An ustaz was arrested for selling drugs to his students, claiming that it would help them study and recite the Quran better.
According to The Star, the religious leader from Madura, Northeast Java in Indonesia had been selling methamphetamine to students at an Islamic boarding school and reasoned that it was Halal or permissible under Islamic law.
Being an avid drug user himself, Ahmad Marzuki managed to avoid the police for two months after they learned of his actions.
Source: Coconuts
Despite being a fugitive, the religious leader still taught at other Islamic boarding schools in Surabaya and Mojokerto cities.
On 20th January, the authorities finally managed to capture him when he was attending a funeral in Madura. Police officers located Marzuki and two other drug users at his home where they found a small quantity of the substance and other drug paraphernalia.
After he was arrested, Marzuki said in a press conference that he knew methamphetamine is illegal under Indonesia’s laws, but found “no evidence against it in the Quran.”
Source: Kita Reporters
K.H. Said Aqiel Siradj, head of the Nahdlatul Ulama (Indonesia’s largest independent Islamic organization), said,
“While the Quran does not explicitly mention the drug, the religious text’s verses should be interpreted with a consensus among Islamic scholars and deductive analogy.”
“Muslims do not usually contest the fact that methamphetamine is illegal on a national level in Indonesia.”
Meanwhile, Marzuki will be charged under the Indonesian Narcotics Law, as per report. He also faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 10 billion rupiahs (RM2.9mil).
Also read: Video: M’sian Ustaz Wants Govt to Ban ALL Chinese Words As It’s Not The National Language
