KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — Malaysians need not listen to strange or confusing “fatwas” from preachers, Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said today after a video purportedly prohibiting Muslim women getting their hair cut by non-Muslims resurfaced on social media.
The deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic matters gave a reminder that only state muftis who are appointed by their respective state Rulers are authorised to issue fatwas and urged against spreading assertions made by other preachers that will only cause confusion.
“There are those who become famous via reality television shows who have become brave to publish their own rules.
“After the launderette issue, there is an issue purportedly that it is haram to get a haircut with non-Muslims, until it caused polemic in the society,” he said in a Facebook post.
The deputy minister was referring to a 2015 video of Penang-based religious preacher, Shahul Hamid Seeni Muhammad, warning Muslim women not to frequent non-Muslim hair salons, which was widely shared on the internet again recently.
In a separate Facebook post, Federal Territories Mufti Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri also weighed in on the latest controversy and stressed that Islam today does not ban Muslim women from having their hair cut by non-Muslims.
He added that his office has explained the matter before that there are differing opinions among Islamic scholars on this subject and that there is no specific rule banning such practices.
