Riyadh: Saudi Arabia`s most senior religious
leader has ordered a conservative cleric to stop giving
unauthorised edicts after his call for boycotting a
supermarket chain that employs women as cashiers.
Sheik Youssef al-Ahmed had urged people not to shop at
Panda Supermarket because women there work in jobs that allow
for the mingling of the sexes. Al-Ahmed says this is a
violation of Islamic law.
Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheik`s office said
Thursday he ordered al-Ahmed to refrain from issuing edicts,
or fatwas, without authorisation.
Saudi media say the fatwa forced the chain to reassign 11
women employees yesterday. The chain could not be reached for
comment.
A recent royal decree limits the issuance of fatwas to a
senior body of Saudi clerics.
PTI
