Damascus: Some restaurants and coffee shops in Syria were closed during the day on Saturday while others opened as usual as observant Muslims began fasting during the holy month of Ramazan, the first since the fall of Assad family rule in the war-torn country.
Syria’s interim Ministry of Religious Endowments reportedly called for all restaurants, coffee shops and street food stands be closed during the day and that people must not eat or drink in public or face punishment. Those who violate the rule could get up to three months in jail.
However, it did not appear that any official order had been issued by the government to that effect. Associated Press journalists who toured Damascus on Saturday said some coffee shops were opened but had their windows closed to that people can’t see who is inside.
Insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, overthrew President Bashar Assad’s secular government in early December ending the 54-year Assad family dynasty.
Since then, Syria’s new Islamist government under former insurgent leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, has been in control and many fear that the country could turn into an Islamic state, although al-Sharaa has so far promised to respect religious minorities.
Under Assad’s rule during the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, when observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset, people were allowed to eat in public. This year, many people are abstaining from eating in public fearing reprisals.
“Ramazan this year comes with a new flavour. This is the Ramazan of victory and liberation,” said interim Minister of Religious Affairs Hussam Haj-Hussein in a televised statement.
Most countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Kuwait began observing Ramazan on Saturday, while a few other countries such as Malyasia and Japan, as well as some Shiite Muslims, will begin the fast on Sunday.
In many parts of the region, the holy month this year is bittersweet. Lebanese this year mark Ramadan after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in late November.
In the Gaza Strip, a fragile ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, nears the end of its first phase, and many Palestinians ate their first iftar in the middle of the rubble where their houses used to be. “This year, after the fall of the regime, there are many confirmations regarding the prohibition of publicly breaking the fast, with violators facing imprisonment,” said Damascus resident Munir Abdallah.
Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month, begins with crescent moon sightings, varying by region. Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, breaking it with iftar and having suhoor before dawn. Charities provide meals, with Baghdad’s Sheikh Abdulqadir al Gailani Mosque serving 1,000 daily. Eid al-Fitr follows Ramadan’s end. agencies