Newlyweds ‘unboxing’ trend akin to selling your wife, says Perlis Mufti

KANGAR: The trend of “unboxing” wives practised by newlyweds, which involves recording the groom helping the bride to remove her hijab and later uploading it on social media, is akin to “menjual bini” (selling your wife), says Perlis Mufti.

Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said the advancement in technology has led people to expose themselves that reflects their pride and arrogance.

He said this need to flaunt their possessions has made them susceptible to trends such as the “unboxing” trend just to collect “likes” on social media.

"Revealing your wives for the public to see and just for the sake of creating a trend is too much,” he told Bernama.

He said that according to a hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari, the Prophet (PBUH) said do not touch a woman and do not look at another woman, and then telling the husband about her attributes is the same as her husband actually seeing the woman.

"The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) prohibited a woman to talk about another woman's body to her husband because it will increase her husband's desire towards the other woman,” he added.

Meanwhile, a civil servant, Norhafizah Saad, 48, said the action was considered impolite because a wife's modesty was for the husband and not for others to see.

"There is no need to share what we have with everyone even if the original intention was just to share the joy of the moment but in the end, the action is seen as if he was selling the wife,” she added.

Meanwhile, in GEORGE TOWN, Penang Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor said the newly married couples who did the unboxing trend had lost their sense of shame.

He said such actions seemed to show that Muslims did not emphasise the sense of shame which Islam attached great importance to.

"I am very saddened by the actions of husbands and wives who imitate the trend, and this shows that more and more Malay Muslims in the country have lost their sense of shame, which Islam attaches great importance to.

"The sense of shame, according to some hadiths of the Prophet, is considered as the key to heaven. This quality is also a pillar of admirable morals that can preserve the faith of a Muslim and prevent one from committing sins," he said in a statement. - Bernama