KUWAIT CITY, Feb 14 (AFP) - A Kuwaiti MP urged the government to crack down on shops that mark St. Valentine's Day because it is an imported Western idea that breeds "illicit relationships," newspapers reported Monday.
"Valentine's Day is a dangerous way of importing the Western concept of relations between man and woman," warned Walid al-Tabtabai, quoted by the Arab Times. "Valentine's Day is celebrated by Western society as an occasion to encourage and promote illicit affairs between man and woman," the Islamist MP said.
"The West allows out-of-wedlock affairs between the two sexes, a matter that is well regulated under Islamic laws," said Tabtabai, a former religious studies professor and member of the Muslim Al-Salaf movement.
Florists in this oil-rich emirate were not complaining, however, as throngs of Kuwaiti lovers of both sexes snapped up bunches of imported red roses from stalls in the chic district of Salmiya late Sunday.
In contrast to Tabtabai's reaction, members of Turkey's Islamic Virtue Party last week approved celebrating Valentine's for the first time, in a move seen largely as a change of image for the party.
Tabtabai has been outspoken in his criticism of all forms of entertainment that involve mixing of the sexes, including "untraditional and immoral" musical concerts in Kuwait's current three-week-long shopping festival.
He has also campaigned for a ban on cinema, theater and "entertainment tents" during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
In 1997, the Information Ministry banned music concerts or shows that contravene Islamic Sharia law and the traditions of Kuwait, in line with parliamentary recommendations.
Kuwait is a conservative country where alcohol is banned under Islamic law, although available. It is the only Gulf country to have an elected parliament, even though women are not allowed to vote.
