The prohibition banning pre-wedding photo shoots and female motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers were made at the consultative forum meeting for women’s Islamic boarding schools (FMP3) in East Java, which ended on Jan. 14.

We have to look every fatwa carefully and comprehensively. Some of the fatwa issued by the FMP3 in East Java are in accordance with the opinion of the MUI, but other fatwa need to be critically studied because there are different views among clerics.

The fatwa on women ojek drivers should be criticized intelligently because, in fact, the presence of female ojek driver could be a solution for women passengers who feel uncomfortable when an ojek is driven by a male driver. In Iran, local ulema allow women taxi drivers to serve women passengers.

We do not need to think too much about the fatwa because, in reality, the fatwa itself are only used as a norm, in this case a religious (Islamic) norm.

Only those who believe and know the norms will ultimately obey the fatwa. There is no compulsion for those who do not perform their religious norms because norms differ from laws. After all, no one is harmed if there are people who obey the fatwa.

How about the pornographic law? Here, we must distinguish between areas of the application of norms and areas of law enforcement.

An area of application of norms is a private area. A norm is closely related to one’s beliefs.

A norm is only obeyed by those who have faith in the basis or background of these norms. A norm background can come from a belief, custom, or religion. Norms are not exhaustive or forcible. This means that if there is someone who violates the norms, he will not be punished.

The pornography law is a product of democracy and forces people to abide by it. We can see the diversity in our society – customs, religions, and beliefs. The existence of pornography and pornographic activities in public spaces creates restlessness in specific community groups.

This anxiety will lead to harmful conflicts. Therefore, through democracy, the people who do not agree with pornography and pornographic activities proposed a rule that limited the activities in public areas, so as not to cause restlessness.

We need to appreciate the people who proposed the pornography law because they followed the democratic route.

It is unfortunate if, in fact, the group using the democratic path for the proposed pornography law is considered conservative or hard-line.

 
Muhammad Aldhira
Bandung

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia