Religious scholar slams Fairmont Maldives' art gallery, says statues are 'sacrilegious'

Prominent religious scholar Sheikh Ali Zaidh has expressed discontent with statues built in an art gallery at a local resort, describing it as unacceptable and 'blatantly sacriligious'.

The sheikh expressed these sentiments through a post on his Twitter account. Typed out in Dhivehi-latin, the tweet translates to 'This is blatantly sacriligous, no matter when it was done or by whom, it is wrong and is unacceptable! It should be stopped! Why do the police not recieve information of this?! Is there no one to stop those responsible for this?!'.

On Monday, the Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi unveiled the world's first semi-submerged art gallery, complete with statues designed by a globally renowned eco-artist which are built from non-toxic and non-harmful compounds. The statues are exposed and act as artificially reefs and Fairmont has said that it hopes they will become a sanctuary for marine life.

The use of statues has been a point of concern in the Maldives, with a majority of its citizens identifying heavily with total religious uniformity, and many have taken to social media to express their misgivings over the matter.