The Johor fatwa on Kuda Kepang performances has been in place since 2009 but has yet to be gazetted, as the state government prefers an educational approach over punitive enforcement, said Johor Mufti Yahya Ahmad.

He said the edict was refined in 2013 and further strengthened in 2019, but its formal adoption has been delayed to allow time for public understanding of the distinction between cultural expressions permitted in Islam and those that are not.