Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A member of a police force, especially in Saudi Arabia, charged with enforcing adherence to Shari’a law, notably in application to public conduct and dress.
  • noun The members of this police force, considered as a group.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A member of the religious police in an Islamic country, especially Saudi Arabia.
  • noun The religious police as a body.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun religious police in Saudi Arabia whose duty is to ensure strict adherence to established codes of conduct; offenders may be detained indefinitely; foreigners are not excluded

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Arabic muṭṭawwa‘, colloquial form of muṭṭawwi‘, volunteer, one following the noncompulsory practices recommended in the shari’a, active participle of iṭṭawwa‘a, to volunteer, contracted form of taṭawwa‘a, to volunteer, reflexive of ṭawwa‘a, to make obedient, factative of ṭā‘a, to be obedient; see ṭwע in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Arabic مطوع (muŧáwwaʕ, "compliance officer, pious volunteer"), from طوع (ŧáwwaʕa, "to subjugate").

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Examples

  • The encounter, described by Al-Watan newspaper last month, was the latest move by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, known as the mutawa’a, to improve its image.

    Saturday, December 06, 2008 As'ad 2008

  • The encounter, described by Al-Watan newspaper last month, was the latest move by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, known as the mutawa’a, to improve its image.

    Wednesday, December 31, 2008 As'ad 2008

  • Young Saudi women whom I interviewed said that the popular king has relaxed the grip of the bullying mutawa, the bearded religious police officers who patrol the streets ready to throw you in the clink at the first sign of fun or skin.

    Record Article Feed Maureen Dowd 2010

  • She keeps her male enforcers on their toes at every turn-and manages to stay one step ahead of the feared religious police, known as the mutawa.

    the latest from teenvogue.com 2010

  • If she is approached by the mutawa - the religious police - she's willing to back chat.

    NYT > Home Page By MAUREEN DOWD 2010

  • Because Mimi, their housemaid, was helpful to Karin, Fatima reported Mimi to the mutawa for "fornication."

    Clipmarks | Live Clips 2009

  • The only solution, he notes, is to send in the mutawa.

    Sand gets in my eyes 2009

  • Because Mimi, their housemaid, was helpful to Karin, Fatima reported Mimi to the mutawa for "fornication."

    Original Signal - Transmitting Buzz 2009

  • A professor emeritus at the American University in Cairo, Schleifer is considered a bridge-builder between cultures. kuwait al mutawa, jassem Jassem al Mutawa is the president of Iqra satellite channel, an Islamic TV channel presenting programs on everyday life problems concerning spiritual, cultural, social and economic issues from a modern Islamic perspective. al mutawa, dr naif Naif al Mutawa is founder and CEO of Teshkeel Media Group and creator of the popular Islamic - themed comic series 'The 99'.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows AlHaqqNetwork 2010

  • A.D. 1138) is best known for his Tadbīr al-mutawaḥḥid

    Dictionary of the History of Ideas SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR 1968

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