Nurfika Osman & Lisa Siregar – The country's highest Islamic authority declared infotainment as forbidden to Muslims in one of seven fatwa, or religious edicts, issued on Tuesday.

"Infotainment is haram [forbidden]," said Ma'ruf Amin, head of the fatwa body at the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI). "Gossip involves exposing embarrassing details of someone's private life to the public, and this is haram."

Also forbidden, he said, is the consumption of infotainment news, as well as profiting from it. "Profiting from broadcasting that news to the public is haram."

Ma'ruf clarified, however, that this did not mean all news about celebrities was forbidden. "When it is published in order to uphold the law, fight infidelity, warn people, report or ask for help, it is mubah [allowed but not recommended]," he said.

Infotainment was not originally on the agenda for the ongoing MUI congress, but the fatwa body decided at the last minute to drop discussions about social security to take up the hot topic.

Veteran journalist Ilham Bintang, a pioneer in the infotainment industry, said he was unconcerned by news of the fatwa.

"I'm convinced that what the MUI meant by haram applies only to infotainment programs that contain ghibah [slander]," he said.

"If infotainment programs are produced in accordance with the journalistic code of ethics and the Press Law, they will not broadcast or disseminate information that is against religious values."

The MUI's fatwa body also declared the organ trade, sex-change surgery and nikah wisata (marriages of convenience) haram.

"Nikah wisata is haram because it is usually only for those who want temporary unions," said Asrorun Ni'am Soleh, the fatwa body's secretary, "whereby men go to a certain region and marry women there for a while, make contracts and then leave them."

Sex-change surgery without a medical reason is forbidden and "performing or aiding the surgery is haram too," he said. However, if the surgery is for sound medical reasons, it is allowed.

He said selling organs was haram, as was the case for sperm, but organ transplants were allowed, even when it involved organs from non-Muslims.

"Organs from dead people are allowed as long as it is witnessed by two Muslim doctors," Asrorun said. "And organs from animals, including filthy ones, are allowed as long as it is an emergency and there is no alternative."

"Breast milk banks are also allowed as long as there is an agreement between the donor and the parents of the child," he added.

The MUI's fatwas are not legally binding.