Miss Malaysia represents Malaysia in 1960 until 1961, the Malaysian representatives for Miss International were chosen from closed election in that era until the Miss Malaysia pageant was established in 1963 where the winner will be sent to Miss Universe while the runners-up will go toMiss World and Miss International. The pageant was no longer exist until 1980 because all the three major titles has their own organisation. In 1960 until 1962, Miss Malaysia was wearing "Miss Malaya" sashes in Miss Universe and Miss International. Malaya also had sent delegates for Miss Universe 1957 until 1961 but they were not considered as the winner of Miss Malaysia and their identity remained unknown due to they were not competing in Miss Universe until in 1962, Malaya sent their official delegate for Miss Universe, she is Sarah AlHabshee Abdullah, Miss Malaya/Universe 1962. Malaysia had once withdrew at the Miss Universe 1963.
Participant
Requirements
Requirements for participants in the Miss Malaysia election:
Malaysian citizen, age 17-24, wearing a hijab and not married with a minimum height of 165 cm.
Regional participants must reside or come from the region they represent.
Look attractive / beautiful, smart, and personable.
The fourth title of local pageant will be crowning as Miss Malaysia International since 2017. The winner represents her country at Miss International. On occasion, when the candidate does not qualify for either contest, another girl is sent. Notes: From 1963 until 1983, the second runner-up of Miss Malaysia pageant will competing in Miss International. In 1984, Jennifer was appointed from Miss Malaysia Universe 1983. Malaysia did not present in the 90s due to lack of sponsorship to send the delegates until in 1999, a new organisation took the license for the Miss International pageant. It called Miss Global International Malaysia.
Representative to Miss Earth
Another separate contest called Miss Malaysia Earth selects winners to Miss Earth.
Miss Malaysia states number by Win
Fatwa ruling in Malaysia
In Malaysia, female Muslims were denied participation in beauty pageants following the issue of a fatwa in 1996 by the Mufti of Selangor, Ishak Baharom. The issue came to a nasty twist in July - September 1997 when four Malay participants joined the Miss Malaysian petite contest, only to be arrested by the authorities. In the ensuing public outcry and debate that followed, the effectiveness of the fatwa was shown given the influence of the Selangor's Mufti over the nation's sharia law. The fatwa resonated with the ideology that Muslim women should cover up private parts of their body, or Aurat of which the beauty pageants' practices ran contrary to - even though such religious enactments also apply to male pageants. In Kuala Lumpur on 21 July 2013, the organisers of Miss Malaysia World 2013 were forced to drop four of its Muslim finalists following a fatwa prohibiting Muslim women from joining beauty pageants. According to Wan Zahidi, the fatwa prohibiting Muslim women from joining beauty pageants was issued and gazetted under the Federal Territories Islamic Administration Act in February 1996. In recent years, the National Fatwa Council, the country's highest Islamic body, had also issued rulings forbidding Muslims from using Botox and banned women from exhibiting tomboy behaviour, which it defined as behaving or dressing like men or taking part in lesbian sex. The council came under heavy scrutiny for its proposal to ban yoga after a university lecturer advised people to stop practising it for fear that it could deviate from the teachings of Islam. The move was met with protests from progressive Muslim women's groups like Sisters in Islam who deemed the fatwas regressive while observers claimed it highlighted the worrying trend of overt Islamisation in Malaysia. The four contestants are:
Nevertheless, a public outcry ensued, as members of the public questioned the way the religious authorities handled the matter as well as the abrupt ruling which came about – Muslim women in the past had participated in beauty pageants without much protest amongst the religious authorities. This invoked the concerns of Mahathir's who had raised objections to the way the religious authorities had implemented and enforced the law – and questions including distinctions on religious laws and personal freedom were raised. Nevertheless, the fatwa ruling has since been very effective; Muslim women have since then been deterred from joining any beauty pageants. Malaysian beauty pageants, in compliance with the law, similarly denied Muslim individuals from participating. However, Muslim women may still join smaller scale beauty pageant contests such as Dewi Remaja, Miss Intercontinental, and Miss Tourism, provided that they don't display publicly wearing swimsuits.
