Non-Muslims are not allowed to eat, drink and smoke in public during Ramadan in Saudi Arabia. If they do, they will be thrown out of the country. Saudi warns non-Muslims: respect Ramadan or face expulsion.
Saudi authorities are warning non-Muslim expatriates against eating, drinking or smoking in public during Ramadan, the month-long sunrise-to-sunset fast — or face expulsion.
The Interior Ministry of the oil-rich kingdom is calling on non-Muslims to “show consideration for feelings of Muslims” and “preserve the sacred Islamic rituals.”
Otherwise, a statement says, Saudi authorities will cancel violators’ work contracts and expel them.
The warning came on Friday, the first day of the Ramadan observance.
In addition to Saudi Arabia’s 19 million citizens, there are nearly 8 million Asian workers in the country, as well as hundreds of thousands of other foreign expatriates from around the globe, according to government figures.
Saudi Arabia, the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom , is the home of Islam’s holiest sites. It enforces a strict interpretation of the religion.
Saudi Arabia violates human rights with head held high. China, the other human rights violator executes people secretly whereas Saudi Arabia does it publicly. Non-Muslim and poor Muslim workers are not treated as human beings in Saudi Arabia. It has been violating international labor laws with impunity. Is there no nation or united nations in the world that can warn Saudi Arabia to stop bullshiting?
Those Saudi pigs will never be enlightened to a modern scientific world. But they always enjoy the fruits of science. Once I had seen in one of your posts on FB showing a news of Saudi clerics preventing woman from eating banana, cucumber etc. as they resemble the shape of male sex-organ! Bullshit! Why there’s no revolution? Is there any ray of hope?
There are people who do not believe in evolution who want the latest antibiotics if they get drug resistant infections. Drug resistant bacteria are a result of evolution in a time span of decades, rather than millenia.
Should those who do not believe in evolution be told to get on with cheaper penicillin or stroptomycin, and be happy ?
Saudis think that they are the best in the world and others are worsts. In fact Saudis are very near to human spices. They were, are and will be camels.
The Saudis have not only crushed their own society, they use their massive wealth to built mosques and spread their Wahabbi poison all over the world. No one will stand up to them while they have the vast oil reserves that we need.
Building up the Wahabbist – Salfist ideology had the full approval of the USA and UK during the Cold War. Moslem rulers could always be counted on to deal with Communists and other leftists in a particularly brutal way including the massacre of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia and the destruction of secular schools wherever they found them. I know Afghanis in my home town of Sheffield who talk of the school destruction.
I could be worse. Syria anyone?
Oh that’s disgusting – that means workers can’t drink water on the job – in one of the hottest countries on earth! That’s absolutely foul.
Technically it says “in public”. So behind closed doors, it may be ok. Still silly and impractical of course.
That must be relatively new. I was in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan a few years ago and we did not have to do that. That’s a disgusting place that I never want to visit again but that was not one of the issues.
Wow, Saudi Muslims must have awfully delicate feelings if it take so little to upset them.
The ones who have the power do. It’s their feelings everybody must show consideration for, not for ordinary folk.
Ever fasted for 8+ hours in a day under the Saudi sun?
Not drinking in front of someone who is fasting is called ‘decency’. Govt mandate of said decency disallows insensitive foreigners / unaware foreigners to be impolite.
if you fast 8 hours you are an idiot.
No, forcing others to abide by YOUR religious rules is called TYRANNY. Islam is the religion of hypocrites. Muslims come to the West and complain bitterly when westerners celebrate Christmas in public. In other words, western Christians should not have the right to practice their religious traditions in their home countries! Yet these same Muslims feel they have the right to FORCE non-Muslims to observe the rules of Islam in public in Muslim majority countries! Heads-I-win-tails-you-lose, huh Muslims? Is it any wonder that much of the civilized world despises Islam?
I have done Ramadan three times in Saudi.The media carried warnings to foreigners that they could be whipped and deported for violating the fast.
Those on “good contracts” could drive home for lunch in the day. There were also arrangements for ‘evening work’ in many offices, so people could work in normal circumstances. Worst affected were the poorer workers from South Asia whose employers expected them to surface roads in 50 degree heat without drink. Just like many other places it’s one law for the rich, and a harder and more vicious law for the poor.
These vicious laws and edicts should not be used to justify bad speech against Saudis in general. Many Saudis themselves evade Ramadan in a very discrete way.They know that traffic accidents go up in Ramadan.
One of the best places for a Saudi to manage Ramadan is Thailand. There are usually more Saudi overseas tourists during Ramadan.
During my spell in a desalination plant in Jeddah I remember going with other smokers into the interior of a big desalination module (A steel kettle) during 45 degree heat. It was hot inside, but we would not be observed by religious people.
To be quite honest I would prefer to spend Ramadan in Saudi Arabia than any time at all in USA. The penalties for smoking in American hotels etc. can be quite severe, and in 2012 most such places have efficient smoke detectors.
In a multicultaral society where there are some moslems, but not 100% you may find night markets during Ramadan, and maybe even a bar which serves alcohol dusk to dawn 🙂
it doesnt mean that they aint allowed to eat and drink in private or behind the curtains.so thats fine and everybody must respect their sentiments.
No, I don’t. That is THEIR religion, not mine. Those restrictions are THEIR problem, not mine. I respect their choice to believe, but the beliefs themselves deserve nothing from me, they haven’t earned it.
Really… if you respect their choice to believe then you must pay respect when they’re praying or fasting. It’s called politeness. In Indonesia (where I live) non-Muslims/non-fasting people need to have a short apologize before they eat in front of people who are fasting. They have no obligation to, it’s just common decency, which you apparently lack.
That said the laws Saudi Arabia create are definitely selfish and impractical for non-Muslims; one example of a backwards nation dictated by an outdated “holy” book.
The thing is, this kind of imposition of one’s own beliefs and procedures stemming from such beliefs upon the unsuspecting general population is not unique to Saudi Arabia or even Islam. All fundamentalist religions do this. It is an expression of – more precisely, a design to showcase – the power and authority of whoever is ‘in charge’.
Let me offer a smaller-scale instance of the said expression: the medical school associated with a Jewish university (both of which shall remain nameless) of the Right Coast is a renowned institution of medical education and research, boasting of a very mixed and cosmopolitan environment. However, IIRC, during Passover (and perhaps other odd Jewish holidays here and there), when the observant Orthodox Jewish folks eschew the use of electricity and implements run by electricity, the institutional authority completely shuts down:
(a) not only the Jewish-run eateries inside the building (which is fine – the eatery personnel are observant), but also
(b) snack-dispensing vending machines,
(c) soda-dispensing machines and
(d) ATMs through the medical school and the associated hospital (all of (b), (c), (d) are manned by outside agencies).
I don’t know about the hospital, but in the research building, the snack and soda machines are highly useful to particularly graduate students and postdocs who work late after hours. The ATM is widely used by the graduate student and postdoc community because it doesn’t charge any transaction fee as a courtesy and nearest banks are quite a distance. So this weeklong observance of Passover hits the non-Jewish community at this medical school pretty hard.
Another instance: In India, Hindu fundamentalist groups and their pet political parties have lobbied long and hard, and often successfully, to close existing abattoirs and prevent new ones from opening, in various parts of the country, knowing fully well that these abattoirs serve the needs of millions of Muslim families in those places.
In both situations, Jewish or Hindu, the principle is the same: an authority or a vocal group aligned with the majority espouses a particular kind of religious belief, and everyone under direct or indirect control of the said authority/group must perforce subscribe to the tenets of that belief, or else face indifference, exclusion, infamy or even threat of violence (as in India). This inequality and power imbalance are the hallmarks of organized, fundamentalist religions.
Saudi Arabia, SA, has a lot of human rights violations. But Ramadan declaration demanding people not consume in public don’t often rise the the level of a major violation. According to people who live and work there the emphasis is on the ‘public’.
There is a very well established divide between public and private areas and behaviors appropriate within them. An example is the fondness many SA men have for expensive scotch whiskey. Yes, consumption of alcohol is prohibited, but the practical side is that it and drunkenness is prohibited in public. One oil executive noted that practically every man of means had a well stocked bar. Even many who didn’t drink themselves. It was a status symbol and an amenity for guests. Not even really a secret so much as simply not talked about.
Similarly, the restriction on consumption of food and drink has a lot of loopholes. Medical need, military necessity, and heavy work in the heat, are routinely granted exemptions. A common alternative is to pay what amounts to a small fine. This later route was the public choice of one of the SA Olympic athletes. You can eat and drink as you like. But you have to do it in private.
These quite sensible exceptions may or may not be extended to guest workers. It wouldn’t surprise me if people used their servants to garner religious favor by demanding a higher standard then they themselves observe. Forcing them to avoid consumption, public or private, even when it is unreasonable. That would mesh quite well with SA’s generally deplorable treatment of guest workers.
I’m with you standing against abuse of domestic and guest workers but as long as consumption is allowed in private, and private areas are freely available to the workers, I don’t see the demands of Ramadan to be an unreasonable burden. As with so many things the devil is in the detail.
i consider Saudi Arabians as barbaric and cruel,as always- Islam is their opium
How? Can you prove it. In Saudi Arabia, crime rate is zero. What about India and other places. How many times rapes of your sisters taking place? Saudi Arabia is the most peaceful place. Don’t spread lies. In Ramadan, the prohibition is only not to eat & drink during day time in public, Inside home or hotel, you can do anything. Even if it is emergency, you can drink & eat in public place also. More human rights violations are in India and other places. More discriminations are happening outside world. Here if you are with family, it is like heaven. Whole night or day, you can travel any sea beaches, any parks, and they are the safest places. No body even will ask you anything. Don’t spread lies.
who told you that?? the crime rate is zero because the news is not being reported. Moreover women get raped & they also get punished because the got raped. Shameful and vain country.
Why is Ramazan celebrated with so much fervor by Muslims, if it is basically a nonMuslim pagan festival? What phenomenon or ideal is it supposed to observe- not a harvest festival ,is it?
I dont understand what you rave about … first of all, its in public, so at home you can do as you please. Second, you are guests in a place, so be so kind and respect their traditions and culture. Or go home. No need to spread panic over that, really.
I agree. We have traditions in the west and in the USA that are being mocked and disrespected by foreign visitors all the time. GO HOME!!!!
All practicing religions of the world are conceptualised thousands of years ago, but, most religions of the world hv evolved. People from different faiths have mutual respect for other faiths. It’s only Islam that has chosen to stay in the dark ages maintaining their barbaric traditions, and always taking chauvinistic pleasure in humiliating people weaker than them women in Islam are a classic example. Look at the Barbarians of Boko Haram & the animals of ISIS they actually asked Iraqis to hand over all unmarried women to Jehadis so that they can serve ALLAH, by sleeping with terrorists. This the Religion of Love & Peace.
The future belongs to the one who evolves and embraces technology.Once oil is over in saudi(or becomes too expensive)….The world will suffer,but saudi will become somalua.Oil is the only reason it is surviving.
The laws of Saudi Arabia merely reflect the arrogance, intolerance and hypocrisy of Islam in general. Islam’s holy scriptures inform Muslims that they are the “best of peoples” and their religion has been perfected by Allah. With such assumptions, is it any wonder that non-Muslims are denigrated and oppressed in the original homeland of the faith? After all, those who have rejected Allah, Muhammad and the Qur’an are “the worst of creatures”. They should be fought and killed until they are thoroughly humiliated, completely subdued, submit to sharia and “religion is all for Allah”. Muslims are instructed to “smite their necks and strike off their fingertips”, to “drive them out from the places where they drove you out” etc. And all of this is just a small sampling of what Islam’s foundational texts actually teach.
True, Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabism constitutes an extreme interpretation of Islam, but it is completely compatible with the contents of the foundational texts. Moreover, enforcement of Ramadan restrictions on non-Muslims happen throughout the world, wherever Muslims form either a majority or a significant minority of the population. Even in supposedly democratic Turkey, Tunisia and Indonesia those who violate the rules of Ramadan in public are often harassed by neighbors, fined or even arrested by authorities. If convicted, they may lose their jobs. Just recently a public school district in the United Kingdom tried to prevent non-Muslim pupils from bringing their water bottles to class during Ramadan, because the sight of the kuffar kids quenching their thirst upset the Muslim children who were fasting!
This is the true face of Islam when it becomes dominant in the public sphere. The religion is diametrically opposed to individual human rights and freedom. This is why it has no place in liberal democracies. Yes, Muslims should be free to practice their “religion” – in private. They should not be permitted to force its practices upon non-believers, or upon nominal Muslims for that matter.
bold article