Ramadan
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"Eating publicly during the day in Ramadan is not within the personal freedoms of a person. It's a type of anarchy and an attack on the sacredness of Islam. Eating publicly during the day in Ramadan is sinning in public. This is forbidden, as well as offending public taste and decency in Muslim countries. It's also a flagrant violation of the sanctity of society and the right of its sacred beliefs to be respected." ---2016 Egyptian Ramadan edict |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Ramadan or Ramadhan (Arabic: رمضان ) is the ninth month of the Islamic year. Siyam or Saum ("fasting" in English) is the fourth of the Five Pillars of Islam and involves fasting during Ramadan.
Contents |
Fasting in other religions
The Christian Lent and the Jewish Yom Kippur are also a time of fasting.
Penalties for infraction
In some Muslim countries, failing to fast during Ramadan is considered a crime and is prosecuted as such. For instance, in Algeria, in October 2008 the court of Biskra condemned six people to four years in prison and heavy fines.
In Kuwait, according to law number 44 of 1968, the penalty is a fine of no more than 100 Kuwaiti dinars, (about US$330, GB£260 in May 2017) or jail for no more than one month, or both penalties, for those seen eating, drinking or smoking during Ramadan daytime. In some places in the U.A.E., eating or drinking in public during the daytime of Ramadan is considered a minor offence and would be punished by up to 150 hours of community service. In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, described by The Economist as taking Ramadan "more seriously than anywhere else", there are harsher punishments including flogging, imprisonment and, for foreigners, deportation. In Malaysia, however, there are no such punishments.
Other legal issues
Some countries have laws that amend work schedules during Ramadan. Under U.A.E. labor law, the maximum working hours are to be 6 hours per day and 36 hours per week. Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait have similar laws.
In Egypt, alcohol sales are banned during Ramadan.
See also
- Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization
- Ramadan Ordinance
- An Ehtram-e-Ramazan (reverence for fasting) Ordinance was issued banning eating, smoking, and drinking in public places. According to a clause of this ordinance, those places including restaurants, canteens, bridges, lanes, and even the confines of private homes. While in theory the non-Muslim minority of Pakistan is exempt from the law, minorities have been arrested for eating in public.[102]
- Ramadan Ordinance
