Haram is Inappropriate for Smokers

Last night I saw the television program talked about Islamic law (makruh or haram) against smoking among the ulemas. They debated about Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) decision to prohibit smoking by labeling it ‘haram’. Their reasons approximately similar with something written in this blog. However, there is a side which refused the ‘haram’ label since this country isn’t the islamic monarchy yet. So, the government will take the role to make a policy about smoking. This side is agree when smoking should be labeled ‘makruh’. So, what’s my opinion?

Nope, I’m not a smoker that try to make approbation in this case. I’ve stopped smoking for last three years and I agree if smoking can damage the body health although I don’t have capacity to say it since I’m not health expertise. I just feel charitable since that normative thing is debated. Honestly, I never believe that people will always obey to instigation, even it’s religious instigation! In other words, fatwa is not efficient to reduce the smokers. For me, when we make some policies, we gotta know about our constituent behavior. Our people may be religious, but they are human. They will look for the space where they can do it (smoke). The negative incentive or obvious punishment must be applied for the smokers, since we live at the earth, not heaven.

Trading, Branding, & Change

The world is about trading. why did I type those words? It’s not solely that I’m a business student, but more than that. Trading, what is trading? trading is a mechanism between many sides for exchanging something that they’re owned. It has done since pre-history era. In those moments, the trade doesn’t use any medium of exchange like money, in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and/or services too. I’m interested in many real phenomenon that all of things have been practiced. For instance, an employee actually just sell his labor so that the firm give them some incentives like wage, salary, bonus, etc. Even in Pariaman’s culture, a marriage is decided based-on bride’s side bid. If the groom is a doctor, for instance, consequently the bid offer will be higher than a farm. So as man-woman dating in Jakarta, in which a man must have something special that can be “sold” against the woman in order to the woman is interested in him. If the man is poor,whether in financial or educational position, then he’ll get the couple in same or similar with him. It’s like a supply-demand theory in the equilibrium market. That’s above, only little instances that’s occurred in this world.