[Al Arabiya Latest] Bahrain's lawmakers approved a law that will impose a ban on drinking alcohol to Muslims only; allowing non-Muslims to drink in places specified by the government, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.In the session where the modification of several articles in the Bahraini penal code was put to vote, Ali al-Saleh, head of the Consultative Council, called upon members not to exaggerate in their interpretation of Islamic laws and to look at the different levels of the issue, the Bahraini daily independent al-Wasat reported.
Saleh's first deputy, Jamal Fakhro, pointed out that reading the reports written by the assembly's relevant committees and listening to the conversations of members about the alcohol ban reveals that they focus on the religious dimension of the issue while totally overlooking the civil part.
"They have obviously forgotten that Bahrain is a civil state that is governed by a constitution and that it houses all religions besides Islam, which is the official religion and major source of legislation," Fakhro said.
The alcohol ban was the subject of heated debate in the council as several members opposed the idea of the ban altogether while others went as far as applying the ban to all residents, Muslims and non-Muslims.
Despite reaching a compromise through restricting the ban to Muslims, liberal members warned of the repercussions of imposing a ban in the first place, especially as far as the country economy is concerned.
"The ban will have a negative impact on investment in Bahrain," MP Khaled al-Moayed said. "I wonder why religious scholars insist on interfering in politics and economics."