of contests and concerts

first we heard of SMS being ‘haram’ (against islam), now it is TV3’s ‘sure heboh’. *sigh*…. what next, i wonder.

on 27 july, the ‘national fatwa council’ had issued a fatwa that SMS is ‘haram’ (against islam) because of it contain elements of gambling and thus against islamic teachings. then on 30 july the ‘mufti council of malaysia friday’ decreed that TV3’s sure heboh concerts as ‘haram’ as they caused the ummah to neglect their religious responsibility and promoted sin among youths.

ok first thing first – the SMS. yes i do agree that most SMS contests have the gambling element and it is a waste of money. all along i never support SMS contests. SMS contests only suck your money dry while the telco (or companies handling the SMS) laugh all the way to the bank. this is because usually in one contest, you have to send in your SMS more than once… sometimes close to 10 times!

yes in a way it is good that the national fatwa council came up with this fatwa on SMS. however i was wondering why on earth a ruling (like force) on an individual (muslim individual) regarding his/her faith when faith shouldn’t be force? yes of course everybody knows gambling is no good and gambling is against ALL religion, but don’t you think it is up to the individual to decide if s/he wants to use SMS, and not let a council or mullah decide for them? reminds me of the ruling on the movie ‘the passion of the christ’ – for christians only or rather not for muslims… why decide (make it a rule) for the muslims that they should not watch the movie? similiar to this SMS, a ruling (not yet enforced actually) for muslims not to use SMS.

one good thing that comes out from this fatwa is that TV3 had decided to stop offering SMS contests with immediate effect but other TV stations are still unsure.

and speaking of TV3, its ‘sure heboh’ concerts, that goes round the major town, had been decreed haram. excerpt from the report:

Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria said today the council, which met recently,had decided that the carnival, a series of concerts held in major towns, had a negative influence on spectators.As such, he said, the organising and watching of the concerts was prohibitedby Islam as it would be detrimental to Malays and Muslims.”The ‘Sure Heboh’ carnival is detrimental to our own race and has also weakened their thinking,” Harussani told reporters after the closing of theMuzakarah Ulama 2004 in Ipoh.

again, you see, a small group of people had to decide for ALL muslims, that watching this show would be detrimental to malays and muslims and will weaken their thinking. oh gee… just like not allowing muslims to enter the christian floating library (a ship) as i blog here, it is as though they have no faith in the muslim public. watching a harmless entertainment show like ‘sure heboh’ will weaken their thinking? come on, for crying out loud…. *sigh* i don’t know what else to say.

————–
for further reading:

Malaysia issues fatwa against SMS contests: media
SMS fatwa a guideline for Muslims: Council
SMS contests violate Islamic teachings
Finance Ministry Studying Contests Via SMS