An Indonesian celebrity Islamic cleric has come under fire for suggesting that Muslims are promised sex parties in heaven during a recent televised sermon.

Syamsuddin Nur Makkah, better known by his celebrity moniker Ustadz Syam, appeared in an episode of an Islamic sermon program called ‘Islam Itu Indah’ (Islam is Beautiful) on local channel Trans TV on Saturday. A short clip from the episode went viral over the last couple of days because of the sexually charged nature of Ustadz Syam’s sermon.

https://twitter.com/RennyFernandez/status/886856772266446848

In the video, the 24-year-old Ustadz Syam says, “One of the pleasures in heaven are sex parties. Apologies, but this is why we have to withhold (sexual urges) in this world,” before going on to say that men have to work hard to withhold their sexual urges because women like to wear tank tops in the summer and, obviously, inside airplane cabins despite the cold.

It seems this particular part of Ustadz Syam’s sermon did not go down with many Muslims in Indonesia, who took to social media to denounce what they considered to be a lewd sermon that was inappropriate for TV.

Satu lg orang kurang waras diorbitkan jadi ustadz2an oleh media absurd @TRANSTV_CORP yg menyulap agama sbg komoditas hiburan hingga kuburan https://t.co/wYoFCBvPw9 — WahhabiCounterCenter (@WahhabiCC) July 17, 2017

One more less-than-sane person being promoted as a cleric by @TransTV_Corp, who have turned religion into a commodity for entertainment and even funerals.

Sy sarankan semua stasiun TV punya Tim yg kuat dan paham agama dlm program dakwah di TV. Ya, agar bisa memilih narasumber dan topik yg baik. — Mahfud MD (@mohmahfudmd) July 17, 2017

(Former Constitutional Court head judge Mahfud MD) I advise all TV stations to have competent teams who have great understanding of religion to be involved in TV sermons. They can choose better speakers and better topics.

In giving his two cents on the controversy, celebrated Islamic scholar Nadirsyah Hosen, better known as Gus Nadir, gave a more appropriate description for Islam’s idea of heaven.

20. Padahal sejatinya surga itu adakah yg tak terbayanhka oleh kata dan mata serta rasa. Beyond our imagination — Nadirsyah Hosen (@na_dirs) July 18, 2017

Heaven is unimaginable by words, eyes, and feelings. It’s beyond our imagination.

Yesterday, Ustadz Syam’s released an apology video in which he admitted that he was wrong to mention sex parties when talking about heaven, and that the fault lies in his lack of knowledge about this particular topic in Islam.

https://twitter.com/RennyFernandez/status/886933025191108608

In addition, netizens also reported Trans TV to the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) for sanctioning, as anything that can be considered suggestive sexual content on TV violates Indonesian broadcasting standards. In a Twitter response, KPI said that they’d review the case on Wednesday.

Aduan bapak dan ibu akan kami bawa ke rapat internal kami pada hari rabu besok.untuk ditindak lanjuti.terima kasih — KPI Pusat (@KPI_Pusat) July 17, 2017

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