Muslims Prohibited to Celebrate Valentine's Day

BANDUNG, KOMPAS.com - The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) in West Java has prohibited Muslims to celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14, saying that it had nothing to do with Islam and Islamic culture.

"I think we don’t need to celebrate it. Please keep in mind that we are facing lots of more important problems than celebrating Valentine’s Day, such as education and the fate of street children," Chairman of MUI-West Java provincial chapter, KH Hafidz Utsman said here Sunday.

Valentine’s Day was not a festivity. Instead it was just a "reminder" still maintained by the people in the West that was then popularized to other parts of the world, including Indonesia, he said.

"There have been lots of societies that have been trapped into the globalized celebration of Valentine’s Day. As if it was to be celebrated despite the fact that it had nothing to do with our culture and Islam."

"It (Valentine’s Day) is just a celebration people from other countries," he said adding that the official stance of MUI-West Java provincial chapter was acceptable.

The Bandung-based Council of Ulemas had prohibited Muslim teenagers to celebrate Valentine’s Day. In the capital city of Aceh province, tens of students from the United Action of Indonesian Islamic Students (KAPMI) staged a rally rejecting the celebration of Valentine’s Day.