Religious Affairs Minister on Qur'an Memorisation for Alcohol Swap: 'Rejoice, but Don't Make Mistakes'

Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar has reminded the public not to be excessive in their celebrations. He made the statement in response to an alleged blasphemy case involving a Qur’an memorisation challenge being exchanged for alcoholic beverages at The Sounds Project music festival in Ancol, North Jakarta, some time ago.

“We have already given a warning that such matters are rather sensitive. You may rejoice, but do not make mistakes in your actions,” Nasaruddin said at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, on Friday (14/8).

Nasaruddin suggested the incident may have involved a combination of high spirits and a lack of awareness regarding the sensitivity of the matter. He has left the case to the authorities to handle and urged all parties to await the results of the ongoing police investigation. “It is already being handled by the authorities, let us just wait,” he said.

The promotion, suspected to involve alcohol under the guise of a Qur’an memorisation challenge, took place during the music festival last weekend, Sunday (9/8), in North Jakarta, and went viral on social media. In the viral video, festival-goers recorded a moment at a booth for an alcoholic beverage product that was holding a challenge to recite Surah Ad-Duha, with the reward suspected to be a bottle of the promoted alcohol.

The official Instagram account of the event organiser, The Sounds Project, has since issued a statement regarding the incident. Police have now detained two of the four suspects in the case. The two were taken into custody at the Polda Metro Jaya detention centre on Thursday (13/8). The detained individuals are REK, who acted as the master of ceremonies, and AK, who created the challenge.

Director of General Criminal Investigation at Polda Metro Jaya, Senior Commissioner Iman Imanuddin, stated that legal proceedings for the other two suspects are still ongoing. However, he noted that police have not yet decided to detain them. The two other suspects are I, who also created the challenge, and M, who appeared on stage and recited Surah Ad-Duha through a loudspeaker. In this case, the suspects are charged under Article 300 and/or Article 301 of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, as amended by Law Number 1 of 2026 concerning Criminal Adjustments.