Muhammad Sajad, better known as Nur Sajat, runs a succesful business selling ladies products.
The videos prompted an angry reaction from social media users which led to the mufti of Perlis, Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, to chide critics of Nur Sajat who had condemned the entrepreneur.
He said Nur Sajat’s action in wearing female-like clothing was wrong in Islam, but Muslims should counsel Nur Sajat. The mufti said he was disappointed by certain people who said Nur Sajat was cursed by God. It was not an apt action in Islam, the mufti said.
The mufti of Kelantan, Mohamad Shukri Mohamad, said the worship of a ‘transgender’ Muslim remained valid, even though the individual had changed his or her physical form.
However, he said Islam prohibited ‘tasyabbuh’ (vagueness) as it involved many factors, especially in relation to worship.
“What is important is that the ‘transgender’ individual must be careful and interact only with those of his or her original gender (while in the mosque).
Nur Sajat’s action also attracted the attention of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mujahid Yusof Rawa, who said Sajat had marred the image of Islam and potentially affected relations between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
“We feel regret because (Sajat) has marred the image of Islam as a person who is a man, which is stated so in the identification card,” Mujahid was reported as saying.
Mujahid said he was made to understand that Sajat boarded the plane for the umrah dressed as a man but donned the telekung after arriving in Mecca. There are also pictures of Sajat wearing a purdah, which covers every part of the face except the eyes.
The minister said he would wait for more information before deciding on any action against Sajat.
The travel company which Sajat engaged for the trip said they had already instructed that Sajat’s group be taken out of Mecca and Sajat was no longer in the holy city.
A spokesperson for the company was reported as saying that Sajat would be asked to apologise for the controversy.
The Federal Territory Mufti’s Office is expected to release a statement on Sajad’s alleged use of prayer garb while performing umrah, said the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Fuziah Salleh.
She said she had asked Federal Territories Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri to issue a statement over the matter, as he was deemed better qualified to comment on the matter.