Only moral beauty counts in Saudi Arabian pageant

Miss California Carrie Prejean may have put her morals before her chances of winning Miss USA, but she wouldn't stand a chance at Saudi Arabia's one and only beauty contest.

This Saturday, nearly 200 girls will begin competing in Miss Beautiful Morals, embarking on a 10-week trial where a panel of judges will scrutinise their every move.

But unlike traditional beauty pageants, these girls will be fully covered up, dressed from head to toe in black robes and wearing an Islamic veil that will mask their faces, pretty or otherwise. They will be judged solely on their adherence to Islamic values.

Particularly important for contestants to stand a chance of winning is to show devotion and deference to their parents. For those who are confused, the pageant's founder Khadra al-Mubarak (pictured) explains: "The idea of the pageant is to measure the contestants' commitment to Islamic morals... It's an alternative to the calls for decadence in the other beauty contests that only take into account a woman's body and looks. The winner won't necessarily be pretty, we care about the beauty of the soul and the morals."

Miss Beautiful Morals is only in its second year. In 2008, al-Mubarak invited girls between the ages of 15 and 25 to enter, drawing 75 applicants. This year, that number has tripled, with hundreds of girls hoping to be crowned queen and receive the $2,600 prize fund.

Those who make the final cut on Saturday will move on to the next stage of the competition, spending a day with their mothers at a country house where they will be assessed by an all-female group of judges on how they treat their mothers and their behaviour around them. As there are no television cameras involved and men are strictly forbidden, the girls will be able to take off their veils and the black abayas they always wear in public.

Lebanon’s more traditional beauty contest is ‘Islamically unacceptable’

Zahra al-Shurafa, a 21-year-old English student, the reigning Miss Beautiful Morals, observes that winning isn't everything. "What is important is obeying your parents," she says, explaining that the contest helps to foster consideration and respect between mother and daughter.

There are very few beauty pageants in the Islamic world. Lebanon hosts a more conventional - to Western eyes - beauty contest, but it is frowned upon in conservative Saudi Arabia. Sukaina al-Zayer, a 24-year-old student taking part in Miss Beautiful Morals says Lebanon's beauty contest is "Islamically unacceptable" and claims she only wants to compete in the competition so that she can show everyone the devotion she has for her parents.

While Miss Beautiful Morals may not have everyone convinced, the pageant is evidence that the ultra-strict country is beginning to relax ever so slightly.

Up until last year, when the contest was inaugurated, women in the country were unable to compete in any kind of contest. Only animals, including goats, sheep and camels were afforded that luxury, with goat owners going head to head for their livestock to be crowned the most beautiful goat.