Fallujah fashion show featuring women models angers sheikhs, religious scholars

“We condemn and refuse any kind of show that exposes the women of Fallujah to the public,” the council said in an official letter on Sunday.

 
“Fallujah is the city of mosques and martyrs, and such activities are not suitable for this respected and conservative city,” the statement added.

The fashion show in question, held at the city’s Habanya resort, is believed to have been the first of its kind in Fallujah since the 1980s.

Fallujah, known in Iraq as the city of mosques, was under Islamic State (ISIS) control from 2014, until Iraqi forces recaptured it in a hard-fought battle in June 2016. According to Anbar’s tribal leaders and locals, 80 percent of the city was razed to the ground during the war with ISIS.

The city was also a hotbed for Sunni insurgency after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

Inas al-Tamimi, organizer of the fashion show, said the event was an important starting point for the city’s cultural renaissance after years of decline.

“Since the 1980s, Fallujah stopped hosting such activities. We therefore want to restore these events and activities to the city of Fallujah,” al-Tamimi told youth-oriented Iraqi media platform Irfaa Sawtak on Saturday.

“We want to show everybody that the city is developing, and there are no obstacles facing us as we put together such an event,” fashion designer Luma al-Jumaili told Irfaa Sawtak.

Condemnation of the fashion show echoed the negative reception received by the opening ceremony of the West Asia Football Federation (WAFF) championship, in the religiously conservative city of Karbala at the end of July.

Religious authorities and scholars, including the Shiite endowment office, expressed outrage at the “unethical" opening ceremony. While no explicit reference was made to what caused their outrage, they appear to have found the inclusion of women musicians and dancers to be disrespectful.

“We sadly received the news of the clear violation to the sanctity of holy city of Karbala during the opening ceremony of a sport championship in Karbala stadium,” the endowment office said in response to the July 30 ceremony.

Although Iraqi women theoretically share equal civil rights with men under the Iraqi constitution, religious conservatism continues to permeate all areas of public life, in opposition to the socially liberal values found among sections of the urban youth.