Uncyclopedia:Featured articles/January 31

Mutaween are the Saudi government religious police. The word Mutaween literally means “volunteers” in Arabic, while other translations render Mutaween using less flattering words, and the fashion-conscious just call them “Mecca Vice.” The Mutaween are a constant source of mirth and amusement to the local sand dwellers who wonder what those chaps will get up to next. The Mutaween are notorious for being staffed by murderers and ex-convicts, whose only job qualification is memorizing the title of the Quran, in order to have their death sentences commuted from being executed to executing others.

More recently, the term has gained use as a threat or swear word throughout the Arab-speaking world to indicate religious police in several Muslim majority areas like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. The novel concept may have originated with Muslims themselves, based on a strict interpretation of Muslim Sharia Law, the entirety of which may be summed up in a single grand edict: Follow or die! (Full article...)