Tunisia cafés welcome the non-fasting

As controversy rages on the right to break the fast in public in several Muslim countries, Tunisia opened its cafés to non-fasting nationals and tourists during the holy month of Ramadan.

While several cafés open during the day in Ramadan on the grounds that they serve tourists, Tunisians who do not fast also frequent those places for a cup of coffee or a light snack in a closed place in order not to offend observers of the holy month.

In Ramadan, café windows are usually draped in black curtains or covered with newspapers and keep their doors closed so that passers by wouldn't see the clients eating, drinking, or smoking cigarettes.

There is no law that bans cafés from opening during Ramadan days, said owner of a café at Habib Bourguiba Street in the heart of the capital Tunis.

"People who cannot fast for health reasons and tourists have the right to find a place to eat and drink during the day," he told Al Arabiya.

The café owner said he fasts but he cannot afford to close his café before the sunset prayer, when it is time to break the fast, since he needs the money to pay his debts and the salaries of waiters.

He added that he does not feel guilty for opening the café at the time of fasting.

"I do not force anyone to come here and I put dark curtains in order not to hurt the feelings of people in the street and also for the privacy of my customers."

People who cannot fast for health reasons and tourists have the right to find a place to eat and drink during the day

Cafe owner, Habib Bourguiba St.

Same fast break, different reasons

Inside the café, there was a wide variety of customers who were not fasting for several different reasons.

Tarek is a lawyer whose love for smoking and coffee made him unable to fast for the past 10 years.

"Every time I try to fast, I cannot resist the temptation of nicotine and caffeine," he told Al Arabiya. "Those cafés are my safe haven away from my wife and children and my co-workers."

Tarek added that he prefers to break the fast in a secluded café and not in public in accordance with the Islamic concept of not exposing oneself in case of sinning.

Adnan, on the other hand, is diabetic and has been obliged to stop fasting for years. Despite having a legitimate reason for breaking the fast, Adnan still prefers doing so away from the public.

"I sneak out of work every morning in order to come here and take my morning coffee," he told Al Arabiya.

Women constitute a sizable portion of customers of this café. Aneesa, who works as a shop attendant, said she cannot stop eating and drinking for so many hours everyday. She also argued that breaking the fast would not make her a sinner.

"Our religion is based on tolerance and leniency," she told Al Arabiya. "I don't think God will punish me just because I don't fast."

Ziad, a student, also cannot take staying without eating and drinking for a long time and believes that fasting is more harmful than beneficial.

"Fasting has a negative impact on the kidneys and it lowers the level of sugar in the blood," he told Al Arabiya.

Ziad, who is in his thirties, said he tried to fast once when he was a child, but couldn't tolerate hunger and thirst.

"I haven't tried fasting again since that time," he added.

Mounir, a civil servant, links between fasting and praying and argues that if he doesn't do one he cannot do the other.

"In Islam, it's either you perform all rituals or none," he told Al Arabiya.

Mounir slammed people who drink alcohol and commit sins all year round then fast and pray only in Ramadan.

"After Ramadan, they go back to their old habits as if nothing happened."

Tourists only

Other cafés in downtown Tunis only allow foreigners during Ramadan days. One of them has a sign that reads "Open for tourists only."

"I put this sign so that Tunisians won't come here and eat in public in Ramadan," the café owner told Al Arabiya. "I fear God and I don't want this on my conscience."

Former Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba called in 1960 upon all Tunisians to break the fast in public during Ramadan and argued that the country, which had just gained its independence from France, needed the effort and energy of its youths.

Bourguiba's statement that the construction and development of Tunisia are more important than religious rituals was met with criticism on the part of clerics and religious institutions in the Muslim world.

A considerable number of Tunisian youths joined their Moroccan counterparts in their campaign to break the fast in public and which entered its second year.

(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid)

I put this sign so that Tunisians won't come here and eat in public in Ramadan

Cafe owner, downtown Tunis