MUI announces Islam fobids money trading

JAKARTA (JP): The influential Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) issued an edict yesterday saying that speculative money trading just for one-sided profit is forbidden.

"Efforts to alter the function of currency from a means of exchange to a trading commodity is haram (forbidden in Islam)," chairman Hasan Basri was quoted by Antara saying at his office at the Istiqlal Grand Mosque.

"Money should be returned to its basic utility, namely as a means of exchange, so we can be saved from committing something which is dzalim (an evil deed)."

He called on all people who are keeping foreign currency, especially U.S. dollars, to exchange it for rupiah.

He was referring to those who are holding onto U.S. dollars in the hope that they will make a profit from them due to the volatility of the rupiah.

The government has blamed the crisis of confidence in the rupiah on, among other things, speculators.

Hasan Basri's was the latest of calls for members of the public to sell their U.S. dollars for rupiah, which has sharply depreciated over the past six months.

An organization affiliated to the ruling Golkar, Kosgoro, was the first to launch the "Love Rupiah" drive, but the drive did not gain much momentum until Golkar leader and businesswoman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana set an example by selling US$50,000.

This act by the eldest daughter of President Soeharto was soon followed by many people and groups in Jakarta and in other regions.

Journalists, artists, legislators, housewives, officials and even high school students have joined the drive in their respective regions.

The drive has developed even further with some businesspeople racing to put their money in state owned banks, and members of the Moslem community donating gold -- in the form of jewelry and other trinkets, to help the government overcome the monetary crisis. (aan/swe)