Definitions

Sorry, no definitions found. Check out and contribute to the discussion of this word!

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word mutawwa.

Examples

  • This is an important distinction because when people talk bad about "mutawwa" they are including a lot of peaceful people who are simply adopting strict orthodoxies in their own lives.

    The Lede 2009

  • The New York Times (at least until Katherin Zoepf made corrections) and other media incorrectly refer to religious police at "mutawwa".

    The Lede 2009

  • For example, if you say something disparaging "mutawwa" it can often be perceived to be an assault on Orthodox Muslims rather than the religious police.

    The Lede 2009

  • After spending a night in jail, Jamie was taken to mutawwa'in headquarters in Jeddah, and a mutawwa interrogated him again.

    The Kingdom in the Closet 2007

  • When he tried to defend himself, the mutawwa asked him to walk, and Jamie strode across the room in what he considered a manly fashion.

    The Kingdom in the Closet 2007

  • When he tried to defend himself, the mutawwa asked him to walk, and Jamie strode across the room in what he considered a manly fashion.

    The Kingdom in the Closet 2007

  • After spending a night in jail, Jamie was taken to mutawwa'in headquarters in Jeddah, and a mutawwa interrogated him again.

    The Kingdom in the Closet 2007

  • And Daniel Green is a pious mutawwa, a one-man Committee for the Prevention of Literary Vice, correcting this one and that one, enforcing conformity where he can no longer enjoy a community of belief.

    Criticism and the police 2009

  • And Daniel Green is a pious mutawwa, a one-man Committee for the Prevention of Literary Vice, correcting this one and that one, enforcing conformity where he can no longer enjoy a community of belief.

    Archive 2009-04-01 2009

  • Women who go on “power walks” face harassment from the “mutawwa,” or religious police.

    Married Saudi Girls Can't Divorce Until Puberty: Judge 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A member of the religious police in Saudi Arabia.

    December 29, 2007