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Join on Telegram Doha – The perennial debate over Morocco’s controversial law criminalizing public eating during Ramadan fasting hours has once again come to the fore as Muslims in the country observe this year’s Islamic holy month.
Article 222 of the Moroccan Penal Code states: “A person commonly known to be Muslim who violates the fast in a public place during Ramadan, without having one of the justifications allowed by Islam, shall be punished by one to six months in prison and a fine of 200 dirhams.”
Supporters argue the law is necessary to preserve the sanctity of Ramadan and respect the religious feelings of Muslims in Morocco, an overwhelmingly Islamic country. However, opponents contend it represents an unacceptable restriction on individual freedoms and is incompatible with human rights.
Social media campaigns have emerged on both sides of the divide. Proponents are calling on authorities to strictly enforce Article 222 and crack down on public eating, while detractors are demanding the law’s immediate abolishment.
“The annual return of the criminalization of eating during Ramadan shows the problem is entrenched and can only be permanently resolved by recognizing individuals’ rights to choose their lifestyle and beliefs,” prominent Moroccan researcher and human rights activist Ahmed Assid said in an interview with Safircom.
Assid emphasized three key points he believes Moroccans must understand about Article 222.
“First, this law has no relation whatsoever to the Islamic religion. In Islam, there is no worldly punishment for those who eat during Ramadan because fasting is a pillar based on a vertical relationship between the individual believer and his Lord,” he explained. “The individual fasts for God, not for society or others, and no one has the right to hold him accountable except God.”
‘Eating is Not a Crime’
In an effort to spark a political debate that it hopes will lead to the repeal of Article 222 and safeguard individual liberties, a Moroccan institute has reached out to members of parliament to convince them the law, which dates back to the French colonial period, is obsolete.
The Deleuze Policy Institute has launched a campaign called “Eating is Not a Crime” in a bid to open dialogue and push lawmakers to “stand up for human rights.” Youssef Day, the institute’s director, told Alhurra that they have requested official meetings with parliamentarians from major political parties, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party, the Party of Progress and Socialism, the Authenticity and Modernity Party, and the National Rally of Independents, to discuss abolishing the law.
While the institute says no political party has yet formally responded to their invitation, Day noted they have held informal, friendly meetings with some MPs. The institute has also met with human rights organizations, but has not received any reply from the House of Representatives to their correspondence.
Last year, the institute stressed in a paper that provisions of Morocco’s 1962 penal code, including Article 222, “restrict and limit” individual freedoms. They called for repealing the law due to its “negative” impact on the national economy and the “physical and verbal persecution” of those who eat publicly under the guise of the statute.
Origins of the law
According to Assid, Article 222 actually has its origins in the French colonial period under Marshal Hubert Lyautey, who served as Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. The law was reportedly enacted to prevent French settlers from eating in public during Ramadan to avoid provoking the local Muslim population.
“As a colonial power, it was not in the interest of the French administration for confrontations with Moroccans to erupt over religious rites,” Assid said. “To calm tensions, Lyautey instituted an ‘Islamic policy’ that included measures like banning public eating during Ramadan, prohibiting drinking alcohol in open public places, and restoring mosques and mausoleums.”
He argued that after independence, the law should have been rescinded as it no longer applied to relations between Moroccans themselves. The activist also rejected the common justification that public eating during Ramadan “provokes” fasting Muslims, questioning how someone else’s personal eating choices tangibly impact or invalidate their fast.
“The crux of the problem is that Moroccans have been raised without respect for the right to be different,” contended Assid. “Public life is not a space for the manifestation of believers alone, but also for others. However, the education Moroccans receive is based mainly on intolerance and rejection of those who are different.”
Calls for repeal and respect for individual freedoms
In Assid’s view, the solution to this “negative phenomenon” is not the violence of citizens or authorities, but education about freedom instead of coercion, and respect for others rather than a desire to hide or eliminate them. He called for the repeal of Article 222, arguing that it incites fasting citizens to assault others and contributes to intolerance. For the activist, it is unjust to compel all citizens to don “masks of fasting” and submit to coercion in the inherently personal domain of belief.
Moulay Said Alaoui, a prominent Moroccan attorney and human rights activist, echoed these sentiments. He recently told the news outlet AlAyam 24 that those who support maintaining the law argue from a religious perspective that Ramadan is a month of worship for all Muslims. They believe it is necessary to preserve religious sentiment in a unified Islamic country, noting several other Muslim-majority nations have similar criminal codes.
On the other hand, Alaoui said, opponents view the matter from a human rights lens and consider freedom of belief to be a fundamental individual liberty that should not be restricted in ways that contradict universal human rights principles. They contend public eating during Ramadan is an act that does not harm society or its cohesion in any way.
“The camp rejecting Article 222 espouses a human rights perspective and considers that forcing people to fast or not fast is primarily related to individuals, not society,” he explained. “Every individual within society should be free to practice or not practice this ritual without discussing those with excuses or special reasons for not fasting.”
The lawyer noted that for the offense outlined in Article 222 to legally stand, a host of conditions must be met, including the perpetrator being Muslim, openly breaking the fast during Ramadan fasting hours between dawn and sunset, doing so in a public place, and lacking a legally-accepted reason such as a medical condition. However, he added, meeting this legal threshold does not negate the law’s infringement on personal freedoms.
Debate transcends law
Ultimately, some argue, the way forward is not just a matter of law, but of social evolution. Researcher Mohamed Abdelouahab Rafiqui, also known as Abou Hafs, told AlAyam 24 the sensitive issue juxtaposes two crucial values: individual liberty to practice one’s faith and live according to one’s beliefs without harming others’ freedoms, and preserving social peace and the normal functioning of public life.
“On the religious level, there is nothing that compels people to adhere to a specific religious rite,” said Rafiqui. “If freedom of belief is guaranteed and there is no compulsion in religion, then it is even more appropriate that religious practices are related to individuals, not society.”
He acknowledged the repeal of Article 222 must be approached carefully and gradually, stressing the need for public awareness and acceptance that people have a right to this freedom to avoid devolution into conflicts and clashes. Rafiqui called for striking a balance between preserving individual liberties and maintaining social cohesion.
“Perhaps we need not only to amend the law, but also to clarify the value of individual freedoms and their impact on practical activities and the productivity of individuals,” added Assid.
“It is not surprising that in all developed countries there is higher productivity, not only because people receive good wages, but because they feel free and independent. Meanwhile, in countries that suffer from severe backwardness, individuals still do not feel the happiness that is based mainly on freedom.”
In 2022, Moroccan authorities arrested customers of a restaurant in Casablanca on charges of eating in public during Ramadan, following a complaint filed by residents against the cafe owner. The case caused an uproar, with the Moroccan Association for Human Rights condemning the cafe raid and public shaming of those arrested. Authorities later released all detainees without further legal action against them.
