Will, your post reminds of my one encounter with the Mutawia when I was in Saudi Arabia. One evening, I went to Balad, the souk at the center of Jeddah, and walked around. There was a cool breeze coming off the Red Sea, and Balad was full — of Saudis, of Indians and Pakistanis, of Filipinos (even saw a young couple holding hands), Africans, and a few Westerners. In the midst was a couple of Mutawia officers in their robes being escorted by an armed police corporal. And then they spotted the malefactors: two beautiful young Filipinas with their heads uncovered, hair flowing in the breeze.
One of the religious police officers … wagged a stern index finger at the two young women. They ignored him and walked on. And he did … nothing.
The Mutawia are not well-respected in Saudi Arabia, and I did not meet a Saudi who liked them. In the months I spent in Jeddah, I only saw them in public once. The commonest story I heard about them from my Saudi friends is they were all petty criminals who memorized the Qur’an in prison after being promised jobs as religious police if they did so. I suspect it is more complex than that, but that says something about just how little regard many Saudis hold the institution and its members.