“Halal” sex shop story which was published earlier in the media was not substantiated by any source. It is alleged that Moroccan website seems to have published this sensational story deliberately with a slightly misleading headline.
Moroccan news website Alyaoum24 published a story under the headline “Moroccan intends to open a Halal sex shop in Makkah”. This story was rewritten terming it as a separate interview supposed to have been given to AFP by Abdelaziz Aouragh who is a famous businessman selling sex products which says that Mr. Abdelaziz is willing to open a sex shop in Makkah. This statement doesn’t correlate with what the story headline suggests.
It is very surprising that the story came to limelight when British daily “The Independent” claimed that the sex shop will actually be opened in Makkah and attributed the inaccurate information to Alyaoum24, which did not publish a clarification about its misleading headline by the time this article was published.
The story got major publicity when several Arab bloggers and social media users tweeted it again or spread the news extensively sharing on social websites.
This is the second time that such stories have been published Moroccan media this month with an intention to make false claims with regard to religious issues in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
It may be recalled that a similar fabricated story attributing the Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh for issuing a fatwa permitting husbands to eat the flesh of their wives was also published from a Moroccan media named “Code”.
Ahmad Nujaim, editor of Moroccan website gave an interview to CNN Arabic said that the wife-eating fatwa was meant as a political satire and was published in a satirical column carrying the name “Akhbar al-Tanz,” which in Moroccan dialect means “sarcastic news.”
He further told that it is not the intention to target Saudi establishments. It is just to make fun out of everyone.