Editing Valentine's Day (section)

====Saudi Arabia====
In [[Saudi Arabia]], in 2002 and 2008, [[Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)|religious police]] banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items, because the day is considered a Christian holiday.<ref name="bbc 2002">{{cite news |title=Cooling the ardour of Valentine's Day |work=BBC News |date=February 3, 2002 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1818642.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306053659/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1818642.stm |archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref><ref name="bbc saudi"/> This ban has created a [[black market]] for [[rose]]s and [[wrapping paper]].<ref name="bbc saudi">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7239005.stm |title=Saudis clamp down on valentines |work=BBC News |date=February 11, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112212609/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7239005.stm |archive-date=January 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name="LA Times 2010">{{cite news |title= Saudi officials put the squeeze on Valentine's Day |author= Lutz, Meris |date= February 13, 2010 |newspaper= [[LA Times]] |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-13-la-fg-saudi-valentine13-2010feb13-story.html |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160306125412/http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/13/world/la-fg-saudi-valentine13-2010feb13 |archive-date= March 6, 2016 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> In 2012, the religious police arrested more than 140 Muslims for celebrating the holiday, and confiscated all red roses from flower shops.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Religious police swoop on Valentine's Day lovers |date= February 15, 2012 |author= BBC |work= ABC News |url= http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-15/saudi-heart-breakers/3830624 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160205131410/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-15/saudi-heart-breakers/3830624 |archive-date= February 5, 2016 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> Muslims are not allowed to celebrate the holiday, and non-Muslims can celebrate only behind closed doors.<ref name="saudi 2013">{{Cite web |title= Police, Hai'a deny special Valentine's Day crackdowns |author1= Fatima Muhammad |author2= Mariam Nihal |name-list-style= amp |date= February 14, 2013 |work= [[Saudi Gazette]] |url= http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130214153122 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121823/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130214153122 |archive-date= September 24, 2015 |df= mdy-all }}</ref>

"Saudi cleric Sheikh Muhammad Al-'Arifi said on Valentine's Day Eve that celebrating this holiday constitutes [[bid'a]] – a forbidden innovation and deviation from religious law and custom – and mimicry of the West."<ref>Raialyoum.com, February 13, 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7994.htm#_edn2 "Saudis Sentenced To Prison, Flogging For Celebrating Valentine's Day."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104223259/http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7994.htm#_edn2 |date=January 4, 2016 }} MEMRI.org. May 20, 2014.</ref>

However, in 2017 and 2018, after a [[fatwa]] was widely circulated, the religious police did not prevent Muslims from celebrating the day.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/1246766/saudi-arabia |title=Un-forbidden love: Saudis enjoy second 'religious police-free' Valentine's Day |access-date=November 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207104420/http://www.arabnews.com/node/1246766/saudi-arabia |archive-date=February 7, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2018, Sheikh Ahmed Qasim Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi cleric and former president of the [[Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia)|Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice]], said that Valentine's Day is not haram and is compatible with Islamic values.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 15, 2018|title=Valentine is not 'haram', says ex-Saudi religious police boss|url=https://arab.news/5t39k|access-date=January 15, 2022|website=Arab News|language=en|archive-date=March 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324140945/https://www.arabnews.com/node/1247011/saudi-arabia|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=AFP|date=February 15, 2018|title=Saudi cleric endorses Valentine's Day as 'positive event'|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1389589|access-date=January 15, 2022|website=Dawn.com|language=en|archive-date=January 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115003959/https://www.dawn.com/news/1389589|url-status=live}}</ref>