Malaysia’s main body of Islamic clerics has issued an edict banning tomboys in the Muslim-majority country, ruling that girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam, an official said yesterday.
The National Fatwa Council forbade the practice of girls behaving or dressing like boys during a meeting on Thursday in northern Malaysia, said Harussani Idris Zakaria, the mufti of northern Perak State, who attended the gathering.
Harussani said an increasing number of Malaysian girls behave like tomboys and that some of them engage in homosexuality.
Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said that many young women admired the way men dress, behave and socialize, violating human nature and denying their femininity.
“It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear,” Abdul Shukor was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama.
“[Masculine behavior] becomes clearer when they start to have sex with someone of the same gender, that is woman and woman,” he said.
Male homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia but lawyers say female homosexuality is technically permissible as there are no provisions for it under the law.
Harussani said the ruling was not legally binding because it has not been passed into law, but that tomboys should be banned because their actions are immoral.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a law or not. When it’s wrong, it’s wrong. It is a sin,” Harussani told reporters. “Tomboy [behavior] is forbidden in Islam.”
Under the edict, girls are forbidden to sport short hair and dress or walk and act like boys, Harussani said. Boys should also not act like girls, he said.
“They must respect God. God created them as boys; they must behave like boys. God created them as girls; they must act like girls,” he said.
Husin said the ruling was prompted by recent cases of young women behaving like men and indulging in homosexuality. He did not elaborate.
A well-known Malaysian Muslim actress caused an uproar last year when she shaved her head bald for a film. Harussani and other muftis urged Muslims not to watch the movie, arguing that the actress had violated Islam by making herself look like a man.
It was not immediately clear what kind of punishment awaited those who violate the tomboy fatwa, or edict. Malays generally follow the council’s fatwas out of deference, but violators rarely get into trouble unless the edict is incorporated into national or Shariah law.
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