According to The Star (24 October 2008), the National Fatwa Council has a fatwa issued against tomboyism -
KOTA BARU: The National Fatwa Council has ruled that tomboyism, where a girl behaves or dresses in a boyish manner, is forbidden in Islam.
Its chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said the decision was prompted by recent developments as there had been cases of young women inclined to behave like men and indulging in homosexuality.
Parents must stop their children from indulging in disruptive activities that are against Islamic teachings, he told reporters here yesterday. - Bernama
According to The Associated Press:
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — 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 Friday.
The National Fatwa Council forbade the practice of girls behaving or dressing like boys during a meeting 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. Homosexuality is not explicitly banned in Malaysia, but it is effectively illegal under a law that prohibits sex acts “against the order of nature.”
Harussani said the council’s 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 The Associated Press. “Tomboy (behavior) is forbidden in Islam.”
Under the edict, girls are forbidden to sport short hair and dress, 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.
Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said the ruling was prompted by recent cases of young women behaving like men and indulging in homosexuality, according to the national news agency Bernama. He did not elaborate.
Malaysian media have reported on recent incidents of school bullying among girls, which have been caught on film and circulated on the Internet. In one film, some girls are seen beating up another girl in a bathroom.
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.
“Muallaf,” or “the convert,” is scheduled for release in Singapore next month, but no date has been set for its release in Malaysia.
Muslims make up some 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people, and are subject to Islamic laws and the council’s edicts, even if the rulings have not been enshrined in national or Shariah law.
It was not immediately clear what kind of punishment awaited those who violate the tomboy edict, or “fatwa.” 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.
From The Associated Press as well:
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — One of Malaysia’s highest Islamic bodies has banned females from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex, saying it was forbidden by the religion.
The National Fatwa Council late Thursday issued its ruling following a two-day meeting that discussed recent cases of young women apparently behaving like men and exhibiting homosexual tendencies, state news agency Bernama reported.
Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin told Bernama many young women admired the way men dress, behave and socialise, 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.
“(Masculine behaviour) becomes clearer when they start to have sex with someone of the same gender, that is woman and woman,” he said.
“In view of this, the National Fatwa Council which met today have decided and taken the stand that such acts are forbidden and banned,” he said.
Male homosexuality, considered against the order of nature, is illegal in Malaysia but lawyers say female homosexuality is technically permissible as there are no provisions for it under the law.
The Fatwa Council does not have jurisdiction in civil law, but the ruling appears to be an attempt to push female homosexuality towards illegality.
Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, where more than 60 percent of its 27 million people are Muslim Malays who practice a conservative brand of the religion.
A fatwa is religious opinion on Islamic Law issued by a recognised Islamic scholar/organization, in line with relevant legal proofs and based on interpretations of Quranic verses and hadiths. For more information on how fatwas are processed by the National Fatwa Council in Malaysia, please see the e-Fatwa portal.
Tilted World says: We believe that no one, not even the state or any religious institution, has the right to decide how an individual should manage his/her own body and persona, or regulate mutually consensual acts, as long as it does not interfere with the well-being of others. We strongly disagree with the National Fatwa Council’s action to decree an edict to regulate the dressing/mannerisms of our women, and relationships between consenting adults.
Here are a few articles/letters pertaining to this issue:
Fatwa dalam Pembangunan Masyarakat, by Shanon Shah, The Nut Graph (3rd November)
Fatwa on Football? by G.Krishnan, Malaysia Today (30th October)
Tomboys, Yoga…What Next? by Marina Mahathir, (29th October)
Just Live and Let Live, by Hafiz Noor Shams, Malaysia Today (28th October)
Tha National Fatwa Council: “Tomboyism” Not allowed, KLue Blog, (24th October)
October 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am
this is bloody ridiculous. they are done with gays and transsexuals so they are moving on to tomboys and lesbians.
this is just another way for them to hold on whatever little “power” that they still have. this is a humyn rights issue. no one should be prosecuted for being who they are. sexual orientation more than a choice is something that you are born with. something biological.
http://mockmeat.wordpress.com/
October 25th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
What the… I think Malaysia is degressing instead progressing. Sigh…
October 26th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Muslim women (especially Malay women) in this country have been oppressed silently in this country for decades, and this new fatwa ruling, is A MAJOR PERSECUTION AGAINST MUSLIM WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY! It’s a violation against human rights. Nobody has the right to tell a person how to behave, what to wear etc, as long as they are not committing any crime or causing any harm to others.
Please, do write to the National Fatwa Council ASAP, and to Suhakam and all the other Human Rights Society.
October 26th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
it’s unfortunate that you are all not muslims and hence, i take, understand little of the religion. i am muslim. i am a lesbian. and no, i dont feel opressed by the religion. may be the ones in power tries to be controlling, but the religion has its rules and reasons for it.
please try to respect other’s beliefs.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
“please try to respect other’s beliefs.”
Pamina, actually we do respect other people’s believes. The issue here is with certain people who use religion to discriminate. You may not feel opressed yet, but many already do like the Muslim transsexual females, transgenders and gays. I would not be surprised if Muslim transsexual males, tomboys and lesbians are next. We just need to make sure that people who take religion as an excuse for prejudice be held accountable for their words and actions, and no one’s existence is rejected in Malaysia.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:19 am
sighs i saw this in the papers… this is sad as it will only deepen the misunderstanding and even hate towards homo/transexuals in malaysia. when will we ever achieve the freedom and acceptance for these people like in the US and UK???
October 29th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
ohoooo welcome to “holy CLUB of Islam”.
Today my religion Islam is followed as a religion of restrictions.
We must bear in mind that, a person’s religion is not just an outward obedience to rules n regulations, but also an inward, existential acceptance of them. The objective of Muslims collectively must be to allow each to grow individually stronger in faith, NOT to force a hollow compliance on a hypocritical society.
November 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
tiltedworld, u guys shud make a forum, it will be cool ..
June 29th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
it is maybe something to do with restriction. but people! do take note,this fatwa is only for those who are bound to islamic world. i am a muslim. i do agree with this fatwa. anyway, the fatwa is right. muslims should know how those people in the age of ignorance(jahiliyyah era) behaved like. this tomboy especially from muslims, must aware of their actions. after all, this fatwa is not yet become a law in Malaysia. so, people of non-muslim, please just dont be so annoyed upon this fatwa. (verse in AL-QURAN said, fatwa that has been made by jurists is all for goodness and always right.)
June 29th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
fify fifah,
The assumption that the state of being “tomboy”, or “lesbian” is an action is ridiculous. Gender roles are an identity, and has nothing to do with behaviour. Lesbians for example, can be butch, femme, boyish, girlish etc.
You cited:
“fatwa that has been made by jurists is all for goodness and always right.”
Jurists are human, and what is good and what is right is subjective to every individual, and whatever “moral” reasoning these “jurists” give must be under scrutiny, especially when it persecutes a segment of people for simply existing and being. Attempting to police a female’s gender role is tantamount to dehumanizing lesbians and tomboys, and at worse it wrongly champions one class of gender and/or sexual orientation above all else.
And your tacit implication that lesbians and tomboys “behaved” like the ignorant ages cannot be more incorrect. Especially when there are no verses in the Quran that is against lesbians. Even the closest, about a person not being allowed to look and touch another of the same gender, can be used to actually demand for unisex toilets, and persecution of doctors who treat patients who happen to be the same sex as them, by that logic.
All in all, the word “homosexual” in its truest meaning (same sex attraction), has never appeared in the Quran. All the “clobber verses” that is misused to blame homosexuals, relates to sex, sex, and more sex. By that is it not heterosexuals that should be under more intense scrutiny?
Especially when heterosexuals commit sodomy more so than homosexuals, and lesbians hardly commit sodomy, at all? Is heterosexism, that tolerable?
July 13th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
what the… tomboyism and lesbianism r totally different.. homosexuality occur only due to our homonal changes and imbalances.. these people are mad.. moreover .. when we hav the glorious quran … our prophets preahing.. and islm.. y do we need these fatwas .. most of the fatwas r not recommended in the islamic law.. and they r not given by intellectual people which they claim to be.. my beloved people follow our islam and quran thats all it is needed to be the perfect muslims.. no need of these stupid fatwas.. hope u understand..
August 5th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
maybe im a bit to late .. but let me share you all the story of my live .. im from JB , im 22 , im muslim and ive been recognize as pengkid .. well , its ok , even i hate when people keep calling me pengkid , fag , or keep bullying my mental because all i knew since i was kid is , i am a man .. a man that i should be .. i hate when my mother keep told me whenever i cut my hair short that its ” tak bagos ! kau bukan jantan ! ape nak jadi dengan kau ni ! .. yups , i heard that sentence for almost all my life , but i keep going on ..
For god sake , i almost vomit myself whenever i heard people keep telling me ” Allah dah tentukan apa yang terbaik .. Allah takkan menduga hambanya kalau dia tahu hambanya takkan dapat menanggung bebannya ” Im not hating my religions , im just had enough of it .. i would not like to take it anymore ..
I believed , believed with all my heart that I NEVER ASKED TO BE TESTED LIKE THIS .. I NEVER ASKED TO BE THIS FAG .. I NEVER ASKED TO MY DEAREST GOD TO BORN THIS WAY .. and im sure , i never ever ASKED TO BORN TO THIS WORLD ..
Stop hating me for what im not asked to be .. For my mom , my dad , my family , stop cursing me for what i am ! Technically i comes from your genes , so your genes make me like this , not me doing this to me ! fuckkkk