Social media is rife with posts falsely claiming that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has recently stated that from now on women in Saudi Arabia will be able to decide what they wear.
BOOM found that these posts have misrepresented an ambiguous quote by Prince Mohammed from 2018 saying women can choose not to wear an abaya or head cover, but can choose from a larger selection of "decent and respectful attire" within the Islamic laws.
An X user posted this claim on the platform with the caption, "Prince Mohammed bin Salman: From now on, only Saudi Arabian women can decide what clothes Saudi Arabian women wear." View the post here.
The same was also shared widely on Facebook, which can be viewed here, here and here.
Fact Check
BOOM did a keyword search with "Mohammed bin salman saudi women clothes", which led us to several news reports from 2018 containing a quote by Prince Mohammed on women having the choice to not wear the black abaya - a loose-fitted robe-like dress, or a black head cover.
His quote was taken from an interview he gave to US broadcaster CBS, for the show "60 minutes", in March 2018.
BOOM read through the transcript of the show, where Prince Mohammed is quoted as saying women can wear "decent, respectful clothing, like men", as per the laws of Shariah.
He then goes on to state, "This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear."
Prince Mohammed's quote appears to be ambiguous, and open to interpretation on the meaning of what is 'decent' and 'respectful', according to the laws of Shariah. This, however, does not signify complete freedom on choice of clothing, as claimed by the viral posts.
His interview was also reported by other media outlets, such as DW, Gulf News, Vogue Arabia, and Scroll, among others.
