# Saudi RO #374 - Burn the Witch **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 15, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722 "2008-02-15T09:08:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/1 "2008-02-15T09:08:47Z")
They are literally going to [execute a woman for witchcraft](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7244579.stm) > [@](#): > > The illiterate woman was detained by religious police in 2005 and allegedly beaten and forced to fingerprint a confession that she could not read. Among her accusers was a man who alleged she made him impotent. > > When an appeal court decided she should not be executed, the law courts imposed the death sentence again, arguing that it would be in the public interest. Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, what is wrong with these people? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/2 "2008-02-15T09:10:52Z")
The locals do not burn witches. That is a damnable lie. The locals stone witches. (Or cut their heads off, I forget which.) But it is a simple slander to claim they burn witches. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/3 "2008-02-15T09:18:35Z")
Let’s not be too hasty to condemn the authorities here: I’m sure they went through the proper procedure with the dunking, identification of her familiar, pricking of numb spots and all that. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/4 "2008-02-15T09:47:34Z")
Here’s another article: [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3432260.ece](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3432260.ece) > [@](#): > > In November of last year Saudi Arabia executed pharmacist Mustafa Ibrahim for sorcery in Riyadh. Clerics of Saudi Arabia’s austere form of Islam, known as Wahhabism, take accusations of sorcery seriously and recently held a conference in Riyadh on how to combat it. Sheesh. It’s hard for me to believe this. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/5 "2008-02-15T10:15:02Z")
A couple of years ago the municipality had scuba divers go collect the trash off the harbor floor. The paper reported that special teams were standing by (from the Ministry of Magic?) to handle magic charms and amulets that were found. Can’t be too careful about magic charms you know. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/6 "2008-02-15T10:30:42Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] Here’s another article: [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3432260.ece](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3432260.ece) Sheesh. It’s hard for me to believe this. [/QUOTE] Really? Where have you been? The 21st century? ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/7 "2008-02-15T10:40:02Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick, what is wrong with these people? Apart from their primitivism and bloodlust? Well, sometimes they pee without washing their hands. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/8 "2008-02-15T11:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] A couple of years ago the municipality had scuba divers go collect the trash off the harbor floor. The paper reported that special teams were standing by (from the Ministry of Magic?) to handle magic charms and amulets that were found. Can’t be too careful about magic charms you know. [/QUOTE] Ministry of Magic? I wouldn’t be surprised if it really existed. BTW, if she’s a witch why doesn’t she use her magic powers to escape? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/9 "2008-02-15T12:13:40Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] …Can’t be too careful about magic charms you know. [/QUOTE] What about Lucky Charms? They’re magically delicious. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/10 "2008-02-15T12:26:13Z")
[QUOTE=Jolly Roger] BTW, if she’s a witch why doesn’t she use her magic powers to escape? [/QUOTE] They confiscated her broomstick. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/11 "2008-02-15T12:31:43Z")
Is Pat Robertson running that country? I wonder what the U.S. State Dept. response will be about this. Do we really want to be seen as soft on sorcery? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/12 "2008-02-15T12:46:15Z")
I was surprised to read that apparently, believing in witchcraft is an Islam thing, not a specifically Saudi thing. ([(Wiki link)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft) > [@](#): > > Muslims do commonly believe in magic (Sihr) and explicitly forbid its practice. Sihr translates from Arabic as sorcery or black magic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is the Surah Al-Falaq (meaning dawn or daybreak), which is a prayer to ward off black magic. … > However, whereas performing miracles in Islamic thought and belief is reserved for only Messengers and Prophets; supernatural acts are also believed to be performed by Awliyaa - the spiritually accomplished. > Disbelief in the miracles of the Prophets is considered an act of disbelief; belief in the miracles of any given pious individual is not. Neither are regarded as magic, but as signs of Allah. Gah. In Europe’s past, an IMHO rather convincing conspiracy theory argues that it was medical doctors, jealous of the traditional midwive’s and herb healers success, who instigated witch hunts to weed out the competition. it seems that in Islam, the same thing happens, not with healers, but with priests. If they do magic, it’s a sign of endorsement by Allah; if some locally trusted but otherwise powerless and unaffiliated old women does magic, it’s burn her at the stake. Sickening. Is Amnety International on it yet? I was going to say that these people now are about where we were in the 17’th and 18’th century. But then I realised that that excuse doesn’t hold up. These people have internet, and modern medicine and (at least those in power, like judges and magistrates) have (access to) European educations. So yes, indeed, what the fuck IS wrong with these people? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/13 "2008-02-15T13:10:01Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Is Pat Robertson running that country? I wonder what the U.S. State Dept. response will be about this. Do we really want to be seen as soft on sorcery? [/QUOTE] At least one of er accusers is soft on witchcraft… > [@](#): > > Among her accusers was a man who alleged she made him impotent. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/14 "2008-02-15T13:28:31Z")
Good solid Tory government. Magic is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and so it exists. (So says the religious column in the local paper.) ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/15 "2008-02-15T13:45:09Z")
> [@Paul In Saudi](#): > > Magic is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and so it exists. Ah, I think we’ve just stumbled on the root of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/16 "2008-02-15T13:46:02Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Is Amnety International on it yet? [/QUOTE] Amnesty International is to do with political prisoners. It is Human Rights Watch fighting her corner as best they can while so far as I can see our governments do their see and hear no evil act. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/17 "2008-02-15T14:13:20Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Magic is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, and so it exists. (So says the religious column in the local paper.) [/QUOTE] Frankly, I think we would have the same problem in the U.S. if the religious Christian right-wing and biblical literalists held power. It’s mentioned in the bible, so it exists, and the bible mentions the death penalty, so that would be fair. Be grateful if you live in a country where religion and government are separated. (Thank you, again, li’l Tommy Jefferson.) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/18 "2008-02-15T14:14:34Z")
I’m just surprised this entire thread has not yet devolved into something more Pythonesque. The witchcraft thing – not so surprising. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/19 "2008-02-15T14:22:30Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] I’m just surprised this entire thread has not yet devolved into something more Pythonesque. The witchcraft thing – not so surprising. [/QUOTE] Hey, if she made the guy impotent, that’s a lot more serious than turning him into a newt! Anyway, I have faith that the Saudi police and prosecutors made sure she weighs the same as a duck before proceeding. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722/20 "2008-02-15T14:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] I’m just surprised this entire thread has not yet devolved into something more Pythonesque. The witchcraft thing – not so surprising. [/QUOTE] All I said was, ‘That pork chop was good enough for Mohammed.’ Happy now? 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-ro-374-burn-the-witch/437722.md?page=2)