The syariah-compliant bodybuilding competition organised in Kelantan is a development in the sport that should be emulated, says Universiti Islam Antarabangsa lecturer Maszlee Malik.

Maszlee, who lectures in Islamic jurisprudence, said the Kelantan government made a "ground-breaking move" when it introduced the 'Mr Awang Selamat' bodybuilding competition on Aug 27.

"Before this, the sport has been known as a commercially-driven sport, where participants have to display their aurat. But the Kelantan government has managed to change this perception.

"It is something creative and should be emulated in the other states," Maszlee (photo) told Malaysiakini.

'Aurat' refers to parts of the body that Muslims cannot show to those they are married to, except in mitigating circumstances, such as for medical procedures and during emergencies.

It is generally accepted that a male Muslim's aurat is between his belly button and knees, while a female Muslim's aurat is everything but her face and the palms of her hands.

The 'Mr Awang Selamat' competition caused controversy on the social media for claiming to be syariah compliant.

Participants of the competition are required to wear trousers and also to wrap a piece of cloth around their hips and wear a headgear akin to that worn by traditional Malay silat practitioners.

Conventionally, bodybuilders in competition wear revealing attire to show as much of their bodies as possible.

Maszlee said the move to organise 'Mr Awang Selamat' hits three objectives.

"Firstly, from the sporting and commercial side, secondly from the cultural side through the traditional attire, which covers the aurat, and the third is from the health perspective, where it encourages a healthy lifestyle," he said.

However, he admitted that there are differing opinions on whether what is essentially a beauty competition is permissible in Islam.

"But other sports too have elements of displaying physiques, albeit in an indirect manner," Maszlee said.

Meanwhile, the press secretary to the Kelantan menteri besar, Mohd Asri Mat Daud, said the 'Mr Awang Selamat' competition is one of the Visit Kelantan 2016 tourism products.

"Mr Awang Selamat is something new in the sport. It is syariah compliant and only in Kelantan," Mohd Asri wrote in Facebook.