JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA — Mazen Abdul-Jawad has gone into hiding after doing something on Saudi television that simply has never been done before. The 32-year-old divorced father of four spoke openly about his sex life. Given the fact that Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative countries in the world, chances are good that what likely sounds like tame stuff to a western audience will easily enrage those who believe that sex is not an appropriate topic of conversation at any time, but especially not on public television.
Abdul-Jawad spoke on the comparatively racy program Ahmar Bilkhat al-Areed (Wide Red Lines), observing that “Everything happens in this room” before discussing sexual foreplay techniques and offering tips for cruising women on the streets of Jeddah all from the comfort of his own bedroom.
Unrelated men and women are not allowed to socialize in super sober Saudi Arabia and police patrols enforce the restriction. Public beheadings take place regularly as punishment for crimes as wide ranging as murder, rape, witchcraft and insulting Islam.
In spite of these measures and the efforts of Saudi clerics to minimize contact between youths and various forms of technology, including cell phones, those determined to violate the taboo find ways. Illicit snapshots taken in malls and other places via mobile phones are often used as blackmail, sometimes with tragic results.
Broadcast on Lebanese channel LBC, Abdul-Jawad spoke of his first sexual encounter with a neighbor at the age of 14 and his methods for cruising for women in supermarkets or while driving his red convertible.
“While I’m driving, I turn my Bluetooth on,” Abdul-Jawad explains on a YouTube clip that has earned nearly a half million hits, “It has the description of my car and my mobile number… I get calls from girls… and in some cases, I call back and she goes out with me.”
Bloggers and newspapers alike have demanded that Abdul-Jawad be punished for what some are calling the “frank with filth case.”
“He confessed before the world that he committed fornication and continues to fornicate,” one anonymous al-Medina reader posted to the site’s Web forum, according to Reuters.
Fellow Jeddah resident, 24-year-old Hashim Adnar believes that “It is for that reason that he deserves to be stoned to death, as Islamic law stipulates. He must be punished and become an example for all. We Saudis are not used to and will not accept such behavior.”
Two weeks after the airing of the episode, which included showing off bottles of personal lubricants and sex toys, Abdul-Jawad has issued only one statement from his hiding place.
“I offer my apologies to everyone and I am ready to accept the consequences,” he told the daily Okaz, which carried a photo of him in traditional robes with his face obscured.
