Valentine's Day banned by Saudis

Saudi Arabia's religious authorities have ordered Muslims to shun the "pagan" holiday of Valentine's Day so as not to incur God's wrath, the newspaper al-Riyadh reported yesterday.

"It is a pagan Christian holiday and Muslims who believe in God and judgment day should not celebrate or acknowledge it or congratulate [people on it]. It is a duty to shun it to avoid God's anger and punishment," said an edict issued by the fatwa committee and published in the Arabic-language daily.


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Saturday February 14, 2004