MUI Condemns Alcohol Promotion Disguised as Quran Memorisation Challenge

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has strongly condemned a promotion for alcoholic beverages that was packaged as a Quran memorisation challenge. MUI assessed that the challenge to memorise Surah Ad-Dhuha, which went viral on social media, cannot be justified from a religious, moral, or legal standpoint.

MUI Chairman for Fatwa, Prof. KH Asrorun Niam Sholeh, stressed that the creators and disseminators of the promotion must be held accountable for their actions. “This action cannot be justified, whether from a religious, moral, or legal perspective. The perpetrators must be held accountable for their deeds,” said Prof. Niam in an MUI statement on Monday evening (10/8/2026).

The Professor of Fiqh at UIN Jakarta explained that the Quran is the word of God, possessing a noble status and must be respected. Reading the Quran is also an act of worship with high virtue for Muslims. On the other hand, he noted, alcoholic beverages are a type of drink that is strictly forbidden in the Quran.

Therefore, according to him, making the memorisation or recitation of the Quran part of a marketing gimmick for alcoholic beverages is an act that degrades the dignity and sanctity of religion. “Creating a gimmick of reading the Quran with the lure of an alcoholic drink prize is a form of degrading the sanctity of the Quran,” said the caretaker of the An-Nahdlah Islamic Boarding School in Depok.

Previously, a music festival attendee shared their experience on social media after seeing a booth that held a challenge to memorise Surah Ad-Dhuha with a prize of a bottle of alcohol. The video recording went viral on social media and drew widespread criticism. The use of a holy Quranic verse was deemed unethical for such promotional purposes.

The user, with the account name @jarrkojarr, recounted their experience while at The Sound Project event. “While waiting for Hindia to perform, the booth next door made a challenge: ‘Whoever memorises Surah Ad-Dhuha gets a bottle.’ Are you joking? In my opinion, you have no ethics and no manners. You sell alcohol but use the Quran as a challenge, and then give away a bottle. Sickening,” they said.