F

strong>Feb. 13, Online

There is not much love for Valentine'€™s Day this year as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Dumai, Riau, and the Education, Youth and Sports Agency in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, have warned against celebrating the day of affection.

'€œAn MUI judgment states that celebrating Valentine'€™s Day is against Islam,'€ head of the Dumai MUI Lukman Syarif told Antara on Thursday.

According to an MUI judgment released in 2011, Valentine'€™s Day is suspected of imbuing in the youth a dark world of wild festivities and lust-driven celebrations.

Your comments:

Why can'€™t Indonesian and Malaysian ulema think progressively? Why does religion put people in fear instead of embracing compassion and why does it always have to end up with a sexual connotation? What about married couples who are celebrating Valentine'€™s Day? Why can'€™t religious bigots worry about the contradictions in their own teachings? Enough is enough. Who are the ulema to judge?

Moon River

MUI didn'€™t ban anything. They warned against, those are two different things. Anyway it has passed now. See what they come up with next year. And yes, it is commercialized as is Christmas and as Idul Fitri is rapidly becoming.

Peter

Valentine'€™s Day has nothing to do with saints or pagans or Christians. It was created in America in the early 20th century by the Hallmark greeting card company as a way to sell more cards.

It is just an old marketing scam that has gone viral over time and become smothered in myths.

Wu

I am personally uncomfortable with people celebrating Valentine'€™s Day.  It'€™s a commercialized American event. It'€™s the same with Halloween.  It'€™s mindless aping of Western /Anglo-Saxon culture.  In China people celebrate Valentine'€™s Day, even though China has a similar event in the Chinese calendar.

I am sure the Indonesian government or a clever marketer could think of some holidays that can replace these Western holidays.

They can issue a ban if they like. Many church groups in the US have done so for Halloween and Valentine'€™s Day. Some schools in the US have banned it for safety and religious reasons. Both holidays are pagan. It'€™s not just a Muslim thing.

My main point is countries have their own traditions, and it has less to do with religion. It is not just countries like Indonesia, but Western ones also.  I am also concerned about Indonesians not upholding their own way of celebrating Idul Fitri, instead opting to take on more Arabic ones.  Javanese Catholics for example celebrate Christmas in their own way, they have their own Christmas tree, even though they can easily get evergreen trees in Indonesia.  

Weilim

Banning is anti-freedom. In a global society it is friendly to look and smile and join the celebration of others if you want to. In Australia, Lunar New Year is becoming more popular. People do not get angry and call for it to be banned.

Just because Valentine'€™s is commercial does not mean it is bad. Going to the market to buy bacon is commercial '€” is this bad? And just because it is American does not mean it is bad. Is everything '€œAmerican'€ bad? Such views would indicate prejudice or racism.

Ella

The irony is I might agree with these people if they said they objected to it because it is a cheap commercialization of human affection, but the ridiculousness of claiming it leads to drugs and alcohol is more of the infantile reasoning along the lines of '€œWe need religion on ID cards in case Muslim men accidentally marry women of a different religion'€ that just makes you frightened for this country'€™s future. Furthermore, they seem incapable of addressing any issue without approaching it from a divisive sectarian perspective that reinforces the siege mentally many religious people seem to thrive on.

Loro Blonyo

As the relationship between Muslim women and men is really strict in Islam, I don'€™t think that celebrating Valentine'€™s Day is in line with Islamic values.

Strictly speaking, in Islam there is the concept of mahram and non-mahram. Well, you can Google the definition of mahram to get a better and fuller understanding of it. Thus relationships between non-mahram men and non-mahram women (before marriage) are forbidden, because they can lead to zinah (any sexual act before marriage). Zinah is a major sin in Islam. So, things that can lead to zinah should be avoided.

Well, we do celebrate love every day and who'€™s Valentine anyway to decide the date to express our way of loving?

There are a lot of better things to do than satisfying sellers of chocolate, cards, toys, etc. in the name of Valentine. Who is he? We never knew him personally, so?

It is not our celebration, and there are no specific verses in the Koran or hadit that tell us to celebrate it. So why should we support it or celebrate it? We Muslims have clear rules: the Koran and hadit, we respect them so much, and for us the rules are not narrow-minded.

Annisa