The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has finally revealed their latest fatwa. I'm sorry for those of you who love to pollute the air: Smoking is haram now! Well, it's not haram for everyone, but only for children and pregnant women. And it's also haram for people to smoke in public. The smokers out there may think this fatwa is stupid and irresponsible. They complain - why in the world is smoking banned? The NU doesn't support the fatwa either. They think smoking should be avoided (makruh), but it's not a sin to do so. The MUI's decision to release this fatwa is indeed brave considering that many Muslim clerics in Indonesia are heavy smokers.
Your comments:
I am not a Muslim and often find the MUI's fatwa rediculous, but the fatwa on smoking is one fatwa I will support.
Miau Chang
I am a smoker. I realize that smoking can be annoying in enclosed public spaces such as buses, waiting rooms etc.
When I read your article about the MUI's fatwa on smoking, I decided not to smoke in public. Not because it is harmful for me, but to honor the MUI's fatwa and out of medical consideration for others.
Wadad
What is the difference between smoking in public or in private? Will nicotine not harm you if you smoke in private? I am still wondering how they are going to implement the fatwa.
When you are a child smoking is haram, but when you are 17 years old it becomes halal? If you are pregnant it is haram, but after you deliver your baby, it becomes halal. Does that mean you are going in and out of paradise?
Abdul Mukhlis
It is fair to say that smoking is paradise for smokers and is hell for nonsmokers, Abdul Mukhlis! But the problem here is about haram or halal.
If smoking is haram, can we call smokers sinners? Again and again, there is no reference at all in the Koran or Hadist that smokers are sinners.
Ketti
There is confusion between "health gains", compared to a "nonmedical source", the MUI, using "religion" to invoke a "ban" which is only "selective to public places, kids and women". No mention of smoking at home with kids in the same room etc.?
There is no mention in the Hadiths or any other theological confirmation to advocate a so-called fatwa to ban smoking.
There are theological Hadiths that ban all musical instruments and certainly in Sufism we do not advocate the involvement of anyone claiming to represent others via a fatwa.
Iwan
The writer misses the point completely of people's justified irritation over another MUI fatwa. Of course public health should be improved in Indonesia. Just like any number of areas concerning public welfare, laws exist but are not enforced.
This is a problem of governance. The real issue in the case of the MUI is that of an unrepresentative body issuing apparently "God-sanctioned" decrees that interfere in the personal lives and decisions of others.
From ill-informed views on liberalism and yoga to stating it is a sin not to vote (but of course don't vote for a non-Muslim), the MUI seem to have forgotten they live in Indonesia, a democracy, not a theocracy. Considering all this, it is the MUI who should be the subject of scrutiny and sanction. Clean up your own house before you start lecturing others on how to live.
Muhammad Santoso
Santoso, you are not happy with the message, smoking is haram, so you shoot messenger, the MUI, instead. Stay focused on the message, please.
Fact: tobacco companies are coming in droves to Third World countries, because their markets in the developed countries have started to fold.
People, and government, in developed countries have realized the danger of tobacco, and are actively working to marginalize it. So the companies moved to our country instead, a safe haven for their businesses.
By the way, thank you, Tasa, for bringing this up. As an asthma sufferer, who has often suffered because of tobacco smokers, your article is a godsend.
I hope you won't get burned to crisp though, for daring to go against popular opinion.
Sufehmi
The MUI fatwa does not force anyone to not smoke. It would be much better if smoking was banned by law, like in Jakarta and some other big cities around the world. Besides, the MUI edict about smoking seems very odd to me; once again there is gender discrimination. Men are allowed, but women are not.
Montor
Montor, it is pregnant women who "cannot" smoke based on the fatwa. Not all women. This is a very inspiring article.
Boby
I totally agree. Here in Bandung, smoking is getting worse and worse. I think 90 percent of the bus drivers smoke when they are driving, and 50 percent of the time, there are also passengers smoking. I see many schoolchildren smoking in the street.
Marcus
Bandung
I agree with you. Smoking should not be allowed in public areas or on public transportation. Smokers must respect nonsmokers' rights to live in a healthy environment.
However, the government should also provide smoking areas for smokers.
It is misleading when people say banning smoking in public areas violates human rights. We should look at the problem from both sides. From the smokers' side, it is a personal freedom issue.
Rir
