Al-Shariqa Leader, Sheik Sultan Al-Qassemi, on the Rules of Modesty in His Emirate

The following are excerpts from an interview with the ruler of Al-Shariqa Emirate, sheik Sultan Al-Qassemi. The interview was aired by Al-'Arabiya TV on January 18, 2005:

Sheik Sultan Al-Qassemi: As for modesty - I don't want a woman to be exposed out in the streets, in view of young men, and so on. I won't have it… Modesty is not only for women, but for men as well. Even a laborer must wear underwear, because a gust of wind might expose his nakedness. Even this is unacceptable to me. I demand that he be dressed in a way that would prevent the wind from revealing his nakedness. It's a matter of modesty. Modesty is not only for women, but also for men. It's for everybody. First of all, we have inherited values, and we must preserve them. Our mothers used to wear head coverings or veils. Our sisters took them off, our daughters expose their hands... What's left? What's left for me to do? Am I supposed to wait until the West turns me into a monster? I won't have it.

We adopt what is right [from the West] and discard what is false. We make our own changes. We do not rely on others. [The west] wants to shake us and cause a rift between the ruler and the subjects, to undermine the current situation, and to behave insolently. This will lead to an internal conflict between the ruler – who is not a prime minister who could be removed through elections – no, the ruler is constant. He has inherited his rule. Therefore, this could cause struggle. Therefore, this will cause a conflict.