Young and celebrated Muslim cleric Felix Siauw just offended the majority of selfie-loving Indonesians. Siauw, in a series of tweets he posted yesterday, wrote that taking a selfie is considered a sin in Islam.

We were puzzled as to how the harmless act of taking a selfie could be sinful, but Siauw explained it quite succinctly:

3. bila kita selfie, mencari pose terbaik, memilih-memilah, lalu takjub dan kagum dengan diri kita | khawatir itu sudah termasuk UJUB — Felix Siauw (@felixsiauw) January 19, 2015

If we take a selfie, sift through and choose our best pose, and then we’re awed and impressed by our selves – worryingly, that’s called PRIDE

4. bila kita selfie lalu upload di medsos, berharap -desperately- di-komen, di-like, di-view atau apalah | kita sudah masuk perangkap RIYA — Felix Siauw (@felixsiauw) January 19, 2015

If we take a selfie and upload it on social media, desperately hoping for view, likes, comments or whatever – we’ve fallen into the OSTENTATIOUS trap

5. bila kita selfie, lalu merasa lebih keren, eksis, lebih baik dari orang lain | jatuhlah kita pada hal yang paling buruk yaitu TAKABBUR — Felix Siauw (@felixsiauw) January 19, 2015

If we take a selfie and we feel cooler and better than others – we’ve fallen into the worst sin of all, ARROGANCE

9. zaman ini banyak Muslimah tanpa malu selfie, satu foto 9 frame | dengan pose wajah yang -innalillahi-, dimana kemuliaan wanita? — Felix Siauw (@felixsiauw) January 19, 2015

These days many Muslim women take selfies without shame. There are usually nine frames in one photo with facial poses that are just – My Goodness – where’s the purity in women?

In a case of fighting fire with fire, netizens who disagreed with Felix Siauw’s logic fought back by posting their own selfies and memes with the hashtag #Selfie4Siauw. Needless to say, this became a trending topic in Jakarta.

Some even pointed out the cleric’s hypocrisy, as it appeared Felix Siauw judged a selfie contest just this month:

But Felix Siauw quickly clarified that he did not, in fact, judge a selfie contest. He said he gave a lecture to promote another form of selfie, namely self-introspection.

yang perlu informasi, apa sih acara #Selfie by @HijabAlila yang diadakan Desember lalu? | simak 🙂 >> https://t.co/hnuneyHBJd — Felix Siauw (@felixsiauw) January 19, 2015

Do you think Felix Siauw is right in saying taking a selfie is a sin in Islam? Or do you need more convincing to finally throw out that tongsis/selfie stick?

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