Soccer Dad: You could be a hafez too

January 25, 2007

You could be a hafez too

Apparently the term for someone who has memorized the Koran is 'hafez.' I came upon this word in this news story.

A Saudi court has ordered a drug user to spend six months memorizing the Koran, but he faces a year in prison if he fails to recite the Muslim holy book by heart, a newspaper said Tuesday.

According to the report that given its size - 77,000 words - it usually takes 2 years to memorize the Koran. The article also says that though Saudi Arabia is governed by Sharia

...it is largely uncodified and judges have wide discretion when it comes to sentencing.

I was surprised to read this because I thought that drug offenses were punishable by one way trips to Chop Chop Square. So either this an example of the discretion or the capital crime would be drug smuggling or drug dealing but not using.

Blogdigger tags: Saudi Arabia, Drugs, Punishment.