Federal Territories mufti Datuk Seri Zulkifli Mohamad has requested for a ‘tea session’ with transgender cosmetics millionaire Safiey Ilias. — Picture via Intagram/Safiey Ilias94

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — In an “open letter” yesterday, Federal Territories mufti Datuk Seri Zulkifli Mohamad has requested for a “tea session” with transgender cosmetics millionaire Safiey Ilias.

This comes as Zulkifli said his office received several of photos of her, which he said he could not ascertain as true or not — likely referring to Safiey’s photo in a two-piece bikini, in addition to others posted on her Instagram account.

“I don’t know whether this opportunity is suitable or not. But I humbly invite you to the mufti office for us to exchange views, share feelings, and maybe there is a perspective that I can help for our common good,” he said.

In the open letter, the mufti had used the male pronoun “saudara” in Malay language to describe the trans woman.

In 2016, Safiey had announced that she would continue as a trans woman after a brief stint living in her biological male identity.

She had then said on top of the insults she had still received while trying to live as a man, she missed her life as a transgender where she felt empowered.

Previously, she had used the name “Sofea” as a trans woman, but she now keeps the “Safiey” name she used to adopt while living as a man, and usually refers to herself with the name “Syinta”.

“When you announced to ‘change’, I was among the individuals that was the happiest with that decision. What is sure, it must have made your parents happy,” said the mufti.

“But, the sea is not always peaceful. I understand and follow the series of pressure that you receive in your effort to remain with a ‘new image’,” he added.

Last year, Zulkifli had said religious authorities should revisit a fatwa, or edict, declaring transgenderism as un-Islamic, claiming the phenomenon is not inherently wrong.

Zulkifli’s “open letter” recalled a federal Islamic enforcer who had “invited” popular cosmetics entrepreneur Nur Sajat Kamaruzzaman last year for a meeting, saying he wished to “know her better” amid public speculation over her gender.

In an open letter on his Facebook profile, Mohd Izwan Md Yusof from Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) had then said the agency is always open to help and advise on “identity and gender confusion” through what he called the Islamic perspective.