Why more Arab Muslims are ignoring the Ramadan fast

DOWNING WHISKY sours at sunset in the bars of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Puffing a cigarette in the rush-hour traffic in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Raunchy massages in Morocco’s Marrakech. Such are the goings-on in the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are meant to abstain from food, drink and sex—from dawn to dusk. Some residents of the United Arab Emirates’ fleshpot of Dubai now mockingly dub the month , after the Arabic word , meaning things that are forbidden.Most Middle Eastern states still criminalise public violation of the Ramadan fast. But the fines imposed decades ago are now lower than those for parking. Jordan has a maximum penalty of 25 dinars (about $35). Oman’s is a riyal ($3). The authorities mostly turn a blind eye. “They are too frightened of the social-media outcry to act,” says an Iraqi lawyer in the shrine city of Najaf. Judges, he adds, often interrupt cases in Ramadan for a cigarette break. From Tehran to Tunis, cafés often stay open, some after customers discreetly tap on metal shutters. Egypt, which once routinely jailed people who flouted the fast, even penalised a restaurant that refused to open its doors; the police recently closed down a fast-food joint after a Coptic Christian complained she was refused service.