Tobacco farmers urge MUI to reject anti-smoking edict

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post Surabaya, Mon, 09/01/2008 11:03 AM, The Archipelago

The East Java branch of the APTI urged the provincial chapter of the MUI on Friday to reject a proposed edict that would forbid smoking. "It would be more human if the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) switched to a regulation supporting smoking," Abdum Hafidz Azis said at a meeting with the council's executives in Surabaya on Friday. Abdul is secretary of the Association of Indonesian Tobacco Farmers (APTI) East Java branch.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post after the meeting, Abdul said none of the verses in the Holy Koran and hadith (deeds of the Prophet Muhammad) banned smoking as proposed to MUI by a small society of Muslims grouped under the Islamic Propagation Council (DDI).

"Even Muslims still have internal debates regarding Islamic legal principles, such as what is allowed; mubah (neither forbidden nor required); makruh (the avoidance of which yields merit but the performance of which is not sinful); and haram (forbidden)," said Abdul, who is also a cleric of Miftahul Ulul al Anwar Islamic boarding school in Tlogosari, Madura.

Adbul said Muslims were not allowed to create laws of their own, especially if they then forced others to follow. In terms of smoking, in particular, an edict forbidding Muslims from smoking would surely have grave implications for farmers, he said. "This cannot just be ignored."

The commodity is planted in 20 regencies and municipalities in East Java which contributes 53 percent of the national tobacco production and Rp 682 billion (US$7.4 million) in annual income taxes to the provincial treasury, he said.

Abdul added that the agricultural sector absorbed 27 million workers while the province's 1,367 cigarette factories contributed 78 percent of the national excise revenue. Last year, the government received Rp 41.3 trillion in tobacco excise revenue.

Responding to the demand, MUI East Java chairman Abdussomad Bukhari said the council had yet to forbid smoking, suggesting that tobacco farmers keep planting as usual. National MUI deputy chairman Amidhan had previously announced it was considering issuing an edict forbidding Muslims from smoking.

Earlier, several organizations including the National Commission for Child Protection and the Association of Health Experts, asked MUI to issue an edict banning smoking due to their concerns at the increasing number of child smokers.

In a separate development, a number of people grouped under Jangan Merokok, a community care network for smoke-free areas, staged a rally on Friday on Jl Gubernur Suryo and Jl Pemuda, Surabaya. They demanded the provincial legislative council and Surabaya municipal administration approve and apply the planned bylaw for smoke-free areas.

"It is the most advanced smoking regulation Indonesia has, and therefore deserves support," the network's spokesperson Yanti said. Yanti said the regulation would protect passive smokers including pregnant mothers, children and other vulnerable groups from active smokers. "For this reason, we urge municipal legislative council leaders to push its special committee to complete the deliberation of the bylaw."