Each year, Ramadhan brings its own set of issues which usually have nothing to do with how Muslims behave during the most holy month of the Muslim calendar.

Instead, the problems have everything to do with conservative politicians wanting to bully the public, both the Muslim and non-Muslim members of the rakyat.

The perennial problems of ‘canteens’ and ‘non-Muslims failing to respect the right of Muslims to fast’ will crop up without fail. This phenomenon is usually connected with schools.

Outside of school, we have religious officers from the state religious authorities, patrolling  the streets, checking the popular restaurants and fast-food outlets, to catch Muslims who are eating.

The third observation is the proliferation of expensive iftars at leading hotels and restaurants. Many Muslims tend to forget, that the breaking of fast, is not a time to gorge or to show off that one could afford a lavish buffet.

On 12 March, the leader of PAS’ ulama wing, Ahmad Yahaya, criticised the Minister of Education, Fadhlina Sidek, for allowing school canteens to remain open during Ramadhan.

Ahmad disagreed with the move for canteens to continue operating as he felt it was more important for the ministry to focus on educating Muslim students about the importance of fasting and for non-Muslim students to respect the practice.

The PAS leader who is also the MP for Pokok Sena, appears to be confused about the true meaning of Ramadhan. Is he doubting the Muslim students intention to fast? What makes him think that non-Muslim students do not respect those who fast?

Although he agreed that non-Muslim students could bring food and drinks to school for their own consumption, he wanted them to eat in a space specifically allocated for this purpose.

So, has Ahmad forgotten that the school canteen serves this specific purpose? The canteen is the place for students to eat, drink and socialise in an amiable manner.

In previous years, some non-Muslim students had been forced to eat in the school toilets because the canteens were shut. This action was against the true spirit of Islam and is an insult to both Malay and non-Malays.

Non-Muslims have neither stopped Muslims from fasting nor have they disrespected the practice of Muslims to fast, but why should they have to forego eating in the school canteen? That is why canteens exist.

Ahmad accused Fadhlina of disrespecting Ramadhan with her directive for canteens to remain open which he said was an excessive move, a waste of time and had created an unnecessary polemic.

Ahmad has forgotten that Malaysia is a multicultural, multifaith nation and that the world does not revolve around Muslims who fast.

In fact, the real reason we fast, is to empathise with the poor, who cannot afford three square meals a day. It is also to curb our excesses, and our desires, in other words, it is about self-control. We are supposed to encourage clean thoughts and not be emotionally aggrieved or feel anger, which is what Ahmad has clearly displayed.

Why does this PAS leader get worked-up with a non-issue of the canteen being opened and non-Muslims eating during Ramadhan?

If Ahmad feels compelled to change things during Ramadhan then he should urge Jakim and state religious bodies from trying to catch Muslims eating in public.

Religion should be a personal choice and its practise should be a private matter between the individual and God, but in Malaysia, it has become the state’s business to ensure that a Muslim obeys the official doctrine. Those who smoke in public will suffer the same punishment, of a fine and possible imprisonment, as those who eat in public.

The religious authorities are obsessed with controlling and manipulating people.

A Muslim who practices his faith, will do the right thing. So why do the authorities feel the need to catch the Muslim eating? Why heap extra humiliation on him, by ridiculing him and questioning him in public, as has been done in previous years.

The level of mistrust against Muslims is also extended to those whose features look Malay. These non-Muslims have also found Ramadhan to be a stressful time, when religious policemen would harass them in public, by making them prove they were not Malays, who should have been fasting.

Ramadhan and the run-up to Hari Raya have been ravaged by the onslaught of commercialism.

All we have to do is to look around us during Ramadhan and see that food is sold to excess. Hotels and restaurants offer special breaking-of-fast (iftar) meals at inflated prices. The price is a few hundred ringgits per adult. Children’s prices average around RM150. One evening’s iftar for a family of two adults and three children can feed a B40 family for a week.

Even celebrities cash in with their choice of Ramadhan recipes and local artistes record e-greetings and video messages.

With streets being congested from food-stalls at the Ramadhan bazaar, approach roads experience traffic jams. Food outlets mushroom from nowhere and operate well into the early hours of the morning. There appears to be no shortage of people, both Muslims and non-Muslims plying these stalls.

If fasting is supposed to teach Muslims humility, patience and spirituality, these displays of excess and control tell another story. What happened to restraint and reflection?

What happened to the true spirit of Ramadhan?

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)