The
government, at the creation of the MUI stated three broad goals for the MUI: • Strengthening religion in the way the
Pancasila describes to ensure national resilience. • Participation of the Ulama in national development. • The maintenance of harmony between the different
religions in Indonesia. Beside the three goals, nonetheless, there were two specific agendas of MUI's establishment. First, it aimed to help Suharto in communism repudiation. Second, it was an umbrella organization for political Islam canalization. Since the collapse of Suharto's regime in 1998, MUI has changed its approach in the state-religion relationship by envisioning a more active role to protect Muslim's interests while started a new position as a critical partner of the Indonesian government. The MUI, thus, acts as an interface between the
Indonesian government and the Islamic communities. The changes in civil society after the fall of Suharto have both widened the role of the MUI and made it more complex. The MUI gives fatwas to the Islamic community; through this they dictate the general direction of Islamic life in Indonesia. Fatwa (or plural form
Fatawa) represents Muslim's ethical response, legal interpretation, and contextual feedback on a particular social issue(s). The MUI (particularly since
the fall of Suharto) have given opinion and issued fatwas on a large variety of issues, from the role of the
Indonesian Army in government to the public acceptability of the dancing of pop star
Inul Daratista to the (sin of)
deliberately burning forests to clear the land for growing crops. An important function of MUI is to provide
halal fatwa for products (including but not limited to foods, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and clothing). ==List of chairmen==