So, if someone, like me, who isn’t a Muslim, were to flout in a very public and flagrant way that I am not fasting, I would not get in trouble, correct? But if a Muslim next to me did the same thing, he would get in trouble, correct?
Are those public morals and peace in this case defined according to the sharia? If so, it is enforcing the sharia. The correct analogy is not public toplessness but blue laws (a reduction of economic activities on Sunday). Blue laws are enforcing Christianity.
JBDivmstr
It is most certainly done in Saudi. They are called the Mutawwa or, by the few Shia, the Hiya. The Mutawwa are purely religious police, they enforce the closing of all businesses for prayer time, women covering their hair and wearing the Abayya, women not driving, women not appearing in public with unrelated males, women not doing much of anything.
The Mutawwa can arrest you. They have their own police SUVs, their own jails, and are very much a law unto themselves.
They really hate Westerners but have a hard time with them since someone will come hunting for a Westerner. Their favorite targets are Asians of almost any type and the poorer Saudis. Much as I disliked the Mutawwa while I was there, they didn’t bother me nearly as much as they harass the Saudis.
Regards
Testy
MichaelEmouse
In Saudi you would be told to stop whatever it was that you were doing. If you didn’t stop, the religious police would try VERY hard to make sure you regretted it. If a Moslem was found doing the same thing they would probably just arrest him. I always thought it was merely polite to not eat or drink around them.
Regards
Testy
I’m sorry if I caused offense, but I honestly can’t tell from your posts what on earth I am supposed to have done that was offensive.
Ramira
Why is it annoying to mention Saudi and Iran? They are certainly places where the government enforces Ramadan as per the OP’s question.
Regards
Testy
Thanks for the informative (and interesting) post Testy! 
I was hoping to get some responses from some of the Dopers that live in other ‘strange*, unique and interesting’ parts of the world.
(*predominantly Muslim population)
No offense meant, but as a single, hetero, white, middle class male, the things that I do know about places where a majority of the population are Muslim, seem mighty strange to yours personally.
first I was perhaps in a bad mood yesterday, but it does get very annoying to see almost 100% of questions about Islam posed around the practices os the Saud and the Iranians, with always the pejorative suggestion contained there.
It is not possible to answer across many countries but toursits are normally tolerated even whn being flagrantly rude. If you were not merely eating but acting in a way to cause deliberate offence then you might well get reprimanded in many places. Like being a public drunk.
A long time resident who is not Muslim might get in trouble for being very flagrant in a way a toursit would not, simply for being rude in a way that can provoke public tensions, not for not fasting. But it does not happen as it is not hard to eat in discrete resaurants (like putting up the curtains out of politeness) and one must truly be seeking to offend to do so.
in many places if being flagrant. It happened in Morocco 2 yrs ago, some public announcement of non fasting. The young athiests got reprimanded and sent home for disturbing the peace
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What is ‘the’ charia?
Charia says no thing about mutuwa but the Saud have them (unlike anyone else).
There is no code of public peace in charia and there is not one single code called chariaa.
No because there is nothing about enforcing fasting only about being very flagrantly not fasting. Any shop owner can stay open, and even Muslims can eat, just should be discrete, do not stuff oneLs mouth with a hamburger while sitting on the street in a cafe. It is just like public toplessness because the values vilated are the publics and there is disorder if violated.
The relevant rules, values and disorder are based exclusively on Islam.
Are you quite sure the rules are about “flagrantly not fasting”? I don’t know how laws are written in Tunisia but, being familiar with both the civilist and common law system, I’ve never seen law written like that. In the same way, being a long time resident or a shrot time one has no legal bearing on a public disorder conviction, at least with the laws I’m familiar with.
If the French police went after Catholics who flagrantly eat meat on Friday, this wouldn’t be enforcing Catholicism? If US police went after shops which are flagrantly open on Sunday, this wouldn’t be enforcing Christianity? If Israeli police went after Jews who wear mixed fiber clothing flagrantly, this wouldn’t be enforcing Judaism, correct?
In other words, the laws of a country could forbid every single prohibition of a religion and as long as it added the qualifier “flagrantly”, then it wouldn’t be enforcing the religion, right?
Particular interpretations. And so very much are so many public decency values in UK, USA on values that are essentially at origin religious (so those of us in the colonised countries learned)
I have lived in Tunisia and spend much time there. I am not a lawyer of course.
I was not making any reference to law, and I think it was clear. I was responding to application.
?
not if the justification was public disturbance with the actual chance of that. And not if there was no application unless doing so in public in a manner that deliberately attracted attention.
Of course, as I have roots in as well as a country where they non-believing women can go topless, I can see more clearly what the christians think are just public order.
I never wrote once every single prohibition, in fact I indicated that I have experience in countries where very few of the prohibitions are in fact enacted or enforced.
But of course there is the pretension that covering the breasts is neutral in value and and many other things that are enracinated.
Can you clarify? Why would a liquor vendor or a restaurant that only serves non-Muslims/tourists be affected by Ramadan?
Where did I write that a liquour vendor or restaurant that only caters to non-Muslims is effected?
I presume you are mistaking “the only ones who very much suffer business loss are those that … make their profit in alcohol…” for meaning those that cater only to non Muslims.
Despite the idea that Saud habits are all of the Mustlim world, in fact it is not true. Many places that make their greatest profit in selling alcohol, sell primarily to locals who are not non-Muslims. this may be good or bad, but it is a truth.
If the primary business is selling the alcohol to non-Muslims, the greatest impact is that tourists tend not to come in Ramadan as they are cared off by the exaggerated stories.
I’d guess they are found primarily in tourist hotels, but serve a wider audience. There are plenty of Muslims who don’t abstain for various reasons.