PA: If one eats in public during Ramadan, "he leaves the circle of Islam and his blood becomes permitted to be spilled"

Excerpt of an article for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the religious section of the official PA daily by Rafah District Mufti and Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council member Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Jaber

Headline: “The importance of the commandment of fasting”

“Breaking the fast in public during [the Muslim fasting month of] Ramadan is a severe transgression…

Prophet [Muhammad], peace be upon him, said [in a Hadith]: ‘There are three religious foundations and principles of Islam, and the blood of whoever neglects one of them is permitted [to be spilled] – Testimony that there is no God but Allah, fasting, and praying.’ That being the case, whoever breaks the fast publicly during Ramadan is a heretic and denies the commandment of fasting… and therefore, he leaves the circle of Islam and his blood becomes permitted [to be spilled]…

Therefore, I call on all our [Security] Forces in our Palestinian Authority to strike with an iron fist anyone who gives in to the temptation of breaking the fast publicly during Ramadan, by imposing the most severe punishments on them, until [our society] is a pure society that is close to Allah, which fulfills the words of its Master and observes the commandment of fasting as well as possible.

I also call on the café and restaurant owners throughout Palestine to close their businesses during the daytime hours of Ramadan in order to preserve the sanctity of this blessed month.”