Muftis miffed by bald actress.

Sharifah and her dad

It's unIslamic. And sinful.

An award-winning Malaysian actress who shaved her head for a film role has attracted criticism from influential muftis who say her act is unIslamic and sinful, a report said Thursday. Sharifah Amani Syed Zainal Rashid, 21, drew widespread shock and interest after she went bald Tuesday, with photos of her splashed across the front pages of Malay-language newspapers a day later. But muftis in the conservative Muslim country have called on authorities to issue guidelines to prevent Malay Muslim artistes, especially actresses, from extreme behavior or dressing, the New Straits Times reported. "Unlike Muslim men, going bald for women is forbidden in Islam. It is sinful for men to act or behave like a woman and vice versa," the mufti of central Selangor state, Mohamad Tamyis Abdul Majid, was quoted as saying.

The mufti of northern Perak state, Harussani Idris, said Muslim artistes were becoming increasingly daring and warned them against being influenced by the actions of their foreign counterparts. "As Muslims, we should not sacrifice our religion for the sake of wanting to be popular," Harussani was quoted as saying. "I have been observing that nowadays our artistes are becoming too open and daring, either in their actions or attire," he said. "It is only appropriate for the relevant authorities such as the information ministry to introduce regulations to make them toe the line."

A well-known actress, Sharifah Amani is featured in current perfume advertisements with her long, straight hair. She shaved her head for a role in a movie by critically-acclaimed Malaysian independent filmmaker, Yasmin Ahmad.

Yasmin's first and best known film, Sepet, broke social taboos by depicting an inter-racial romance between a Muslim Malay girl, also played by Sharifah Amani, and a Chinese boy. The film was attacked by film industry leaders, who said the movie threatened Malay Muslim culture and could corrupt Muslim audiences.

Commenting on her decision to go bald, Sharifah Amani was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times Wednesday: "I have no regrets. My hair will grow back."

On a personal note: I curse the ignorant mufti and all that he stands for. My soul sister and my sister in law are both bald because of their chemo treatments. My former best friend, the witchy woman immortalized in Lois honey, is that you? was bald. I say let's wrap his ass in a niqab and make him stand in the damn hot corner on one leg. In heels. And control top panty hose.

Paging Alec Baldwin. Paging Alec Baldwin.

While daddy dearest Alec is turning his back on his daughter, Ireland, his stellar Hollywood career and is championing his book on Father's Rights perhaps he can ponder this?

From deseretnews.com: Many Muslim men become deadbeats

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Many Malaysian Muslim men who divorce their wives are ignoring their responsibility to provide for their children because the Islamic legal system fails to punish them, a women's rights group says.

Sisters In Islam said women who were unable to get their ex-husbands to pay child support comprised nearly one-third of the 214 complaints it received in the first three months of 2007, adding that those cases constitute "only a small fraction of what is happening."

"Mothers are forced to beg from their children's fathers so that their children have sufficient food, clothing, shelter and education," the group said in an April 21 statement.

Sisters In Islam said Malaysia's Muslim women are suffering a lack of legal protection in a wide range of issues such as polygamy, where men who take multiple wives sometimes neglect the economic and emotional welfare of their families. Some Muslims interpret Islamic teaching as allowing a man to marry up to four women.

The Islamic Shariah Court is the legal authority in disputes involving families, morality and religion for Muslims, who form nearly 60 percent of the 26 million people in Malaysia, which has Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities.

In other Baldwin family news: Actor Daniel Baldwin Cleared of Car Theft.