Dubai: A Saudi religious scholar, who recently sparked widespread controversy for condemning snowmen as "un-Islamic", has reportedly softened his stance on the issue by saying that snowmen may be allowed if the main features of the face, the eyes, nose and mouth, were not clear.
Mohammad Saleh Al Munajid, who has more than 820,000 followers on Twitter, said on the micro-blogging platform that the model should be like scarecrow with no features sculpted into the face. He added that they could also resemble the shapes that are used to warn people about roadworks, reported GulfNews.
However, he insisted that snowmen with clear features were prohibited under Islamic rules.
The fatwa issued by him said that the religion prohibited building replica of an animal, even for fun or recreation, adding that only lifeless things such as ships, fruit and buildings could be imitated.
The fatwa was widely circulated on the social networks and triggered a heated debate online. Those who supported the fatwa said that building snowmen was a crude imitation of the West.
