BPJPH’s Position on Cigarettes After Muhammadiyah Deems Them Haram

JAKARTA — Ahmad Haikal Hassan, head of the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH), cited the outcome of an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) meeting in Padang in 2009 when asked about the halal status of cigarettes. The MUI fatwa prohibits smoking for children and pregnant or breastfeeding women.

“I’m only reading out the MUI decision: for those beyond [children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers], it is permitted. But this is not a BPJPH decision,” Haikal said at the BPJPH office on Friday (9 October 2026).

The fatwa differs from Muhammadiyah’s ruling that smoking is haram. Muhammadiyah issued Fatwa No. 6/SM/MTT/III/2010 prohibiting smoking and Fatwa No. 01/PER/I.1/E/2020 prohibiting e-cigarettes.

Muhammadiyah’s Central Board Council of Tarjih and Tajdid, together with the Muhammadiyah Tobacco Control Network (MTCN), has also advocated applying non-halal labels to cigarettes. The two organisations met BPJPH head Ahmad Haikal Hassan to press for such labels.

MUI Halal Affairs chairman KH Masyhuril Khamis said he respected the concern shown by experts and organisations for public health in proposing non-halal labels for cigarettes and vapes. However, he said the matter needed to be considered proportionately.