Shopping Malls in Saudi

Saudi Arabia's religious leaders consider music a sin, there is a 3 decade ban on cinemas, also initiated by the powerful religious police, plus, alcoholic drinks are banned in Islam, Saudi being the only Muslim country where drinking results in a public lashing. Don't  forget to take into account that gender-mixing in public is a big no-no, as it can lead to arrest, and you'll realize why the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is hardly the Kindom of Fun & Games. So, because of this situation, entertainment here mainly takes the form of (over)consumption. During weekends (weekends being Thursday and Friday), hordes of people, families, single men and groups of women, locals and expats, flood the malls and shop till they drop. Saudi Arabia is renowned for its massive shopping malls. Enormous and modern, with their designer stores and food courts including all the usual fast food joints, you could almost mistake them for malls anywhere in the world. Almost, because, after all, this is Saudi Arabia, where unique rules and customs apply. These are important things to watch out for while shopping in Saudi malls:

1) Singles' and Families' Sections / Shops

To avoid men fraternizing with women, all restaurants, coffee shops, etc, are separated into a singles' section and a families' section. All women who are unaccompanied by a male relative must be seated in the families' section. Vice versa, men who are not accompanied by a female relative, must sit in the singles' section. This division, although strict, is not always apparent. Some places have screens or walls, but others have only signs stating which side is which. It is prudent to look out for them, unless you want to find yourself in the awkward position I found myself in today, when I entered Starbucks through the singles' section and got plenty of stares for my trouble. Of course, I was also targeted, because, as a non-Muslim, I usually don't cover my hair. It was almost as embarrassing as walking into a men's room back home ( if I made that mistake here I'd probably be lynched or something). 

There is also a number of stores which don't allow entry to single men. These are usually womens' clothing or lingerie stores, and carry signs at the entrance: "FAMILIES ONLY" or "LADIES ONLY".

2) Beat Prayer Time

One of the 5 pillars of Islam is "Salat", the obligatory prayers which are performed 5 times a day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, lasting a half-hour each time. These prayers pretty much determine the rythm of the entire day. When it's time to pray, customers evacuate shops so they can lock up. All restaurants and coffee shops stop serving anything and the mullah's voice reverberates throughout the mall via speakers. However, if you have already been served before prayer time, you can continue sitting in the restaurant and finish your meal, no problem. The thing is, after the noon prayer, which usually starts around 12.00, most stores don't open again until 17.30. So between 10.00 when the mall opens for business and prayer time, you only get a couple of hours to squeeze in your shopping.  Shopping in the evening is a bit better, as long as you make sure to avoid the two prayers, which start around 17.45 and 19.15 each. Malls close at 23.00.

3) Fitting Rooms

There are none. Well, maybe not none, but most clothing stores don't have them. I assume it has something to do with obliterating the chances of a man getting an accidental view of female flesh. It's obviously very impractical, since to try on an article of clothing you must buy it, go to the mall's bathroom and put it on there. Changing clothes is a bit of a hassle on its own, considering you're wearing an abaya and regular clothes underneath. The good thing is that, upon returning something that didn't fit or you didn't like, you get your money back and don't have to search for something else to swap it for.

4) Toilet Paper

Same thing that applies to fitting rooms. Except here, I actually mean that there is literally none. Honestly, this might be the biggest culture shock I've had yet, because, although I had a general idea what to expect from Saudi Arabia, nobody thought to mention this particular, very important, er...custom. Apparently, the Saudi way is to use a shower nozzle attached to the wall, which shoots out a jet of water with surprising force. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how they do it without messing up their clothes. I assume this is what the locals do at home as well, and there is a very good chance that this way is more hygienic than using paper, but I don't think I'll be able to adopt this...technique.

So yeah, shopping in a Saudi mall can be the same as shopping in any other mall in the world. As long as you remember where to sit, plan your shopping around prayer times, know your sizes as best as possible to avoid unecessary trips to the bathroom and carry plenty of tissues when it's time to actually go!

Red Sea Mall, one of Jeddah's most popular malls.
*I do not own this photo*