Muhammadiyah declares smoking to be haram

writer:Arghea Desafti Hapsari

In 2008, for instance, 240 billion cigarettes were sold in Indonesia, according to official statistics. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) previously issued a similar edict, which bans children and pregnant women from smoking. Even then, a part of society felt that the religious statement did not sit well with them. Muhammadiyah deputy chairman Yunahar Ilyas said that it was imperative that smoking be banned as Indonesian people had become more exposed to the dangers of smoking over the last few years. Muhammadiyah, the country’s second-largest Muslim group, based its argument on the Koran, which bans Muslims from taking their own lives. Smoking, Yunahar said, has been proven to kill.
The organization’s health council also cited that smoking posed a threat to not only to smokers’ lives but also the lives of others. Yunahar said money spent on cigarettes was money wasted. Yunahar said Muhammadiyah was also preparing to assist tobacco farmers in shifting to other “more beneficial and healthier” crops. He urged the government to limit the country’s tobacco imports as they hurt small farmers. “The argument that farmers and the country’s economy will suffer under smoking bans can be easily countered. “The fact is, those that benefit most are the industry owners, not the farmers. If the government maintains that the economy benefits from the industry, why not legalize the narcotics industry also?”
Muhammadiyah urged the government and the House of Representatives to ratify the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and formulate related laws in order to curb the health impacts of cigarette smoking. Indonesia is the only ASEAN member that is not-party to the WHO FCTC.
The edict gains great support from the National Commission for Child Protection, which has been voicing concerns on child smokers.
Commission chairman Seto Mulyadi said tobacco advertising was enticing to children. According to him, there are cases of five-year-old smokers. A survey conducted by the Tobacco Control Support Center, which was established by the Indonesian Mass Health Expert Association (IAKMI), shows that the prevalence of child smokers between five and nine years old grew more than fourfold from 0.4 percent in 2001 to 1.8 percent in 2004. “This will ruin the younger generation,” Seto said.

References:
Hapsari, D.A. (2010). Muhammadiyah declares smoking to be haram. Retrieved March 10, 2010. from The Jakarta Post: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/10/muhammadiyah-declares-smoking-be-haram.html