PETALING JAYA, July 26 — Four Muslim Miss World Malaysia finalists dropped from the pageant after intervention by Federal Territories Islamic Department (JAWI) may yet return to the contest after reconsideration by the religious enforcers.

Following a meeting with JAWI director Datuk Che Mat Che Ali, pageant organiser Datuk Anna Lim may have won a change of heart from department, The Star reported on its website today.

“The four Muslim girls may have a chance to be called back and participate in Miss Malaysia World 2013,” Lim told the newspaper in a text message.

JAWI also did not rule out the possibility of the return.

“I have not made a decision yet. But I will be announcing the decision to the public sometime next week,” Che Mat was quoted as saying in the report.

The four were dropped from the pageant during the weekend after JAWI spoke out against their presence in the contest.

According to Federal Territories Mufti Datuk Wan Zahidi Wan Teh previously, a fatwa (edict) prohibiting Muslim women from joining beauty pageants was issued and gazetted under the Federal Territories Islamic Administration Act in February 1996.

Besides the disqualification, the quartet are also under investigation by JAWI under section 7 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997 for allegedly insulting Islam by expressing disappointment with the fatwa.

It is unclear how a decision to allow them to rejoin the contest will affect the investigation.

If convicted, the four could each face a fine of up to RM3,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

In recent years, the National Fatwa Council, the country’s highest Islamic body, has also issued rulings forbidding Muslims from using Botox and banned women from exhibiting tomboy behaviour, which it defined as behaving or dressing like men or taking part in lesbian sex.

The council came under heavy scrutiny for its proposal to ban yoga after a university lecturer advised people to stop practising it for fear that it could deviate from the teachings of Islam.

The move was met with protests from progressive Muslim women’s groups like Sisters In Islam who deemed the fatwas regressive while observers claimed it highlighted the worrying trend of overt Islamisation in Malaysia.