In a mounting struggle between reformists and conservatives, Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority has denounced calls for greater women's rights as a violation of Islamic teachings.
The official, Grand Mufti Sheik Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheik, also sharply criticized women who mixed unveiled among men at an economic conference this week in Jidda, Saudi Arabia. He said such behavior was a cause of "evil and catastrophe."
His comments, which amounted to a religious edict, were broadcast late Tuesday after the three-day conference in Jidda, which gave women a rare public platform to voice their grievances in the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam.
"This is prohibited for all," Sheik Abdulaziz said. "I severely condemn this matter and warn of grave consequences. I am pained by such shameful behaviour in the country of the two holy mosques," in Mecca and Medina.
"Allowing women to mix with men is the root of every evil and catastrophe," he said. "It is highly punishable. Mixing of men and women is a reason for greater decadence and adultery."
He also criticized the appearance of women "without wearing the hijab ordered by God."
His comments seemed to be an attempt by Saudi Arabia's religious authorities to limit political reform in the conservative kingdom.
One Saudi academic who has followed Saudi Arabia's cautious reform effort said religious leaders monitored even "trivial things" like women's roles in the Jidda conference.
"If they see this as a violation of our purity and values and believe it opens the door of corruption, what about more concrete reforms?" he asked. "This could stop the reform process."
Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto ruler in Saudi Arabia, pledged last week to press ahead with reform but said changes would be gradual and would conform with Islam. "This country is either Muslim or nothing at all," he said.
A leading businesswoman, Lubna Olayan, opened the conference on Saturday with a rallying call for equality in Saudi Arabia, her loose head scarf slipping occasionally off her head onto her shoulders as she spoke.
"My vision is of a country in which any Saudi citizen, irrespective of gender, who is serious about finding employment can find a job in the field for which he or she is best qualified," Ms. Olayan said. She also called for mutual respect regardless of "social class, religion or gender."
Women applauded a speech by the former President Bill Clinton, who said that Saudi Arabia could not fight the "tide of change" and that the Prophet Muhammad would have let his wife drive if cars had existed 1,400 years ago. Women are banned from driving in Saudi Arabia.
Although men and women at the meeting were segregated by a screen, women were able to cross into the men's section and mingle, much to the anger of conservatives.
"I decree that Muslims should beware, be alert and avoid being carried away by this propaganda, which destroys religion, morals and virtues," Sheik Abdulaziz said. "What was published in some newspapers about this being the start of liberating the Saudi woman — such talk is null and void. One's duty is to obey Shariah by complying with orders and shunning that which is forbidden." Shariah refers to Islamic law.
Saudi Arabia is ruled by an alliance of the House of Saud and powerful Wahhabi religious authorities.