“There is no excuse for wearing such uniforms because it means that you as a Muslim idolize symbols from a different religion,” says Datuk Nooh Gadot, the Mufti of Johor.
The Norwegian shirt along with several other national team uniforms, such as Brazil, Portugal, and Serbia are condemned by the Mufti and his fellow leaders, as these nations all have little crosses on their shirts. However, they also encourage a ban of Manchester United (a Malaysian favourite) shirts, because the British club uniform contains a little, horned devil. Any jersey with alcohol promoting logos should also be banned as alcohol is forbidden in Islam.
The Mufti of Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, said that Muslims wearing such football shirts “leads to a path of sin” because displaying the symbol of another faith means the wearer is prioritizing that faith over Islam. These symbols are allegedly an insult to Allah.
“On this matter there is absolutely no compromise in the name of entertainment, fashion or even sports,” Datuk Nooh Gadot concludes.
Fans all over the soccer loving, Muslim nation are not pleased with the Muftis’ advice. On one of the many soccer fan websites, a member writes:
“Soon, they will suggest changing the arithmetic symbols such as “+” and “x”, because these symbols are not halal,” commented on computer on a fans’ website.
Malaysia’s reputation as a moderate and progressive Muslim nation has suffered this year after the firebombing of churches in January and the caning of three Muslim women for adultery in February.
