In a country where cigarette production is high, providing a living for millions, and consumption also high, the Clerics’ Council, Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), is having a difficult time deciding whether to issue a fatwa against smoking, or make it haram within Islam.
Maruf Amin of the MUI said on 25th October that the fate of the farmers who grow tobacco and the workers in cigarette factories had to be considered, and this would make an anti-smoking fatwa unlikely.
In countries like Saudi Arabia, where fatwas have been issued against smoking, there were no tobacco farmers or cigarette factories, but things were different in Indonesia.
Any MUI fatwa against smoking would have to be preceded by government programs to find an alternative living for people dependent on the cigarette industry, he said. [1]
Meanwhile Akhmad Muzakki, a young Muslim intellectual, says the MUI should pay attention to serious problems like corruption, and the habit of people/companies to take “commissions” and “incentives” in building or development projects.
In any case, Akhmad said, MUI fatwas were not binding on anyone and Muslims tended to pay more attention to mass organisations like NU and Muhammadiyah, anyway. [2]
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