Have a heart if you're not fasting this Ramadan

Non-Muslims caught eating in daytime during Ramadan would be let off with a warning for the first time but a repeated offence may land them in trouble, a senior police officer said.

However, there won’t be a dedicated police force patrolling the streets looking for offenders, Dubai-based tabloid 7DAYS reported.

Urging people to respect the fasts, Colonel Jamal Al Jallaf, the deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Department said that there won’t be any dedicated police patrol to catch those who are eating in public during the Holy Month, but if somebody is found violating the law there would be some leniency for a first offence but a repeat offence would be punished.

 “Sometimes police might see someone eating who doesn’t know the rules so we give them a warning and explain things to them,” Al Jallaf said. “But we don’t give any chance to Muslims. They know the law - that’s different.”

Police figures showed 23 people were either fined Dh2,000 or sent to jail for a month because of eating publicly in Ramadan last year and in 2009.

 “We don’t have police looking for people who are eating,” he said, adding that it was legal for people to give food and water to children.

However, there won’t be any leniency for adult Muslims, adding: “The law does not allow anybody to eat during the day in public in Ramadan. We should obey this to respect the culture and the Islamic people.”

Al Jallaf said: “If they (police) see someone is refusing to respect the culture or the people, after being told, then they will have a police case against them in court.”

The first day of Ramadan this year is expected to be the longest daytime fast, of 14 hours and 50 minutes, in 26 years.