Ma'ruf Amin: No Prohibition for Muslims to Say Merry Christmas
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28 December 2018 20:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice presidential hopeful Ma'ruf Amin said there was no prohibition for Muslim to wish Christians merry Christmas. Ma’ruf made the statement in response to his video footage on Christmas greetings.
"The MUI (Indonesian Muslim Scholars) does not issue a ban on delivering Christmas greetings,” said the non-active MUI chairman today, December 28, at his residence on Jalan Situbondo, Jakarta.
Ma’ruf said he followed the examples of syeikh or elders of the world’s most prestigious Islamic university, Al-Azhar, who were generally very tolerant and moderate, among others, Sheikh Ali Jumuah (Ali Gomaa), a former Grant Mufti of Eygpt (2003-2013) and Sheikh Yusuf Qardawi, an influential charismatic scholar and productive author who currently resides in Qatar.
Read: Ngabalin Defends Ma`ruf Amin on Christmas Greetings
”Those grand ulemas allow [Christmas greetings], so there is no problem to deliver one,” Ma’ruf noted.
Earlier, Ma'ruf Amin reaffirmed that MUI had never issued an edict regarding the prohibition on Christmas greetings. “There was no edict issued about it, but rather an edict on the prohibition to join Christmas mass,” stressed Ma’ruf on Monday, September 24.
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