FaceBook is haram if used for gossiping and lying

Muslim clerics (imams or Ulema Council) debating the exploding popularity of Facebook in Indonesia said Friday that followers could use the networking site to connect with friends or for work — but not to gossip or flirt, otherwise it will be haram.

The nonbinding ruling followed a two-day meeting of clerics in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Before the meeting, most expected the clerics to announce that using FaceBook can be sinful. Around 700 clerics, or imams, agreed to draft up guidelines on surfing the Web after receiving complaints about Facebook and other sites, including concerns they encourage illicit sex.

They decided "Facebook is haram (or forbidden) if it is used for gossiping and spreading lies," he said, and that users also could not ask overtly intimate questions or in anyway encourage "vulgar behavior."

But the clerics noted, too, there were many upsides to Facebook and other trendy, new forms of communication, from mobile phone text messaging to video conferencing.

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