Building Snowmen Is Against Islam, Declares Saudi Muslim Cleric

A prominent Saudi cleric has declared that building a snowman with facial features is anti-Islamic.

Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid, who runs a website, was responding to a question on whether fathers could build snowmen for their kids, according to a Reuters report.

His reply: "It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun."

He said creating an image of a human being through a snowman is prohibited under Sunni Islam. "God has given people space to make whatever they want which does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so on," he said.

He said snowmen can only be built if they do not have facial features. "The model should be like the scarecrow with no features sculpted into the face that is used by farmers to scare away birds," he posted on Twitter, according to Gulf News.

"It could also be similar to some shapes that are used to warn people about road works. There is no problem with the shapes that children build since children need to play and to have fun, especially in areas where snowfall is scarce," the Saudi cleric said.

In response to his declaration, Twitter users posted photos of snowmen. One user, @Aalthekair, posted photos of "#Snow_Man and #Snow Woman in Saudi Arabia Getting Married" and "#Snow Man in Saudi Arabia Drinking #Coffee."

"People looking for a fatwa (religious ruling) for everything in their lives, and a cleric who wants to interfere in everything in the lives of others through a fatwa," one Twitter user posted, according to Reuters.

A supporter of the cleric wrote: "May God preserve the scholars, for they enjoy sharp vision and recognize matters that even Satan does not think about."

In 2009, the cleric made headlines when he was quoted as saying that Mickey Mouse was a "Satan's soldier." He later issued a clarification to say that what he meant was mice and rodents.