A Qualitative Review On ‘Awrah Issue of Muslim Women Athlete In Malaysia

Abstract

Sharī‘ah law has provided a specific ruling upon legal attire that requires every Muslim to cover their ‘awrah. The restriction of disclosing ‘awrah can be derived from the Qur’an and practices of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Nevertheless, covering ‘awrah is not an easy task for every Muslim, women in particular, when it comes to sports activities or competitions involvement. The reason is that several events require the athletes to wear non-Sharī‘ah compliant attire that goes against the basis of ‘awrah regulation. To address this challenge, Malaysian authorities actively participated in formulating standardized guidelines for their guidance. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore the current guidelines and assess how their implementation influences the commitment of Muslim women athletes to adhere to Shari‘ah law during their engagement in sports activities. This study employs qualitative methods involving observation and document analysis. It identifies a conflict between the dress code of Muslim athletes and the necessity to adhere to the 'awrah regulation outlined in both the Qur’an and al-Sunnah. Consequently, the study aims to propose recommendations for enhancing existing guidelines in alignment with Shari’ah principles.