Nik Aziz's outlandish edicts

Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s edicts in the 1990s on female appearances reflect the mentality of oppressive worlds.

Azmi Anshar


In the 20 years he has been in power, Pas spiritual leader and Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat has made a series of unusual if not provocative edicts, particularly on how women should dress or behave. But it is his propensity to make them without the blessings of DAP and PKR that had compelled Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to reprimand him. AZMI ANSHAR takes a look at 
Nik Aziz’s pronouncements over the years

SOON after taking over as Kelantan mentri besar in 1990, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat immediately issued a series of public pronouncements, but none more provocative than the ones that seemingly denuded women of their long-held rights to dress, appear and behave as they always had in Malaysia.

Women activists protested hard, smarting from Nik Aziz's divinatory diktats. But in Kelantan, his pronouncements soon morphed into startling statutes severely limiting a woman's statuesque -- no lipstick, no perfume, no showing of hair and no Western-styled dressing. In short, no demonstration of beauty.

At least for Muslim women, no interaction, socially or otherwise even in public places, if the opposite sex is not the immediate family.

The Pas-led Kelantan government soon made the no-interaction decree official when separate gender lines, once the norm in Pas ceramah and assemblies, were instituted at separate check-out lines in supermarkets. (These days, the edict appears to be just in name).

Nik Aziz's rationale harbours on the distress that it does to "pious" Muslim men: they seem to suffer sleepless nights and cannot pray properly, distracted by public feminine flauntings.

He describes the men's dilemma as "emotional abuse", just as disturbing as abuse of children and wives in households but less seen and no less subtle.

For Kelantanese women, Nik Aziz's early-1990s edicts seem incongruous: they have been an accepted fact for generations that Kelantanese Malay women are enterprising, their lot in the trading markets and shophouses dotting the streets of Kota Baru, and running small- and medium-sized companies, a testament to their intelligence and practicality.

The Nik Aziz edicts, however, are in reality the prologue to Pas' zeal to push the Islamic card harder than the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government ever could.

The only ones upset with Pas' steamrolling ways were Muslims in Kelantan. The steadfast Muslims among Umno supporters grudgingly appreciate the legitimacy in what Pas is asserting.

This probably explains why Pas' religious card remains a political dominant in Kelantan, clinging on votes from erstwhile Umno adherents to maintain its electoral grip.

Nonetheless, the non-Muslims are only too happy that the Pas government has not trampled on the rights of their women or to enjoy their favourite brew.

Now, to the dismay of the Chinese community and Pas' political partners, DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), even legalised gambling has been deprived, the justification being that it is enforcement of a longstanding prohibition.

While DAP's Karpal Singh thundered that the ban violated the rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution and laws, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim decided on a little bit of circumspection, issuing a little reprimand to Nik Aziz, urging the menteri besar to at least discuss with the other two parties before embarking on changes to major regulations.

For Nik Aziz, as long as political intrigue and scheming defer to his spiritual terms and reference and that of his hardliners, he will administer things much within his own little spaced-out world, an ambit that is "different" and "above" the inclusiveness of DAP and PKR.

Which makes Anwar's job tougher, especially when his own credibility and numbers are dwindling (poor turnout during his by-election ceramah and Sodomy II trial that party stalwarts were forced to carry out shift duties to rally the troops).

Anwar is the glue that weaves the three parties together and that is the rub: Pas, Nik Aziz by demonstration, seems resentful of that fact, in private at least, because in public, they make a big show of comradeship and togetherness.

Perhaps this is the price the opposition coalition has to pay for remaining reticent to Nik Aziz's somewhat obsession at making sexist edicts. Will Nik Aziz be the awkward free spirit who will unglue the partnership?

Nik Aziz's edicts in the 1990s on female appearances reflect the mentality of oppressive worlds where women play secondary and subservient, even slavish, roles.

While Muslim women have, by peer pressure or by their own code of modesty, already begun wearing headscarves by the droves and worn less revealing clothing, following the government's Islamisation process from the mid-1980s, their sensibilities would not allow them to give up their savvy fashion sense, cosmetics and, most importantly, right to upward mobility and breaking the glass ceiling to become social, corporate and political leaders.

In doing so, women in Malaysia have also become leaders of men, many of whom have readily accepted the subordinate role but some of whom despise it.

After the March 8, 2008 electoral gains, women -- to the horror of some -- are playing a bigger role.

So, how does Nik Aziz deal with Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail or other DAP and PKR women leaders who sit and stand equidistantly with the other men in Pas without Nik Aziz tripping on his female chastity-designed edicts?

Conversely, the 80-year-old Pas spiritual guru may think that women in Malaysia have overstepped their ascendancy, more after getting a handful of criticism that branded him as a "cult leader" similar to renegade cult leader Ayah Pin, no less from a woman.

In doing so, Farahana Jamaludin, director of the relatively-new outfit Malaysian Malays Network, unnerved and ignited the fury of the male-dominated Pas legionnaires who lambasted her perhaps more venomously than had she been a man.

Notably, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad blasted Nik Aziz in three postings in his popular Che Det blog for spiritual hypocrisy.

Such is the venom against her "impudence" that she has received the ultimate accolade -- the Facebook profile "Farahana Jamaludin Wajib Minta Maaf Dengan Tok Guru Nik Aziz", dedicated to the demand that she must apologise to Nik Aziz.

After all those years of dictating a women's fortitude, the Pas legionnaires, in deifying Nik Aziz as pure and virtuous despite his obvious sputtering ways, cannot accept that the spiritual leader is humanly liable for criticisms, more so if the disparagement comes from a woman.

Twenty years on, Nik Aziz and his fanatical followers may still privately hold views that a woman cannot be allowed to govern or lead, much less dress or behave in the Malaysian way.

However, it seems that this kind of thinking is, providentially, confined to his Kelantan enclave because in the national platform, it has no bearing and is somewhat irrelevant and politically incorrect.

Once Pas pitted women as leaders in successfully fielding Dr Lo' Lo' Ghazali at the Titiwangsa parliamentary constituency in the 2008 general election and Normala Sudirman, who lost to BN in the Jan 27 Tenang by-election, Nik Aziz may be seen as licking his own spittle.

Of course, the irony would be that there is an exception to his edict: a woman leader is acceptable as long as she is an equal political partner who can help leverage Pas' electoral ambitions.

That is telling of Nik Aziz's chameleonic stand on securing political advantages, which means underneath the mullah garment is an astute politician who, wherever it is possible, still understands political machinations even if it means violating the grain of his sermons.

mishar@nst.com.my

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