A prominent imam in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against creating snowmen or snow animals. This was to keep consistent with Quranic teaching of not depicting anything with a soul. However, fashioning the snow to depict "lifeless" things, like buildings, ships or fruit is supposedly fine.
This fatwa may also be animated by anti-Western sentiments. A voice favoring the fatwa from social media suggests: “[Building snowmen] has no value in our traditions, and those who are fascinated by the
West should emulate their inventions and sciences, not their culture.”
The fatwa against snowmen is not just an academic exercise for Saudis. There was a significant snowfall in the Province of Tabuk around 1500 kilometers northwest of Riyadh. So someone crafting a snow camel festooned with a local soccer team's scarf was haraam.
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