Sabang City Bans New Year's Celebration on Sharia Grounds
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23 December 2019 06:52 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Sabang City administration in the special region of Aceh officially called for a New Year’s Eve ban on sharia law grounds. This was announced in a circular by the city’s mayor Nazaruddin on Sunday, December 22.
The ban was signed by the regional leaders' communication forum (forkopimda) of the Sabang Regency.
“This is one of Sabang Administration’s seriousness upon upholding the Islamic sharia. We call for people to avert from celebrating the new year’s eve as it is not in accordance with our customs,” said Nazaruddin in Sabang on Sunday.
Further elaborating the ban, the city administration specifically bars people from participating in activities that are seen as reckless, festivities such as blowing trumpets, and fireworks. They also barred people from holding Islamic public activities such as mass-prayers as it would mislead people’s understanding of Islam.
Mayor Nazaruddin also reminded that the circular applies to tourists who are visiting the City of Sabang and called for them to respect local laws and customs.
“We are not preventing tourists from visiting Sabang, we are happy to have the city be visited by tourists, but we do hope they adjust to local cultures that uphold the Islamic sharia law,” he said.
ANTARA