Like any other organization, universities - whether they are government or private – have the right to draw up rules and regulations that they think will ensure discipline among their students and staff. But it is not right for any university, or any government or private agency, to claim that what they have introduced are Islamic regulations, and that those who violate any of these regulations are violating Islamic law. Umm Al-Qura University has come up with a raft of regulations that it has made mandatory for all male and female students to comply with. The university has made it clear to students that they will face disciplinary action if they violate any of these regulations. Certainly, no one can argue with the right of the university to introduce regulations that it wishes to enforce on its campus, and students have no choice but to obey these regulations or suffer the consequences. Let the university draw up as many regulations as it wants and call them the regulations of Umm Al-Qura University. However, I do not feel that the university has the right to call them Islamic regulations. There is no need to search for any new Islamic regulations, as long as we are in a country like Saudi Arabia, where all universities, schools, institutes and organizations in government and non-government sectors comply with Islamic regulations. And hence, there is no need for Umm Al-Qura University to introduce its own “Islamic” regulations. Referring to these regulations, the violation of which would incur disciplinary action, the university's dean for students affairs said that “students must wear decent Islamic dress suitable for students.” If by this he meant wearing the thobe and headgear (ghutra and igal), then what he is talking about is national dress not Islamic dress. It is well-known that there are general regulations regarding the wearing of national dress in government offices and schools. However, if by Islamic dress he has something else in mind, then he must explain what he is talking about.
