PETALING JAYA, Aug 2 — Islam is not about banning sports, PAS lawmaker Mohamed Hanipa Maidin (picture) said in the wake of a brewing storm over Muslim women who display their bodies or aurat in competitive events.
The Sepang MP also urged the authorities to engage in dialogue with sports organisers before deciding to ban Muslim women from certain events that reveal their aurat following the National Fatwa Council’s proposal to so at their meeting in September.
“We have to be very slow in issuing a fatwa,” Hanipa told The Malay Mail Online following debate on whether Muslim women should be barred from taking part in competitive sporting events like swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
“Any sports involving Muslim aurat is against Islamic teaching but it does not mean Islam bans the sport per se,” he added in a recent text message.
Conservative Islamic scholars adhere to a strict dress code for Muslims, forbidding them from displaying certain parts of their body, or aurat, in public.
For women, this includes the hair and most of the rest of her body while for men, it is generally from the navel to the knees.
Other Muslim scholars preach a more pragmatic approach on the application of Islamic law on a person’s dress code.
Hanipa said Muslim women who participate in sports competition should have the chance to cover their aurat by dressing for the occasion in accordance with Islamic teaching before being summarily being forced to quit such games.
“Rather than issuing fatwa it is more prudent to have [an] engagement or dialogue with the organiser,” said the PAS central committee member.
The fatwa on sports was triggered by a similar Islamic edict to bar Muslim women from beauty pageants that reignited an outcry over the Miss Malaysia World 2013 contest recently.
The news of a possible ban on Muslim women athletes has sparked an uproar among sports officials with some arguing that such a move would “kill” the only few sporting events in which Malaysia excel.
Others have pointed out that a fatwa against Muslim women in gymnastics and swimming could lead to future bans in other sporting events.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin gave his assurance earlier this week that the federal government will not agree to such a fatwa.
“I don’t think this is a good idea at all. Sporting competitions are different from beauty contests. I would object to any banning of sporting events,” Khairy told The Malay Mail Online.
Khairy’s position on the matter could also highlight the concerns raised by a Muslim women group over the binding powers of such fatwa.
Sisters In Islam (SIS) had recently suggested for fatwas to be deliberated by a legislative body before they are made binding on Muslims after it deemed the current procedure “un-Islamic and undemocratic”.
It condemned the dropping of four Muslim candidates from the Miss Malaysia World 2013 contest because they purportedly violated a 1996 fatwa, which deems Muslim participation in beauty pageants sinful.
Their disqualification, the group said, raises concerns on the “over-reach” of a religious edict or fatwa beyond their original intent.
It further said its greatest concern was on the automatic enforcement of fatwa as law without being subjected to stringent scrutiny by a legislative body like Parliament or a state assembly.
After a fatwa is approved by a state executive council and a Sultan, the edict only needs to be gazetted before it is enforced into a religious law.
“It is not tabled for debate in the legislative body Any violation of the fatwa is a criminal offence. Any effort to dispute or to give an opinion contrary to the fatwa is also a criminal offence.
“Such provisions have no basis in the Quran and historical practices of Islam and violate several articles in the Federal Constitution,” SIS said.
