The so-called fatwa against the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Friendster.
A conference of Islamic students and clerics called “Forum Bathsul Masail (BMP) Putri XI”, and held at the Putri Hidayatul Mubtadi-aat Islamic boarding school for girls at Lirboyo in Kediri has been widely reported to have issued a fatwa against the usage by Muslims of social networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook.
Muchammad Nabil Haroen on Facebook
However the man who started the controversy, a spokesman for Lirboyo school, Muhammad Nabil Haroen (or Harun), says:
I too have a Facebook account.
Nabil said that Facebook, any form of online chatting, particularly with foreign men suarasurabaya, or telephones and SMS allowed young, unmarried people to consort with people of the opposite sex, and that this was haram, but if such sites were used for spreading the message of Islam, or for business relations, or innocent getting-to-know-you, or similar such non-sinful activities then there was no objection. vivanews
It’s like a knife, if it’s used for cooking it’s good, if it’s used for killing it’s bad.
Many reports had stated that 700 clerics from Java and Madura had attended the conference and declared Facebook haram, but Nabil says
This was just a routine meeting, there were 700 delegates from Islamic schools for girls, they’re students not clerics.
Apart from the internet the BMP meeting also discussed the issue of election posters that showed the faces of women, and decided that this was permissible within limits. The matter of Ponari the child healer was also brought up, and condemned as superstition. tempo
Muchammad Nabil Haroen’s Facebook pals.
All issues discussed arose from questions from ordinary Muslims about the rights and wrongs of various things, and the Facebook/Friendster item was one of eight others the meeting dealt with. vivanews vivanews
Why not his clerics to tell their students to think for themselves, …
… so that they become liberals (or worse, secularists) instead of blind fanatics? Allahu Forbid!
That’s always a risk for anything to let people think for themselves.
But then again, being liberal–like facebook–is haram if…. and it’s halal if…… Same with being secularists it’s haram and halal. Blind fanatics? Yes, by letting those students to think for themselves, I think we gonna miss bombers’ and FPI’s violence actions in the news in the future.
A “fat” what? Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! The real social problem here is that these networking sites are an emormous waste of time… blogging, however, is entirely more elegant kind of thing altogether.
It’s like a knife, if it’s used for cooking it’s good, if it’s used for killing it’s bad.
So what he’s saying is; there is no point making knives “Haram” because there are existing laws against killing?
I assume there are already edicts about pre-marital hide-the-sausage and the like so why further clarify by issuing edicts about fornicating through Facebook?
Are we to expect a new edict for each and every space (online and offline) where evil could be done? If so, I would like to suggest the following places as a starter for the clerics;
Alleyways
Back Seats of Cars
Twitter
MySpace
The Disabled Loo at Work
Scotland
I hope this is helpful.
enigmatic- Fatwa against corruption? Fine.
Fatwa against Facebook? F*** that. =)
Of course if they followed the first thought, which would really be a good thing for the country, they would most likely have to start on themselves. Not likely! Maybe this has come about because a bunch of miserable old farts are worried their daughters with access to the www can now speak and interact with bules etc….Big threat to their little world.
Odinius Said:
How’s things in Baltimore?
After I completed that business with Omar, I retired out here in sunny Indonesia; I’m working for Golkar as it happens…
@ a-matter-of-fact
Being Pro-islamic is hardly much of a crime in the world’s most populous muslim nation, surely?
You seem to have confused this council of clerics with “Ze Germans” and you are getting wound up about roadblocks and telephone-checks that only exist in your head.
These THUGS AND SCUMBAGS are writing their interpretation of Islamic law which Indonesians are then free to follow or not. Just as when the pope makes daft proclamations about not wearing condoms he is ignored by saner catholics so free-thinking Indonesian muslims will recognize this for the tosh it is…
Fatwa is not part of our national legal system, therefore people are not obligated to obey and there is no sanction. Thus, fatwa only serve as an advice for people on how to lead a religious life according to the subjective opinion of the person giving such advice.
Since the fatwa in question was issued by a local organization in East Java, therefore the advice was only meant for people over there.
Regarding this matter, MUI Chief Umar Shihab said in an interview with SCTV last Sunday that Facebook is beneficial for people because it enabled Silaturahmi among them, and
MUI has never discuss about Facebook.
Just as when the pope makes daft proclamations about not wearing condoms he is ignored by saner catholics so free-thinking Indonesian muslims will recognize this for the tosh it is…
It depends where. In Western European society, most Catholics are free to disagree with the pope, but in the Philippines or Latin America, what the pope says goes.
The same applies to Muslims in non-Muslim societies (where they have more freedom to disagree with a fatwa) and Muslims in Muslim-dominated society like Indonesian, where society pressurises people to publicly accept such dangerous fatwas.
Just as when the pope makes daft proclamations about not wearing condoms he is ignored by saner catholics so free-thinking Indonesian muslims will recognize this for the tosh it is…
I thought this was mostly a media beatdown … 99% of mainstream news outlet printed in huge headlines about how the pope told people that condoms don’t work, but turned out he said something like ‘not sleeping around’ and ‘abstaining from sex’ is a better solution than condoms — I’d like to think that I’m sane, and I don’t think that’s such a ‘tosh’.
On the same veins … I heard that this fatwa never actually happened.
I kinda like the effect of MUI fatwas on the general populace … altering that famous WWII poem:
When the MUI fatwa’ed against the Ahmadiyah
I remained silent; I was not an Ahmadiyah
When the MUI fatwa’ed against pornography
I remained silent; I was not into pornography
When the MUI fatwa’ed against smoking
I remained silent; I was not a smoker
When the MUI fatwa’ed against Facebook
… well, ok, time to become a ‘moderate’ muslim who doesn’t listen to MUI
@ Q
but turned out he said something like ‘not sleeping around’ and ‘abstaining from sex’ is a better solution than condoms
Actually I wasn’t talking about the recent nonsense about his comments before arriving in Africa – you’re right, the media took that out of context.
I mean the more recurring nonsense whereby condoms are still pretty much banned by the catholic church; a far more dangerous position than this storm in a teacup. (Nobody dies from not using Facebook).
@ Matter-Of-Fact
The Indonesian Government had on many occasions being undermined and comprmised by these people who just put pressure to those helpless seat warmer.
I guess there are quite a number of big mouth here to condone their very action simply it is birds of the same feather flock together, don’t they. And o many they come with sarcarcsm without a doubt.
But what to say when people goes back in time their thoughts get drifted back.
I thought for a moment that your prose sounded familiar… are you by any chance the guy who writes the subtitles for pirated DVDs?
Knew it…
Just another try to prevent girls from marrying foreigners. Most of the stupid regulations or fatwas are about that single thing: Do not let the girls go with mister bule.
If bules could get the citizenship, if the could buy land and houses in Indonesia… if Indonesian girls had a chance to compare westerners with the locals then most of them would marry a white guy (so many already want one despite the extrem pressure from the culture, family, religion…).
That’s the main goal of Islam in Indonesia. Keep the nice guys away.
watwa on on facebook is just absurd. they might as well issue a fatwa on the uses of internet
I think I should do more writing subtitles for pirated DVDS then will that indicates that I ama kind of a anti certain things?
Absolutely no idea mate.
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Why not his clerics to tell their students to think for themselves, and decide what’s halal and haram for themselves? I mean, rather than wasting time making fatwa for each thing, that knife is halal if, haram if. How about spoon?
Anyway, the first command(ment) from God in Quran is “Iqra!”
Read!