Ref: Mungkin belum terima angpau, jadi sedikit gommel. hehehe. Selamat merayakan bagi yang merayakan dan yang turut meramaikan dengan gembira ria berudara sejuk.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/02/05/mui-mixes-chinese-new-year-with-religion.html MUI mixes up Chinese New Year with religion Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta | Archipelago | Tue, February 05 2013, 7:15 PM Two local Muslim figures in Surakarta hold different views on how Muslims should react to Chinese New Year, locally known as Imlek, which falls on Sunday. Surakarta’s Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) chief Zainal Arifin Adnan has prohibited Muslims from participating in any Chinese New Year festivities at any level, let alone attend any prayers for the celebration. He said that even if a Muslim was of Chinese descent, still he or she should keep a distance from such celebrations. “The celebration contains portions of Buddhism spiritual teachings and it is therefore prohibited for any Muslims to participate. The best attitude for a Muslim toward this event is to ignore it,” Zainal said on Tuesday. In contrast, Mohammad Dian Nafi of the al-Muayyad Islamic boarding school in Kartasura sees nothing wrong with Muslims attending celebrations because Chinese New Year was more of a cultural event than a religious one. “The celebration is part of the Chinese people’s way of welcoming spring, which is usually perceived as the best time of the year. Thus it has nothing to do with religion and of course Muslims can join in the festivities, strengthening social relations with our ethnic Chinese brothers and sisters,” he said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
