REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Recently, there have been repeated calls to boycott Israeli products or companies affiliated to the Zionist state. Secretary of the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Assembly (MUI), KH Miftahul Huda explained that, linguistically speaking, boycotts are conspiring to refuse to cooperate, refuse trade deals, refuse to speak, refuse to participate, and so on. Whereas a boycott is the process, manner or deed of boycotting.

Kiai Huda said that legally boycotting is legal and permissible, as long as there is no cooperation agreement. Because buying a product is a right and not an obligation. “So as consumers, we have the right to make a choice, whether to buy or not,” Kiai Huda told Republika.co.id, Sunday (15/10/2023).

Kiai Huda said that if linked to Israel's assault on Palestinians, the call for a boycott of Israeli products could serve as an attempt to resist the international Zionist forces whose fingernails have seized control of the Islamic world.

Kiai Huda asserts, in warfare, attempts to attack not only with missile and rifle fire, but with all sides, among them narrative wars in digital media and economic warfare.

In fact, when the product of one country manages to dominate the market of another country, then economically, this is a successful economic attack.

“Therefore, attempts to contain the attack by boycotting or withholding imports from certain countries, especially those countries are hostile to one of the Islamic countries,” Kiai Huda said.

Elsewhere, Imam Addaruqutni, Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Center for International Relations and Cooperation, said that calls for boycotts of products affiliated with Israel are more appropriate for governments or countries.

Imam also explained that the law on boycotting products related to Israel is legal only in order to counter the policies of the boycotted country. Related boycotts of Israel-related products in Islamic views, according to Imam, depend on his theological views.

Read also: Here's the Secret Why the Letter Alif in the Koran Is Perpendicular

If the theological view is that the boycott is carried out in opposition to the policies of the boycotted country, it does not matter, because it is related to the policy for the boycotted country to make changes in the political sphere.

The ulama said that if the boycott is carried out blindly and without considering its theology and politics, it is not allowed. Because business deals with the lives of people who don't deal with war. The people farmed and traded for a living. “So one should not stop the economy of others solely because of hatred,” said Imam, who is also a member of the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Assembly (MUI).

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika