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Miss Morality Should Replace Miss Universe
additional reporting by Megahed Meliguy
CAIRO, May 6 (IslamOnline) - A leading Muslim scholar has called on Muslim countries to organize a "Miss Morality" competition to offset the increasing interest by Muslim nations in Western-styled beauty contests.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh Mohammed Farid Wassel, one of Sunni Islam's most prestigious authorities, told an IslamOnline correspondent in Cairo he would support an international competition to find a Miss Morality.
"Instead of Muslim countries racing to hold beauty pageants they ought to hold competitions [to discover] the woman who adheres to righteous principles best," Wassel said.
"This is what the Qur'an [Islam's holy book] encourages Muslims to do - to compete in adhering to good ethics and principles," Wasel said.
"The new Miss Morality would be chosen on the basis of her knowledge in religion and evident good behavior towards others as well as her active participation in useful work to her society."
Wassel's statements came only a few days after a Muslim women's rights group based in the Gulf Arab country of the United Arab Emirates proposed the idea of Miss Morality.
The group said that the competition would not be restricted to Muslim women alone.
Last week, Wassel, who holds no executive power but whose statements are widely heeded by large sectors of Muslims in different parts of the world, rejected a proposal by Egyptian fashion houses, advertisement firms and tourist companies to bid for holding Miss Universe here.
Egyptian tourist and fashion companies say that holding the annual event in Egypt, a major tourist destination, was likely to raise Egypt's international profile and attract more tourists to the foreign-currency starved nation.
Other Islamic scholars in other parts of the world have seconded Wassel's fatwa (religious edict).
Wassel described the beauty contest as "an attempt to make women in general, and Muslim women in particular, a cheap product that has no aim but to arouse men."
This year's Miss Universe is being held on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico with pop sensation Ricky Martin performing at the show during the pageant's 50th anniversary celebrations.
Some 85 countries have sent contestants including Muslim countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria and Turkey.
The local "bathing beauty" competition spearheaded by Catalina Swimwear in Long Beach, California, 50 years ago quickly metamorphosed into an international annual event with young women from around the world vying to become Miss Universe.
Finalists are chosen through a swimsuit competition with each delegate wearing one of a variety of swimsuit styles provided by a sponsor and the evening gown competition with each wearing a gown she has chosen herself.
Big fashion and cosmetics houses like Clairol, Bikini.com and Sacha Cosmetics often sponsor the ceremony.
Many Muslim countries have caught the fever.
Egypt, for one, held its Miss Egypt finals last month, but the show drew fire from conservative quarters of the country at al-Azhar University - Sunni Islam's seat of learning.
Several members of parliament also questioned government officials over the show and said it was a ticket to "permissiveness" in Egypt because Islam, the country's main religion, strongly opposes all forms of nudity.
Muslim women are often expected to cover their bodies from head to toe except for their faces and hands.
Wassel said beauty pageants in Egypt did not comply with the country's constitution. "The country's constitution stipulates that Islamic Sharia' [law] is a primary source for legislation," Wassel said.
"Such contests violate the Sharia', so we must stop them immediately."
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