian death rate in half. But this use of humor sounds even more hopeful to me.
This article is in the NY Times paid op-ed section. Nobody likes paying, but there aren’t many US institutions more worthy (and needy) of $$ support than our big, good newspapers.