A beauty pageant to boost tourism in Malaysia has drawn sharp criticism from leading Islamic parties on Tuesday, January 12, dubbing it as a haram contest that exploit women.

As the Kelantan government prepares to apply hudud law in the north-east Malaysian state, medical specialists involvement in the implementation of the law, such as hand amputation for those convicted of theft, is dividing the country’s medical associations, amid threats of axing doctors who perform them.

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s national fatwa committee has issued a fatwa banning shisha (waterpipe) smoking and forbidding Muslims from providing shisha-smoking services or any related activities. “After listening to the experts from the Health Ministry and scrutinizing medical and scientific evidence from the country and abroad on the ill-effects of shisha, the committee decided to …