Well Said, Sir! Some Sense on Ramadan Shut-Downs…BUT!
Well, after reminding you all of what could most kindly be described as the careless talk we once heard from the MUI’s Amidhan about Ramadan …
Islamist ‘Scholars’ – “Don’t Complain if You’re Attacked!”
…I am delighted to note that he has talked some good sense, according to a Tempo.com report.
Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Amidhan Shaberah, said the closure of the food stalls during Ramadan is a tradition….not related to the state. According to him, there should be no controversy over whether food stalls should be opened or closed.
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Amidhan
He recognised that in some areas they will close because that’s what the people, presumably including the stall-holders, want to do. Fair enough, so long as there’s no coercion by bigot bullies, like these IslamoNazis in Makassar.
- Even so, said Amidhan, in other areas stalls can still be opened because many people are still in need. “Leave it to the respective areas in accordance with tradition.”
- It turns out that this latest discussion of the topic arose because Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin, whose tenure as Minister of Religion is a welcome change from his bigot predecessor, Suryadharma Ali, has declared that people who are not fasting should be respected.
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Lukman
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Stalls, said Lukman, do not need to be closed for Ramadan.
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The Government, he said, does not need to make rules whether the food stalls should be closed or not. “Leave it to tradition and awareness.”
Excellent, echoing the words of the late Gus Dur on the same issue.
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‘We Muslims should fast with respect for those not fasting.’ -A REAL Muslim scholar, the late President Gus Dur
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But even as we read this outbreak of common sense, another Tempo report reminds us that there’s a long way to go before the state takes its sticky-beak nose out of where it shouldn’t be.
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Jakarta’s SatPol PP (civic militia) have launched their annual prudery blitz on people who like to have fun! Their operation was endorsed by the capital’s Vice Governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
He announced that the city would restrict the operating hours of nightclubs during Ramadan. He wouldn’t hesitate to take stern action against the owners of nightclubs that violate these rules.
Why the heck should hours of revelry be restricted? Yes, if disco music is drowning out the sermon at a nearby mosque.
But mosque loud-speakers here can hold their own against any poor DJ. https://rossrightangle.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/mosques-above-the-law-too-sensitive-to-enforce-noise-control-and-criticism-an-outrage/ Nor do they need to comply with city rules, so we’ve seen.
But the point surely is that if people feel like praying or whatever, they can, and same with the self-denial from terrible fleshly pursuits, like singing, dancing and drinking.
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Nobody rushes out of bars to drag the passing faithful in. Nor does anybody force anyone else, least of all the devout, to stay out late having a good time.
If there’s no alternative to being self-denying, it’s not self-denial, merely sectarian coercion.
http://ramadan.tempo.co/read/news/2015/06/12/151674525/satpol-pp-awasi-tempat-hiburan-malam-jakarta
rossrightangle 
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