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n a controversial move, clerics in East Java have issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from dying and straightening their hair, and from holding pre-wedding photo sessions.

The edict was endorsed by 250 leaders of Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) in Java and Madura, who convened for a problem-solving forum in Kediri, East Java.

Cleric Darul Azka said Friday that hair straightening was regarded as haram for women because it could lead to immoral acts if the intention was to improve physical appearance.

"In Islam, especially in the study of the kitab kuning *traditional yellow book*, women wearing accessories or changing their hairstyle, in hope of attracting members of the opposite sex, is the same as revealing parts of the body that must not be exposed under Islamic law, or aurat, and this is forbidden," Darul told The Jakarta Post.

The fatwa was issued as the clerics ended the bahtsul masail forum on Thursday, which was held in conjunction with the Lirboyo Islamic boarding school's (Kediri) centennial anniversary. A similar gathering had previously forbidden Facebook.

Darul said a woman was allowed to change her appearance if she intended only to please her husband, and that she must ask for her husbands' consent before changing her appearance.

"So, there should be no excuse for unmarried women to change the shape and color of their hair. This prohibition is also aimed at preventing Western cultures from influencing Muslim youths in Indonesia," Darul said.

Forum spokesman Muhammad Nabiel Haroen said the ulema had also banned women from working as motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers and from being involved in pre-wedding photo sessions because in such circumstances they unmarried but already mingling with men. "Such photo sessions mean eternalizing the vice," he said.

Another preacher, Tohari Muslim, said it was forbidden for women to work as ojek drivers because of the difficulty of eliminating the possibility that immoral acts could be committed under such circumstances, especially if the women were married.

"Just imagine if a female ojek driver carried a male passenger who was not her muhrim, or a close relative who was forbidden to marry but allowed to associate with her. Women are not allowed to become ojek drivers because it would be hard for them to avoid sinful acts and matters that could lead to slander," he said.

Muhammad added that apart from being banned from becoming ojek drivers, women were also prohibited from using ojek motorcycle services, especially on routes that passed through deserted areas.

"It is also haram for women to take ojek because her skin could brush against that of the opposite sex, she could expose her aurat, or be in close proximity to male ojek drivers in deserted places," Muhammad said.

The ulema forum also forbade Muslim artists from playing non-Muslim roles in movies or TV soap operas.