On Tuesday, 11 Muslims who were seen eating food during the Ramadan fast were taken into custody by the Islamic police in the northern state of Kano, Nigeria.
Kano is a state in Nigeria which has a majority Muslim population, where an Islamic legal system – Sharia – operates alongside secular law.
Every year during Ramadan, the Islamic police, referred to as Hisbah, conduct searches of markets and restaurants.
After taking an oath promising never to intentionally miss a fast again, the ten men and one lady were set free.
“We got 11 persons on Tuesday including a lady selling groundnuts who was seen eating from her wares and some persons alerted us,” Hisbah spokesman Lawal Fagge told BBC.
“The other 10 were men and were arrested across the city especially close to markets where a lot of activities happen.”
He added that the search operations would continue but said that non-Muslims were exempt.
“We don’t arrest non-Muslims because this doesn’t concern them and the only time they could be guilty of a crime is when we find out they cook food to sell to Muslims that are supposed to be fasting.”
Regarding those who were arrested he said that they were freed after promising to start fasting from now on and “for some of them we had to see their relatives or guardians in order to have family monitor them”.
Just over two decades ago, Sharia was introduced to work alongside secular law in 12 of Nigeria’s northern states that all have a majority Muslim population.
The Islamic calendar’s ninth month is called Ramadan. In Islam, it has a unique meaning.
Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad received revelations containing the first verses of the Quran, which is considered the sacred book of Islam, during this month.
One of the Five Pillars of Islam, which provide the guidelines for Muslims’ daily life, is fasting. The fasting period is observed in the daytime.
This year, Ramadan is anticipated to span thirty days, with the fasting period beginning on Monday, March 11 and ending on Tuesday, April 9.
Source: BBC
