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View all search resultsQuran challenge for alcohol draws outrage, police probe
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This screengrab, with no time or location provided, shows the atmosphere during The Sounds Project music festival held Aug. 7-9, 2026, at Ecovention & Ecopark Ancol in North Jakarta, Indonesia. (Instagram/@thesoundsproject)
A
n offer of free alcohol in exchange for reciting a Quran verse at a North Jakarta music festival has sparked public outrage and a police investigation over alleged blasphemy.
A video circulating widely on social media showed a quiz at alcoholic beverage brand Newport’s booth at The Sounds Project music festival in Ancol on Aug. 9, during which a visitor challenged another attendee to recite a Quranic surah in exchange for a free bottle of alcohol, which is haram, or forbidden by Islamic law.
The incident drew condemnation from Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), lawmakers and religious affairs officials over the use of a religious practice to promote an alcoholic beverage.
“This truly desecrates the religious life that we have collectively upheld in Jakarta,” Pramono said at a recent press briefing at the City Hall, instructing Jakarta’s Assistant for Public Welfare, Ali Maulana Hakim, to take firm action against such incidents.
MUI Fatwa Commission chairman Asrorun Niam Sholeh also condemned the incident, saying the use of an act of worship as a condition for obtaining alcohol violated religious norms and Indonesian law.
“This action cannot be justified, either religiously, morally, ethically or legally. The perpetrator must be held accountable,” Asrorun said in a statement on Tuesday.
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