Indonesia Deems TV Chat ‘Unislamic’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Indonesia’s largest Islamic movement, the Nahdlatul Ulama, is considering issuing an edict, or fatwa, that would ban Muslims from producing or watching television chat shows.
It would be declared a sin for Muslims to make or watch the programs on the basis that the Koran forbids spreading gossip, an NU official was quoted as saying in the Jakarta Post.
More than 40 such shows are broadcast weekly.
