Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- Dr. Ahmed Raïssouni, the vice president of the World Association of Muslim Scholars and the the former head of the Uniqueness and Reform Movement, the preaching offshoot of Morocco’s Justice and Development party, said few days ago on the sidelines of a conference organized in June by the research Centre for Islamic law and ethics of Qatar that the Moroccan authorities should decriminalize the act of eating in public in Ramadan.
“Whoever breaks the fast in public might be sick or traveling [having legal excuses to do so]. If this is the case, why should that person share with us his rationale behind breaking the fast in public?” Raïssouni wondered.
“or why should we take him to a police station to investigate with him?” Raïssouni added.
“Why going to this extent for nothing? “Raïssouni asked.
“This is one of those cases where I stand with those [the people calling for removing Article 222 from the Moroccan penal code], although we do not have the same intentions,” Raïssouni added.
It is worth reminding that article 222 of the Moroccan Penal Code states that “a person commonly known to be Muslim, who violates the fast in a public place during Ramadan, without having one of the justifications allowed in Islam [such as travelling or sickness…] shall be sentenced from one to six months in jail. The person will be also subject to a fine ranging from 12 to 120 Dirhams.”
The Moroccan Times.
