Ulemas say Ardi and Nia's bloody ring is `haram'

JAKARTA: A conference of ulemas from Islamic boarding schools in Java and Madura questioned whether businessman Ardie Bakrie and actress Nia Rhamadani's wedding rings were haram (prohibited under Islamic law) as they contained blood samples from the couple.

The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) however added they had not reached a final decision on the matter yet.

Ardi, the son of Golkar chief party Aburizal Bakrie and commissioner for television station TVOne, married Nia with a wedding ring that contained samples of his and her blood.

According to Atoilah Solahudin Anwar from the Lirboyo Islamic boarding school, blood from the body is najis (impure), therefore should not be used to symbolize the union of two people. "This is important because the ring could be used when Nia does her prayer," Solahudin said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

He added ulemas were worried the public would follow the example of Ardi and Nia and make wedding rings laced with blood into a trend. - JP