As a democratic country with diverse ethnic and religious beliefs, the halal beach is controversial as it utilizes the name of a religion for commercial purposes.

As a democratic country with diverse ethnic and religious beliefs, the halal beach is controversial as it utilizes the name of a religion for commercial purposes.

Stationary boats at a Lombok beach. (Photo source: Pixabay/tpsdave)

Perspective

Mataram, GIVnews.com – Indonesia’s Lombok island which is known for its beautiful beaches is about to conceptualize a dedicated beach zone that can be categorized as a “halal beach”. The halal concept is commonly understood as performing activities or using objects that are allowed under the Islamic law.
The halal beach plan in Lombok will be implemented so as to provide a divided zone for men and women, using a permanent separator. This concept is made in the hope to boost halal tourism di Lombok, which is a beautiful island located in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province.
As reported by Kompas.com there are two regions where this concept are going to be implemented, in Meninting, Western Lombok and Mandalika, Central Lombok. To support the concept, not only will there be barrier for different genders, there will also be facilities for the sales of halal certified food.
Meanwhile, as a democratic country with diverse ethnic and religious beliefs, the halal beach is controversial as it utilizes the name of a religion for commercial purposes.  What if a family wants to come and enjoy the beach together; will the husband and wife have to be separated? And can people with different religions visit the same beach? Those matters need to be reviewed.
The concept is reportedly adopted to bolster Lombok victory in the World Halal Travel Summit 2015 that is organized in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). On this occasion, Lombok won two categories, World Best Halal Tourism Destination and World Best Halal Honeymoon Destination defeating Malaysia, Turkey and even UAE which obtained second place.
In addition, among the factors that contributed to Lombok’s victory was the availability of many mosques that can be utilized by tourists in the island. Other factors are availability of halal food and complete facility to perform religious activity at the accommodation.
Based on these factors, it is therefore understood that the halal beach concept is more attractive to tourists from middle eastern countries, who favors coming to Indonesia due to its tropical weather. “They are very fond of green scenery, and rain,” uttered Arief Yahya the Minister of Tourism at a press conference.
Hence if everything goes well, the existence of “halal” beach and other “halal” destination in Lombok could hopefully boost he region’s productivity and economy. One example is the potential increase in demand for tour guides who can speak Arabic, among other things that can cater tourists who are looking for a strictly halal destination.
As for the halal beach concept in Lombok, people who feel that they are discriminated against could still go to plenty other beach options in Lombok, which will still hopefully be operating normally. There is also a vast array of nice beaches located in the neighboring province of Bali, which is more known for its high tolerance.
In the past, Indonesia had seen other controversial moves in the name of a religion. For example, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) had in the past issued a controversial fatwa declaring that Indonesia’s workers social security scheme (BPJS) was not aligned to Islamic law, hindering its benefit to poor citizens across the country. Eventually, after consultations the MUI had come to an agreement on the concept.