Malaysia 's opposition Islamic Party (PAS) has backtracked on a controversial ruling banning non-Muslim women from wearing 'sexy' clothes to work in a state it rules, a report said on Thursday.
PAS official Sulaiman Abdullah drew flak from many quarters when he announced about two weeks ago that employers in northeast Terengganu state whose workers were found to be wearing improper attire could be fined up to 250 ringgit ($66) or lose their licences.
Non-Muslim women cannot wear short-sleeved blouses, tight-fitting jeans, long skirts with slits, mini-skirts and figure-hugging or revealing dresses while Muslim women working in the private sector must adhere to the Islamic dress code by wearing headscarves and loose clothes, he said.
But PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang, who is also Terengganu chief minister, was quoted by The Star as saying that local authorities did not pass such a ruling and that Sulaiman's statement was his "personal view."
"Non-Muslims are free to dress according to their religion but they must respect the attire of Muslims. We will motivate and educate Muslim women to wear the headscarf as it is compulsory under Islam," he said.
However, Abdul Hadi warned that the state government may take action against non-Muslims if they were found "dressed indecently to the extent of moral degradation."
The hardline Islamic Party controls Terengganu and neighbouring Kelantan state, or two of the 13 states in multicultural Malaysia , which has large non-Muslim minorities of ethnic Chinese and Indians.