Islamic religious police

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Islamic religious police (also sometimes known as morality police or sharia police) are official Islamic vice squad police agencies, often in Muslim-majority countries, which enforce religious observance and public morality on behalf of national or regional authorities based on its interpretation of sharīʿah.^[1] Modern Islamic religious police forces were first established in the late-1970s amidst the Iranian Revolution (1979) and the Islamic revival that the event brought to the Muslim world; prior, the administration of public morality in most Muslim-majority countries was considered a socio-religious matter, and was enforced through application of civil laws and/or through more informal means.

The powers and responsibilities of Islamic religious police vary by country, but in contrast to the enforcement of laws against crimes like robbery and murder by conventional police forces, Islamic religious police have focused more on such issues as preventing the consumption of alcohol among Muslims, mixing of men and women, playing of music and public display of affection, Western practices such as Valentine's Day or Christmas gifts,^[2] making sure that Muslim women (but also sometimes men) observe Islamic dress code, and that Muslims are not skipping attendance to the Islamic daily prayers. They are sometimes portrayed as parapolice forces that mostly give citations and warnings, but some have powers similar to police officers, including the power to detain people.

The practice is generally justified with reference to the religious doctrine of ḥisba, which is based on the Quranic injunction of enjoining good and forbidding evil, and refers to the duty of Muslims to promote moral rectitude and intervene when another Muslim is acting wrongly.^[3] In pre-modern Islam, its legal implementation was entrusted to a public official called muhtasib (market inspector), who was charged with preventing fraud, disturbance of public order, and infractions against public morality. This last part of public morality was missing in early and medieval Islam but the office was revived in Saudi Arabia, and later instituted as a committee, aided by a volunteer force focused on enforcing religious observance. Similar institutions later appeared in several other countries and regions.^[4]

Islamic religious police organizations have aroused controversy both locally and internationally. Although these institutions may be supported by conservative sectors, their activities are criticized by liberals, women and young people. In 2016, legal reforms introduced by Saudi rulers sharply curtailed the authority of the Saudi religious police. Former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani criticized Iran's religious police, but under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran the president does not have the authority to take action on this matter. In the Kano State of Nigeria, the Islamic religious police has had a contentious relationship with the civil police forces; some incidents where the Islamic religious police has been involved were widely viewed as overstepping their mandate and have received broad public condemnation in the country.