Scholars need to be firm in banning smoking: YLKI

Jakarta, NU Online
An Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) representative said Thursday the Indonesian Ulema Council's needed to form a united front in prohibiting cigarette smoking.

"I noticed that the ulema have mixed reactions, there are some who are for and others who are against (the ban)," YLKI executive Tulus Abadi said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.<>

According to Abadi, those who are mainly against the ban are scholars from the country's largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

"This is especially so since NU owns its own cigarette factory and the majority of its scholars are heavy smokers," he argued, adding that the Indonesian scholars need not hesitate in issuing a fatwa against smoking since there have been precedents in Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and other Muslim countries in the Middle East.

The Indonesian ulema, Abadi added, should also cease worrying about the socio-economic effects of a smoking ban.

"The economic effect is the government's concern. The lawfulness and unlawfulness of something isn't determined by its economic effect, but rather the content of it and its risks," he said.

Previously it was reported that MUI would soon issue a fatwa on cigarette smoking at the upcoming nationwide Ulema Fatwa Commission conference.

The three-day conference on strategic issues and contemporary religious affairs is scheduled to take place from Jan. 23 in Padang Panjang, West Sumatera. (jp/dar)