Saudi Arabia's First Pop Video An Instant Hit

For a country that considers music un-Islamic and bans it in public places, it is perhaps not surprising that the first pop video produced in Saudi Arabia is about the benefits of piety.

Malak Ghair Allah, or You Only Have God to Count On, proved an instant hit after its launch in Jeddah. Hundreds of fans turned out to watch the video's launch on a giant screen.

Saudi clerics' concerns about the corrupting influence of music videos seem to have been assuaged by the tune's Islamic overtones.

Unlike pop videos popular elsewhere in the Middle East, the video's female star, Ruwaina al-Jihani, appears covered up in black with only her face showing.

The song tells of a young Muslim who strays from the true path by smoking, flirting and skipping prayers.

He suffers by losing his fiancée, falling behind at work and then having a serious motorcycling accident. But things come good when he reverts to a more prayerful way of life and stops smoking. (Telegraph.co.uk)