How Ramadan is Like Yom Kippur
Jul 24, 2012 4:15 PM EDT
by Sahar Segal
The Saudi Ministry of the Interior issued a statement yesterday asking non-Muslim residents to refrain from eating and drinking in public, in order to respect the month-long holiday of Ramadan, during which observant Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. Those who eat publicly may face deportation.
Totally absurd, right?
Only—not really. Well, the deportation part is a little much; a fine would be a tad more proportional to the offense. But the ban on eating in public during Ramadan in order to respect the majority religion of the state is neither absurd nor an offense to liberal values. Just like Israel’s religion-neutral ban on various “Offenses Against Religious Sentiment and Tradition,” which is interpreted to include driving during Yom Kippur and on publicly selling leavened bread during Passover, are not an infringement upon the liberal democratic state—nor to they reflect intolerance of minority religions.
The public space is inherently different from private space, in which one may eat and drink on Ramadan and eat or sell bread on Passover freely. Public space is shared, and as with all sharing, it is more important to be respectful than to be right (or exercise a right). The temperature in Riyadh right now is 108˚, and most people are not drinking anything during some of the longest days of the year. It is disrespectful—not to Allah or to Islam, but to those who are fasting—to drink in front of their faces. On Yom Kippur, many Israelis fast and ask for divine forgiveness; it is respectful to keep the day quiet and facilitate introspection—even outside the synagogue.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/24/religious-freedom-israel-saudi-arabia.html
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