Khalwat among teens tops list of Kelantan syariah arrests, cross-dressing records 24 cases

 

Kelantan’s religious authorities recorded 2,135 arrests for offences under Islamic law over three years, from 2023 to 2025, with khalwat (close proximity), particularly among teenagers, accounting for the lion’s share at 1,446 cases.

The figures also included 21 cases involving men posing as women and three involving women posing as men.

The PAS-governed state has one of the more extensive state-level Islamic criminal law frameworks in Malaysia, covering morality, public conduct, and religious obligations offences. The laws, however, apply only to Muslims.

The legal framework has undergone significant changes in recent years. In February 2024, the Federal Court struck down 16 provisions of the state’s 2019 Syariah Criminal Code Enactment, prompting the state government to formulate replacement legislation.

In August this year, the Kelantan state assembly passed the Syariah Criminal Offences Bill 2026, introducing provisions covering matters such as gender expression, dress codes, and religious observance.

According to Bernama, state Islamic Development, Dakwah, Information and Public Relations executive councillor Asri Mat Daud said the arrest figures were based on enforcement operations conducted by the Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department’s Syariah Law Enforcement Division.

Kelantan Islamic Development, Dakwah, Information and Public Relations executive councillor Asri Mat Daud

He said the other offences included 435 cases involving indecent behaviour or speech, 84 cases of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, 55 cases of exposing the aurat (parts of the body that must be covered under Islamic teachings) in public places, and 25 cases of failing to observe the sanctity of Ramadan.

“(There were also) three cases involving promoting vice, while 63 cases involved various other offences.

“Of the total cases recorded, khalwat involving teenagers was the most prevalent offence during the period,” he said.

Khalwat generally refers to a Muslim man or woman being found in a secluded place or house with a person of the opposite sex who is neither their spouse nor a close family member, under circumstances that may give rise to suspicion of immoral conduct.

Asri was responding to a question from Pakatan Harapan assemblyperson Dr Hafidzah Mustakim on the number of arrests for syariah offences during the Kelantan state assembly sitting today.

On Feb 9, 2024, a nine-member Federal Court bench chaired by then chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat ruled in favour of lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter, Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Tengku Abdul Rahman, who had challenged the constitutionality of 18 syariah criminal provisions in Kelantan’s Syariah Criminal Code (I) Enactment 2019.

The Federal Court ruled that the Kelantan legislature had exceeded its lawmaking powers under the Federal Constitution. However, the ruling was confined to the specific provisions challenged and did not invalidate the state’s entire syariah criminal law framework. - Mkini