Key Points
- Philip Morris Malaysia Managing Director Naeem Shahab Khan met Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin on September 17.
- The mufti gave a conditional response on when a product could be considered halal but issued no new fatwa covering IQOS or other specific PMI products.
- In March, Philip Morris Malaysia met the Federal Territories Mufti’s Office for discussions involving conventional cigarettes, alternative products and possible Shariah-compliant alternatives.
- Malaysian religious bodies have previously issued prohibitive rulings on smoking and vaping, while Perlis banned e-cigarette and vape sales from August 1, 2025.
2Firsts
September 18, 2026
Philip Morris Malaysia Managing Director Naeem Shahab Khan met Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin on September 17 for discussions involving alternatives to conventional cigarettes, Malaysian health publication CodeBlue reported on September 18.
Economist Muhammed Abdul Khalid also attended the meeting. The Perlis mufti's media team later published photographs and said PMI representatives described the company's move away from conventional cigarette manufacturing toward what they characterized as "safer, cigarette-like products."
Philip Morris International classifies IQOS and other products within its smoke-free portfolio and says they are a better choice than continued smoking, while also stating that they are not risk-free.
Perlis Mufti Gives Conditional Response on Halal Criteria
According to the Perlis mufti's media team, Mohd Asri said a product could be considered halal if it is clean, its side effects are not harmful or can be controlled, and it does not involve excessive waste; otherwise, the opposite would apply.
The remarks did not mention IQOS or any other specific PMI product, and no new product-specific fatwa was issued.
PMI currently markets IQOS heated tobacco products in Malaysia. Company materials show that IQOS was commercialized there in November 2018, making Malaysia the first Southeast Asian market where PMI introduced its tobacco heating system.
Second Public Meeting With a Religious Institution in Six Months
The Perlis meeting was not Philip Morris Malaysia's first publicly reported engagement this year with a Malaysian religious institution over cigarette alternatives.
On March 17, a Philip Morris Malaysia delegation led by Khan visited the Federal Territories Mufti’s Office in Putrajaya. Muhammed Abdul Khalid was also pictured at that meeting.
The office subsequently said discussions included Islamic legal perspectives on conventional cigarettes and alternative products, as well as the possible role of Shariah-compliant alternatives in addressing public-health issues. It also referred to exploring the role of "productive fatwas."
Muhammed was present at both the March and September meetings. CodeBlue said his specific role in the latest Perlis meeting was unclear.
Malaysian religious institutions have previously issued prohibitive rulings on both smoking and vaping. The Federal Territories Mufti’s Office said in March that a national Islamic religious affairs committee ruled smoking haram in 1995 and later ruled e-cigarette and vape use haram in 2015.
Publicly available information does not show that either of this year's meetings has resulted in a new religious ruling specifically covering PMI heated tobacco products.
Perlis Already Has Vape Fatwa and Sales Ban
The Perlis State Fatwa Committee ruled in 2022 that e-cigarette and vape use was prohibited for Muslims, citing health experts' findings that the products cause harm to users and others.
The decision was endorsed by the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council in August 2022. Mohd Asri was among the committee members involved in the ruling.
The Perlis state government later banned the sale of e-cigarettes and vapes, with the restriction taking effect on August 1, 2025.
The published fatwa and sales ban concern e-cigarettes and vapes. PMI's product sold in Malaysia is IQOS, a heated tobacco product.
Malaysia's Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, or Act 852, took effect on October 1, 2024, regulating areas including sales, advertising, packaging and youth access for smoking products.
The latest meeting also drew criticism from tobacco-control advocates. Clinical pharmacist Fahmi Hassan told CodeBlue that the engagement should be viewed against Perlis' earlier fatwa and vape-sales ban and cited Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Article 5.3 requires parties to protect tobacco-control public-health policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. Its implementation guidelines recommend limiting interactions with the industry to those strictly necessary for regulation and ensuring transparency.
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Cover Image: Media Team Dr MAZA / CodeBlue
