But in order not to tarnish their reputation in the eyes of the believers, the excesses of the self-proclaimed guardians of faith were well-kept secrets. Better yet, they had achieved the feat of freezing time, throwing a medieval cloak over Arabia, allowing only a facade of modernity: television, chips, jars of mayonnaise, and so on. Women remained a vice to be hidden, and the sword and the whip were the rule. Sins have been the same since the dawn of time, so why on earth change the punishments?
