KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 ― Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia (HTM) has applauded the person who started the snowball of criticism against champion gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi for wearing a leotard that showed off her “vagina shape” during the SEA Games, adding that such “haram” sports would be barred under a caliphate.

The local chapter of the international hardline Islamist group also told the authorities to punish Muslim men and women who do not cover their “aurat” in sports, even in events such as swimming, saying it was a religious obligation to do so.

“Praises must be given to the servant of Allah who gave criticism on this issue, although obviously the one who gave the criticism was then criticised by Farah herself and her supporters,” the group said in a post on its website yesterday.

“This is not a question of judging, but the question of preventing wrongdoings because it is an obligation for every Muslim, and for the State it is obligatory to take action through punishments.”

HTM said defenders of Farah Ann proved that some Muslims have been poisoned by ideas of freedom from the West, where winning gold medals and bringing pride to the country is considered more important than covering up.

The group, which wishes to establish an Islamic caliphate in Malaysia, claimed that sports with “haram”, or forbidden elements, will never be allowed in a caliphate, and their athletes will be punished if found to be participating in such sports.

“Muslims are known to participate in ‘sports’ such as archery, horseriding, swimming, swordplay and so on, all of them done within the frame of performing jihad in the path of Allah,” it said, using the Arabic word that means “holy struggle”.

“[They are] not like the sports of these days which bring humans further away from Allah,” it added.

Several Facebook users had last week slammed the 21-year-old Farah Ann on Buletin TV3’s Facebook page after it uploaded a photograph of her in the gymnastics outfit, along with a caption that announced her winning gold in floor exercise in artistic gymnastics.

The woman athlete has since received an outpouring of support, however, from Malaysians who pointed out that the athlete should be celebrated for her performance at the games, which not only saw her take home gold, but three bronze medals and a silver in other individual events.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has since defended Farah Ann, telling detractors that they have no right to judge her attire, and a guidelines for sportswear by the federal Islamic authorities is unnecessary.

Even former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz weighed in on the issue, slamming Farah Ann’s critics for being obsessed with athletes’ body shapes and dressing instead of their performances.