[caption id="attachment_144813" align="alignright" width="195"] Sheikh Mohammad Saleh al-Munajjid[/caption]
A Salafi Saudi Arabian cleric has stirred up controversy by issuing a ruling prohibiting the building of snowmen.
Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid made the comments while replying to a question posted on his website.
Al-Munajjid was asked whether fathers were allowed to build snowmen for their kids.
"It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun, replied the Salafi cleric.
Munajjid said that building snowman was the same as creating an image of a human being, which he says is considered a sin under the kingdom's interpretation of Islamic law.
The clerics ruling provoked rapid responses on social media, with people posting photos of snowmen they built.
For the third year in a row Saudi Arabias Tabuk province, near the Jordanian border, has been covered in snow.