First of all, yes, a Dubai-based nightclub company called WHITE had planned to open what was to be the first “World’s 1st Halal Nightclub” in city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It was more like a temporary setup, or pop-up. The news of this spread fast and wild, with the online community making fun of this so-called halal nightclub.
I am not surprised that the Internet reacts with such strong humor. While halal is not limited to how food are handled and obvious rules like prohibiting alcohol and gambling, it is still hard to imagine a place of decadence like a nightclub could associate itself as being halal.
Obviously, the planned nightclub was to be a strictly no alcohol venue and it would serve food in accordance to halal standards. But seriously, like I have questioned earlier, how is possible that a place of decadence ever be halal? It really had me scratching my head.
I guess I won’t have to (be bothered by the how) because, as it turns out, the government knew nothing of such halal nightclub and promptly had it shut down even before the opening night which WHITE had invited American R&B singer Ne-Yo to grace the event.
WHITE’s posting on Instagram promoting the grand event. Oddly, the company had not follow up with a new post, but Ne-Yo himself did on his Instagram.
The story went that the entertainment company was granted a license for another event, but the entertainment company’s contractor “took advantage of an extension of the license” to hatch the illegal plan (as in, in Saudi’s context).
Not content with just shutting it down, the Saudi’s General Entertainment Authority has apparently launched an investigation into the so-called nightclub opening. Dang it. It must be a major disappointment to the less conservative folks in KSA.
I guess the idiom “if something seems too good to be true, it probably is” couldn’t be more fitting in the case of this Halal nightclub because, Saudi Arabia.
Image: White Club Dubai.
Source: Hype.