Sound Yerag: Between Entertainment And Fatwa Haram

Residents prepared the urek Carnival screen equipment accompanied by sound horeg equipment in Urek-Urek Village, Gondanglegi District, Malang Regency, East Java, Saturday (12/7/2025). (ANTARA/Irfan Sumanjaya/wpa)

JAKARTA Horeg sound activities are still pros and cons in society. Recently, the East Java Regional Police (Polda) issued a ban on holding sound horeg or entertainment activities with jumbo loudspeakers being paraded using mobile trucks.

The East Java Regional Police's decision to ban the implementation of sound horeg after the police received a number of complaints about voices from loudspeakers that were considered disturbing.

However, the Head of Public Relations of the East Java Police, Senior Commissioner Jules Abraham Abast, stated that the ban was still in the form of an appeal. There is no certainty whether there will be sanctions for those who continue to hold sound horeg.

This ban also emerged just weeks after the East Java Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) officially banned the sound of the horeg. The fatwa with Number 1 of 2025 came out after the East Java MUI assessed that these activities had more bad impacts than benefits.

Head of the MUI Fatwa Division, Asrorun Niam Sholeh, said that the fatwa, please apply to the sound of horeg with excessive noise intensity that involves elements of community affairs such as indecent dancing or alcohol consumption.

"The fatwa is contextual for the benefit of the benefit," said Niam.

The phenomenon of using a large audio system that produces very loud and shaking sounds or commonly called SOUND horeg continues to be a public concern. Sound horeg is often used in informal events such as celebrations, parades, or carnivals.

Although some people call sound horeg as entertainment, not a few parties are against it and judge that this activity is more detrimental. In some cases, there are public facilities such as the bridge or gate barrier wall that must be torn down by residents so that the sound horegar truck can pass.

Not to mention the complaints of the sound of the fire that damaged people's houses due to the heavy noise produced.

Not only destroying houses or other objects around, the sound of the horeg is also said to be disturbing health. Muhammadiyah University of Surabaya academics Gina Noor Djalilah said that the sound level produced by the sound station horeg could reach 120 to 135 detices (dB). Whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends noise levels of no more than 70 dB. Exposure above 85 dB is already at risk of damaging if exposed for a long time.

Therefore, when the East Java MUI issued a fatwa on haram and the East Java Regional Police prohibited the implementation of the sound horeg, the decision was greeted enthusiastically by some people.

Criminal law observer Farizal Pranata Bahri positively welcomed the haram fatwa and the prohibition from the East Java Regional Police against the use of sound horeg. According to him, many residents' activities that are disrupted due to the noise caused have an impact on community activities to become unproductive.

Farizal assessed that the haram fatwa also reflects the principle of justice to the community.

"Because it is fair to the community, it must arise from the comfort that results from the ban on the sound, so that people are not disturbed by the existence of sound horeg," Farizal told VOI.

Similarly, a legal observer from the Kiai Haji State Islamic University, Achmad Siddiq Jember, Achmad Hasan Basri, emphasized that the haram fatwa against the sound of the horeg is a real example of the law that lives and grows from social, moral, and religious values of society.

"This is a manifestation of a responsive law that is in line with the principle of social justice: maintaining a balance between individual rights and collective interests," he explained.

Regarding the disturbance or damage caused by the sound of horegArizal, the organizers can also be subject to Article 172 because they disturb public order.

Dan, bisa juga didugat perdata dengan perbuatan melawan tidak hukum apabila ditemukan akibat sound horegini menimbulkan gangguan tertentu. Misalnya, akibat dari sound horegternya ada menyebabkan kerusakan pendengaran atau meninggal akibat terkejut, Farizal menjelaskan.

However, it is undeniable that the sound of the horeg has fans who are no less big. Moreover, this event is also considered a local tradition combined with the latest musical trends. Thus, the holding of the sound of the horeg is also considered a cultural celebration.

For this reason, Farizal encourages the importance of stakeholders sitting together to make special regulations regarding the mechanism for organizing the sound of the fire department not disturbing public order.

Meanwhile, the sociologist from Universitas Brawijaya I Wayan Suyadnya views the haram fatwa as a form of community resistance who are concerned about horeg music but are suppressed in order to avoid conflict.

For I Wayan Suyadnya, local governments should make regulations related to the sound of the horeg. For example, about what kind of loudspeakers are allowed to be on the streets and their limits.

He said regional heads sometimes do not take any action to follow the majority vote. I Wayan gave an example of a change in the attitude of the Regent of Pati who circulated a circular containing a ban on the use of sound engines during the carnival on May 25.

However, the decision was later disallowed and the regent allowed the use of the sound horeg but within certain limits so that his voice did not cause any damage.

"The goal is to reorganize, so that the community's need for fresh entertainment is also met. But on the other hand, they do not violate ethics and do not disturb the peace of the citizens," concluded I Wayan.