No beer or bikinis: Indonesia’s top clerical council pushes for shariah-compliant tourism

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s top clerical council is demanding the government draw up legislation to make tourism in the country compliant with Islamic principles.

The call from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) comes a day after the body yesterday (July 29) denounced as haram, or forbidden to Muslims, the government’s universal health insurance programme.

The MUI, which is convening its annual congress on fatwas, or edicts, this week, said today that Indonesia’s tourism industry had to be based on shariah, or Islamic law, in order to prevent “damage caused by tourism”.

“The MUI urges the government to immediately draw up regulations/legislation on shariah hotels, shariah travel, and shariah entertainment,” the council said in a statement from today’s session of the fatwa congress.

The MUI said tourism should be managed in such a way as to be “enlightening, refreshing and calming”, and should steer clear of elements such as prostitution and alcohol consumption.

It also said there should be a standard of “ethics and behaviour” enforced on tourists to prevent “hedonistic and pornographic” conduct – which it has in the past defined as including the wearing of bikinis, even on beaches.

The MUI’s recommendations, including its fatwas, are not legally binding, although some regional governments in Muslim-majority areas have previously cited them in pushing through conservative bylaws. JAKARTA GLOBE