RIYADH - It's a labour of love if you're trying to find the colour of passion for your Valentine's Day gift in Saudi Arabia, where Muslim religious police force shops to hide roses and smuggle heart-shaped cards under stacks of "To my grandmother" greeting cards.
"I am sorry. No red roses. I had to remove them three days ago," a Filipino florist said, standing in front of a rich collection of roses and carnations of various colours, except red.
He said the ban was enforced by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Mutawa religious police) which raid shops to make sure that no signs of Valentine's Day celebrations are visible.
"Mutawa come every morning and evening" to insure that shops are complying with the orders, he said.
Four years ago, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, branded Valentine's Day a "pagan Christian holiday" and decreed that "no Muslim who believes in God or judgement day should celebrate" on this day.
The religious police bar shops from selling red roses, teddy bears, greeting cards or any kind of red-color or heart-shaped gifts to celebrate St Valentine's Day.
"No. We do not stock that," one bookstore salesman said when asked for Valentine's Day cards.
He explained that the bookstore stopped stocking greeting cards or gifts for Valentine's Day following repeated raids by religious police every year.
"Last year we did stock some, they came and took it all away. We lost over 15,000 riyals (4,000 dollars) of stock," he said.
A salesman at a neighbouring gift shop also said that all items related to Valentine's Day had to disappear five days before February 14.
But a few shops seemed to be willing to take the risk of secretly stocking up the banned commodities in order to please selected customers.
An Asian salesman in a stationery shop did not hesitate to open a large drawer full of red cards hidden under a stand carrying more subtle greeting cards ranging from "To my grandmother" to "Happy retirement!"
The religious police put fear into the hearts of both locals and expatriates, who usually attempt to be very discreet when they disobey the strict rules of Sunni orthodox Islam enforced in Saudi Arabia.
Such rules also include a complete ban on mixing between sexes - if people are not related by family ties - so lovers who want to exchange presents are forced to improvise ways to deliver them.
"A boy would usually tell a girl whom he likes, or vice versa, that he bought her a Valentine's present and that it is waiting for her to collect it from a certain shop," a Saudi female university student said.
"This is the way men and women exchange presents here, unless they are lucky enough to be able to meet somewhere," she said requesting anonymity.
Segregated girls' schools make sure that their students do not wear or carry any red items on the day, she added.
Lovers who forgot to buy red color gifts a week before Valentine's day have to wait a few days for the banned red roses to go back on display so they can at least have a belated celebration.
"Maybe in five days, I will have red roses back on display. Come back then," the Filipino florist said after failing to promote his pink roses as an alternative.
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