“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
“Indonesian Muslim clerics lash out at Miss World,” from Agence France-Presse, August 23:
Indonesia’s top Islamic authority lashed out Friday at the country’s decision to host the Miss World beauty pageant next month, saying that women exposing their bodies went against Muslim teaching.
The pageant is already facing opposition in Muslim-majority Indonesia, with radicals vowing to stage protests against the contest even after organisers agreed to drop the bikini round in a bid to avoid causing offence.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) added its voice to the protests Friday, saying a top-level meeting of clerics earlier this month decided it did not want the pageant in the country.
“Exposing women’s bodies in public is ‘haram’, forbidden by Islamic teaching,” senior MUI official Muhyiddin Junaidi told reporters in the capital Jakarta.
“Even though the bikini event is being axed, the contestants will still wear tight dresses and expose parts of their body.”
The group also urged the country’s Muslims, more than 90 percent of the 240 million population, not to watch the pageant on television….