Confusion over Muslim men wearing silk

A Malaysian conservative group has insisted that Muslim men wearing silk was a "sign of the apocalypse".

This has prompted a call yesterday for religious authorities to study whether to impose a fatwa on the fabric, a report said.

A Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia activist told reporters on Thursday that silk was forbidden for men, citing Islamic literature that describes prophet Muhammad as taking that stance.

An official with Perkasa, a Malay non-governmental organisation, waded in, saying the country's National Fatwa Council needed to dispel "confusion" over the issue.

"Right now, we don't know what to do, what can we wear? We have to clear this matter up quick," Mr Irwan Fahmi Ideris, Perkasa's youth chief, told the Malay Mail Online.