While the croissant-doughnut or “cronut” is all the rage in New York, some in Syria have pushed back against the famous French component of the trendy new pastry.
A sharia committee in a rebel-controlled part of Aleppo has issued a fatwa condemning croissants due to their “colonial” origins, according to the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.
The fatwa, which declared croissants “haram” or forbidden under Islamic law, said the pastries’ trademark crescent shape celebrates European victory over Muslims. Restrictive fatwas have recently proliferated in areas of Syria under Islamist influence.
But perhaps unsurprisingly, the croissant fatwa’s reasoning has been called into question.
Asad Ahmed, associate professor of Arab and Islamic studies at UC Berkeley, told The Daily Caller there was “absolutely no basis” for the fatwa in Islamic law and history.
“It has indeed been the case that, in the past, temporary bans on products — such as tobacco — took place in certain parts of the Muslim world. This was the case because, in such circumstances, these products were considered to be not just a health hazard, but also a commodity of economic and imperial oppression. I am not sure one can say the say of croissants,” said Ahmed.