Visiting a new country requires taking a lot of photos for the memories, especially if you're there with your partner. Now, for some Arab countries, exceptions are strictly to be followed if you're touring a mosque or a holy site.
For international Spanish footballer Denis Suárez, the exception was his outfit while at Kuwait's Grand Mosque. He wore shorts.
Hid girlfriend, Nadia Avilés, tagged along with a veil covering her head.
What angered Kuwaitis in what they saw in the Barcelona's midfielder's Instagram post was his lack of respect for the sanctity of the mosque.
Currently playing for English club Arsenal on loan, he uploaded a selfie with Avilés, writing: "I will be always behind you!"
On the other hand, his girlfriend uploaded the same image, captioning it with the Arabic words for "I love you."
In the wake of the uproar caused by the incident, the General Manager of Kuwait's Grand Mosque, Roumi Al Roumi, issued a statement on the matter. While he didn't openly state that the couple violated rules, he made the mosque's visitation guidelines clear.
Al Roumi said the edicts department in the country's Ministry of Endowments and Islamic affairs had previously issued orders allowing non-Muslims to visit the place of worship.
Their decision featured a code of conduct that has to be followed by visitors and it includes guidelines prohibiting people from wearing shorts or sleeveless tops when entering the space.
"Those guidelines are available to visitors of the mosque in both Arabic and English," he explained.
The manager also added that the country's guests can only enter the mosque with the approval of the Ministry of Endowments, who has been issuing the mosque's special visitation permits since 1994, Al Rai newspaper reported.
People called him out
The couple's visit to the mosque continues to trend on Kuwaiti Twitter and has been featured on many of the country's television channels.
Some harshly criticized the footballer and his girlfriend for "disrespecting the mosque's sanctity," while others were upset non-Muslims were allowed to visit the place.
However, there were many who came to the couple's defense and thought the incident was being blow out of proportion.
The footballer's outfit was deemed "inappropriate"
"How did the Ministry of Endowments allow the Grand Mosque to be disrespected like this through the inappropriate outfit worn by Arsenal player Denis Suárez?!"
"Anyone can go in, even non-Muslims and there's no sanctity for these spaces at all"
"Minister of Endowments, you should hold the Grand Mosque's manager accountable over this shameful behavior. Is this what mosques have come to?"
Many couldn't handle the backlash, called it "useless"
"To those who are going hysterical over the fact the Denis Suárez toured the Grand Mosque, there's nothing in Sharia or law that doesn't allow him to!! Stop being so ignorant and stupid!"
"Why do people criticize everything no matter how big or small it is?"
"To those upset by the fact that he visited the mosque in shorts, this space is considered a touristic attraction, he simply walked in and spontaneously took a photo."