KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — Actress Emma Maembong has revealed today that she continues to face insults and mockeries after deciding to return to her original image instead of wearing the tudung, or headscarf earlier this week.
According to the 27-year-old born Fatimah Rohani Ismail, some Malaysians online have left harsh comments on her social media accounts, including wishing hell for her, instead of being civil over her decision to discard the headgear.
“There are those who said I belong in hell and many more. Let the issue of sin be between me and God. My sin with those online, what if I don’t forgive them, how would that be?” she was quoted telling BH Online.
“Maybe they could criticise me with manners, but some chose to write disparaging comments. I see those as cyber bullying.”
Some Muslim women cover their head as the hair is considered “aurat”, referring to the parts of a Muslim woman’s body that must be covered, but the extent of which varies in interpretation according to schools of Islam.
Speaking to Malay Mail in 2016, Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) said the Muslims’ holy book Quran does not specifically mention hair as part of a woman’s “aurat”.
SIS said the interpretation of the “aurat” in Malaysia has become increasingly influenced by Arab culture since the 1980s, noting that most Malay-Muslim women did not wear the tudung during the 1950s and 1960s, including the wife of the then Kelantan mufti and the spouse of Indonesian ulama, Prof Dr Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known as Hamka.
Emma also admitted that she had to close the comment section on posts that involve her own family.
“I won’t close my comment section, but am ready to receive anything people online say,” she reportedly said.
“But some photos that show my family or work affairs, I choose to close the section. They can chide and insult me, but not my family. They’re innocent.”
She also expressed her gratitiude that some fellow artists continue to support her despite not agreeing with her dehijabing, such as Norman Hakim, Datuk Afdlin Shauki, Mimi Ernida, and Heliza Helmi.
The actress announced her decision earlier this week, saying she faced intense criticism even when she decided to start covering up.
