Pamekasan regency administration and ulema have agreed to ban music concerts that go against the principles of Islamic sharia law, in Madura, East Java.
Only music events that respect sharia norms will be permitted on the island, Pamekasan regent Khalilurrahman said.
"We will make strict rules on the arrangements for music concerts by private organizers or those held for wedding and circumcision celebrations," Khalilurrahman told The Jakara Post on the weekend.
"We will strictly supervise concerts in Pamekasan. We will not permit performances where artists wear improper clothes," he said.
The way singers dressed during concerts could prompt people to commit acts of vice, Khalilurrahman said.
The plan to restrict dangdut concerts and other music performances received support from the Pamekasan branch of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). "We are currently campaigning for a movement to promote an Islamic community," he said.
"The movement is to prevent the Suramadu bridge from threatening religious norms and the values of the Madurese people," Khalilurrahman said.
MUI Pamekasan leader Lailurrahman confirmed his organizations support for a regulation to ban music concerts that breached sharia principles. "If there are artists in improper dress, and arousing acts of vice in Pamekasan, the MUI will ban them ... Watching these concerts will also be haram (forbidden under Islam)," he said.
Lailurrahman said his office had coordinated with MUI branches at a district level to bar any offensive concerts. However, the planned ban was strongly criticized by several people in Pamekasan, who said the local administration and the MUI should not have unilaterally enacted such a regulation on concerts.
They were also upset at Pamekasan authorities' decision to cancel a music concert by dangdut singer Ridho Roma, the son of Rhoma Irama who is an actor and a Muslim preacher as well as the self-proclaimed "king of dangdut".
Authorities argue that the concert was not in line with Islamic values.
The concert was scheduled to take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, at Soenarto Hadiwidjojo Ground in Pamekasan, but was canceled. In protest, organizers plan to sue Pamekasan administration for its "unilateral cancellation", saying it had obtained a police permit to hold the concert.
Mohammad Hafidi, a local resident, said the cancelation of Ridho's performance was not fair because a number of similar concerts in the regency had been allowed to go ahead.
"There are also many dangdut music videos circulating with singers wearing improper clothes, but the government does not take action," he said.
