- Indonesian cleric Felix Siauw posted tweets about why selfies are so sinful
- He said that those who take selfies are succumbing to pride and arrogance
- There was a huge Twitter backlash against his messages by Indonesians
- Hundreds have posted selfies using the hashtag # Selfie4Siauw
A
Muslim cleric has declared selfies sinful, claiming that those who take
them are succumbing to pride, ostentation and arrogance.
Popular
Indonesian cleric Felix Siauw posted a series of tweets explaining why
selfies should be avoided – but reserved most of his exasperation for
women, who he said were being ‘shameless’ and ‘unpure’.
Siauw,
who has over a million Twitter followers, wrote: ‘These days many
Muslim women take selfies without shame. There are usually nine frames
in one photo with facial poses that are just – My Goodness – where’s the
purity in women?’
A Muslim cleric has declared selfies
sinful, claiming that those who take them are succumbing to pride,
ostentation and arrogance
He
also said that because selfie-takers are desperate for social media
views, they’re being ostentatious, and because taking a selfie makes
people feel ‘cooler’, we’ve ‘fallen into the worst sin of all –
arrogance’.
However,
there was a huge Twitter backlash against his messages by Indonesians.
Hundreds have posted selfies on the social media site using the hashtag #
Selfie4Siauw, Quartz reported.
Many
were taken by women, dozens by men – and some purely for comedy
purposes, with a camel and great white shark uploaded with the hashtag.
It follows a prominent religious scholar in Saudi Arabia giving the cold shoulder to snowmen – by issuing a fatwa against them.
A snowfall in the middle eastern country saw Saudis eagerly building snowmen and even snow camels.
However,
Mohammed Saleh Al Minjed decreed that building snowmen – or indeed
creating any living creature out of snow – was an insult to the Islamic
religion.
There was a huge Twitter backlash
against Siauw's messages by Indonesians, with hundreds posting selfies
using the hashtag #Selfie4Siauw
Felix Siauw posted a series of tweets explaining why selfies should be avoided
He
declared that inanimate objects such as ships and buildings could be
imitated – or food – but not animals, according to Gulf News.
He
wrote: 'God has given people space to make whatever they want which
does not have a soul, including trees, ships, fruits, buildings and so
on.'
The fatwa - or religious ruling - was given a frosty reception on social media sites by some people.
Blogger Mishaal complained that the ruling took the joy out of the unusual weather.
He
said: 'We have snow for fleeting days, maybe even hours, and there is
always someone who wants to rob us of the joy and the fun. It seems that
the only thing left for us is to sit down and drink coffee.'
On Twitter users writing in Arabic and identifying themselves with Arab names joined in the debate.
'They are afraid for their faith of everything ... sick minds,' one Twitter user wrote.
Another
posted a photo of a man in formal Arab garb holding the arm of a 'snow
bride' wearing a bra and lipstick. 'The reason for the ban is fear of
sedition,' he wrote.
A
third said the country was plagued by two types of people: 'A people
looking for a fatwa for everything in their lives, and a cleric who
wants to interfere in everything in the lives of others through a
fatwa,' the user wrote.
Sheikh
Munajjid had some supporters, however. 'It (building snowmen) is
imitating the infidels, it promotes lustiness and eroticism,' one wrote.
'May God preserve the scholars, for they enjoy sharp vision and recognise matters that even Satan does not think about.'
And
blogger Al Marsad wrote: 'It has no value in our traditions… those
fascinated by the West should emulate their inventions and sciences, not
their culture,' according to Gulf News.
Snow has covered upland areas of Tabuk province near Saudi Arabia's border with Jordan for the third consecutive year.
Last year the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) in the UAE issued a fatwa against living on Mars.
The
committee argued that an attempt to dwell on the planet would be so
hazardous as to be suicidal and killing oneself is not permitted by
Islam.
The
astronauts, the committee said, would end up dying for no 'righteous
reason' and would face the same punishment in the afterlife as someone
who'd committed suicide.
The GAIAE has issued around two million Fatwas through its Official Fatwa Centre since its inception in 2008.
In
Malaysia, meanwhile, Muslim clerics have issued fatwas banning
everything from yoga to Valentines Day in a bid to stop the influence of
Western culture.
To
ensure Muslims can keep pace with the rules, an 'e-fatwa' site has been
started the Globalpost reports. The issue recently came to a head at a
dog-petting festival for Muslims, with the organiser receiving
threatening phone calls.
Muslims are taught that canines are unclean.
Malaysian
activist Zainah Anwar, recently wrote that Muslims are 'sick and tired
of being told, yet again, of more categories of Muslims and practices to
be denounced, hated and declare deviant'.
Her
women's rights group, Sisters in Islam, has also been targeted. It was
issued with a fatwa for pushing 'liberalism'. It had pushed for Muslim
women to be able to enter beauty pageants.
The group were challenging the ruling.
The
list of fatwas now includes, Halloween, which is said to be too
Christian and black metal because it is 'powerful enough to force a
Muslim to forsake his faith'.
Botox is banned, but can be used if medically necessary.
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