KUALA LUMPUR (Islam-Online) – Women’s dress code and the enforcing of the rules guiding women on how to dress themselves in public has been in the lime-light recently in the two northern states run by the main Islamic party of Malaysia, PAS.
Slowly drifting away from the federal government, the Islamic party is certainly causing jitters in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, where the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad does not impose a dress code for Muslim women.
The Terengganu PAS Government yesterday announced that Muslim women in the state would soon be required to wear headscarves. This was announced by Awang Jusoh, the chairman of a committee called Women and Non-Muslim Affairs Committee.
Jusoh said Muslim women would also be required to wear clothes that covered any part of the body deemed as alluring under Islam as part of the dress code. The ruling, however, makes exception for the hands and faces, which are not to be covered if the women decide against it.
This move by the Islamic government in Terengganu is far apart from all other states, except Kelantan, which is also run by Islamists. In other states, women are free to wear what they want. In Kuala Lumpur, Johore Bahru and Penang, some Muslim women are seen wearing a feat of colorful traditional Malay dresses with headscarves while the rest wear very revealing western dresses that expose flesh.
In Kuala Lumpur the variety goes to such an extent that young Malay girls wear skimpy shirts and tight sexy v-shirts which are definitely not allowed in public in Islam. The Islamists in both Kelantan and Terengganu swore to their supporters and voters that in these two states women will have to adopt a strict dress code, and thus are carrying out a campaign promise.
If in Terengganu the government is yet to disclose how it plans to make the code compulsory, in Kelantan there is a blueprint in use and it will surely be the basis for the other state government to follow.
The Islamists insist that the dress code would cover all Muslim women in both private and public sectors. Awang also said he would meet business operators including supermarket owners to seek their cooperation in encouraging their female workers to wear scarves. All heads of government departments would be briefed to do the same.
In the meantime, Kelantan is showing that women's dress codes are to be followed strictly and has gone on a checking spree recently. It was reported that 23 Muslim women had been fined up to 250 Malaysian Ringits each for not wearing the headscarves while working in the state of Kelantan. The women had committed the offense at several food stalls and video outlets in the town center, Kubang Kerian and the Sultan Mohamed IV Stadium.
The state is run by Ulema’ chief Nik Aziz Nik Mat, chief minister and spiritual leader of PAS.
"The action taken is to remind everyone that Islamic dress code rules are still being enforced in the state," said Ahmad Yakob, an executive council member of the northeastern state's government.
In Kota Baru, capital city of Kelantan, PAS officials said the headscarf was to preserve the modesty of Muslim women and prevent vice. The ruling did not apply to women who did not work, adding that “they were free to wear whatever they wanted as long as it was not too provocative." Yet headscarves are a prerequisite at workplaces.
The ruling did not apply to non-Muslim women. However Kelantan bars non-Muslim female workers from wearing mini-skirts or dresses that expose their figures.
"We have had no complaints from the people so far," a PAS official said, adding that "After all, what we are doing is merely asking the public to dress responsibly." No non-Muslim had flouted the ruling, according to official records.
The dress code was one of several measures introduced by PAS to implement an Islamic administration in Kelantan. Local authorities also banned unisex hairdressing salons and massage parlors.
Supermarkets have had to create separate counters for men and women. There are separate seating arrangements for all public functions.
Asked whether tourists would have to dress accordingly, Awang Jusoh, in Terengganu, said the regulation would only apply to Muslim women in the state. He added that in the first stage of implementation, the state government would educate Muslim women about the move.
The proposed regulations will be similar to those introduced by Kelantan in 1995. The ruling, which carries a maximum fine of 250 Ringits, applies to workers both in the government and private sectors.
These rulings contrasts wildly to those in Selangor, for example, where Mahathir insisted that young Malay women could participate in beauty pageants wearing almost nothing (bikinis) since Malaysia was living in a different age from that of the early stages of Islam in Arabia.
A few years ago Malaysia was rocked by a scandal when three young Muslim Malay girls were arrested by local police for their participation in a pageant. They wore bikinis and danced in front of a crowd of rich ethnic Chinese businessmen.
The Mufti of Selangor, Ishok Baharom, called on the authorities to arrest and fine the girls but was later criticized by Mahathir for intervening in the day-to-day running of the affairs of the state.
The Mufti was forced to resign from his post after the Sultan of Selangor, Abdul Aziz Shah, gave his entire support to Mahathir and after a cabinet ruling that the Mufti should not interfere in such matters.
