A claim that the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed ibn Salman, has permitted women in Saudi Arabia to dress however they wish without approval from their male spouse or sibling has resurfaced on the internet.
An X user, @EuropeInvasionn, posted the claim on July 27, 2024 alongside a photo collage of the prince and Rumy Alqathani, a Saudi Arabian model who is part of the contestants for Miss Universe 2024 billed for later this year. It read thus:
Prince Mohammed bin Salman:
From now on, women in Saudi Arabia can dress however they want without male permission.
The X post has garnered over 8.2 million views with more than 12,000 reposts and over 107,000 likes, plus more than 3,000 comments as of August 1, 2024.
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Mohammed bin Salman is the heir apparent to the Saudi Arabian throne. He is currently Crown Prince and Prime Minister. He is the seventh son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia and grandson of the nation’s founder, King Abdulaziz.
CLAIM
Mohammed bin Salman says women in Saudi Arabia can dress however they wish without male permission.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is MISLEADING, as the Saudi prince was quoted out-of-context.
A Google search conducted on the keywords “Prince Salman Saudi Arabia Women Dressing” shows some media reports and fact-checks indicating that the Saudi prince indeed spoke on women’s dressing in Saudi Arabia during a CBS News‘ interview in March 2018.
In the interview, he only advocated that women should wear “decent, respectful clothing, like men,” in accordance with the Sharia laws, and not anyhow they wish.
Multiple credible media reports, including Reuters and DW, reported the interview, saying the Saudi PM shed more light on Saudi cultural system and practices during the interview.
His response was to a question posed to him by the host, who asked if women are equal to men in the Saudi Kingdom. He stated that there is no difference between both genders as “we are all human beings.”
Salman further stated that some individuals hold extreme views that prohibit the mixing of men and women in public and failed to distinguish between a man and woman being together in a professional setting and when they are alone.
He emphasized that the Sharia laws, practiced in the Saudi Kingdom, make it very clear that women must dress respectfully and decently, just as males.
“We have extremists who forbid mixing between the two sexes and are unable to differentiate between a man and a woman alone together and their being together in a workplace. Many of those ideas contradict the way of life during the time of the Prophet and the Caliphs. This is the real example and the true model.
“The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of Sharia: that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men. This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear,” the Saudi prince said in the interview held in 2018.
Sharia law decrees that men and women should dress modestly, although countries vary in how they interpret this.
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Further checks show that the claim have been fact-checked previously as seen here, here, here and here.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Mohammed bin Salman said that women in Saudi Arabia can dress however they wish without male permission is MISLEADING; the Prince was quoted out-of-context.
Seasoned fact-checker and researcher Fatimah Quadri has written numerous fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy pieces for The FactCheckHub in an effort to combat information disorder. She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or [email protected].
