Jakarta, NU Online
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin reminded Muslims in the country to not celebrate the Valentine's Day on Saturday.<>

"Commemorating what supposedly marks the day of love, Valentine's Day, could harm national morality," he was quoted by republika.co, as saying at the opening of a working meeting of the International Muslim Women's Union at Asafi-iyah University in Pondok Gede, recently.

"Celebrating the day by attending parties, especially ones that violate religious norms, has the potential to harm morality. So we declare the celebration as forbidden (haram, or not allowed by religion)," Saifuddin said.

The minister explained that in Islam, there is no specific day to celebrate love, adding that Islam calls on all Muslims to give the most beautiful thing to their parents, families and fellow human beings every day.

"Islamic teachings recognize no specific date to express love. So the declaration of February 14 as the day of love must not be heeded. It must, instead, be monitored closely to see whether it spreads teachings that go against religion," he remarked.

In addition, the government of Bekasi city in West Java has issued a letter to all students in the region, urging them to not celebrate Valentine's Day.

"The ban was issued to instill national values in the students of Bekasi," Deputy Mayor of Bekasi Ahmad Syaiku noted.

In the letter, teachers and schools are requested to monitor and prevent their students from being involved in activities that are against religious, social and national cultural norms, with regard to Valentine's Day celebrations.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq