The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) publishes periodic reports detailing its activities and achievements. These reports usually cover the arrests of hundreds of thousands of people for immoral acts. This creates the impression that the Haia's main mission is to catch those engaged in immorality, and that its job is similar to that of the police. This prompts many people to ask: Why do we need two organizations, the Haia and the police, to do the same job? The Haia's reports do not usually contain statistics about the outcome of its efforts to improve morality in society, which I think is the Haia's basic mission. The promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice are noble objectives. It is important to inculcate good values and manners in people and to encourage them to stay away from immorality and that which is forbidden. The Haia should focus on raising the moral standards of people and that should be reflected in their manners and behavior. The Haia reports are not supposed to detail figures of rising crime and immoral acts. It is the duty of the police to take action against crimes; there is no need for another body to do the same job.
