“Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.” — Ayatollah Khomeini
“Online Poker Players Facing 7 Month Jail Sentence,” by A. Mitchell for OnlinePoker.net, August 9 (thanks to David):
Seven online poker players allegedly caught gambling on Facebook are now facing up to 7 months behind bars if convicted by the Medan District Court in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Gambling laws in the largest Muslim-majority nation are strict and Indonesian authorities have now been taking their crusade online against overseas online gambling sites. Recently, three government bodies comprising the Social Affairs, the Religious Affairs, and the Communications and Information Technology Ministries have banded together to tackle illegal gambling in Indonesia.
In the latest incident to make the news, seven poker players and four people involved in trading online chips were arrested, and as Judge Agus Setiawan explains: “They were involved in gambling, therefore we accuse them of violating the law, which carries a prison sentence of seven months.”…
Other stories involving gamblers meeting heavy-handed justice at the hand of Indonesian authorities include the case of Chinese non-Muslim Halim Datkui, who was caught during a card game betting Rp 50,000 ($5.50) and was subsequently jailed for 4 months, contracting a skin disease while behind bars. In 2009, 10 children aged between 12 and 16 were also arrested for playing a coin-toss game in an Airport car parking area.