Islamic nations worldwide are cracking down on the consumption of alcohol, even for non-Muslims who don’t observe Ramadan, as the annual fast to mark the supposed revelation of the Koran to Mohammad begins.
Although a world apart and thousands of miles from each other, two videos that emerged on the internet yesterday bear striking similarities as police from Indonesia, and what claims to be Islamist forces loyal to the Islamic State in Morocco, destroy truck loads of alcohol.
Although alcohol is legal in Muslim-majority Indonesia, Islamist parties in government are cracking down on it – banning sales in small shops in April under the pretence of protecting the young from the evil of drink. Two Islamist parties in the nation, which is home to the largest Muslim population in the world, are now pushing for a total ban on alcohol, with two year jail sentences for transgressors.
The alcohol destruction video, which shows uniformed officers offloading a truck of drinks and smashing them on the ground, is just part of a movement in the nation which is showing a tough attitude towards Western sin during Ramadan.
In another video, entitled in Arabic ‘Islamic State Destroys Shipment of Wines’ cases are thrown directly from the back of a lorry onto the stones, before being set on fire and bulldozed while a cleric makes pronouncements on the evils of alcohol.
Watch: Indonesian Policemen Smash Hundreds of Bottles of Beer, Wines, and Spirits:
Watch: Islamic Fighters Smash Hundreds of Bottles of Beer, Wines, and Spirits: