KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Non-Muslims should be allowed to practise Islamic law as the religion welcomes everyone, former Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (picture) has said, adding his voice to a recent court ruling that appears to be raising a rumble among Malaysia’s biggest faith group.
In a landmark decision last month, the Court of Appeal ruled that Victoria Jayaseelee Martin had the right to be a syarie lawyer and that the Federal Territories Islamic Council (MAIWP) had acted beyond its powers when it rejected her application to be one just because she is not Muslim.
“Non-Muslims should be allowed to practise as syariah lawyers because Islam is for all — Muslims and non-Muslims,” Asri told The Malay Mail Online in a recent exclusive interview.
The popular Islamic scholar said that no complications should arise with the inclusion of non-Muslim syarie lawyers, pointing out that they would still be subject to the rules of the syariah court.
“What complications are there?” Asri asked.
“I don’t believe in the British courts, but I can still be found in contempt of court,” he said, by way of an example.
The university lecturer in Islamic studies said that all syarie lawyers, whether they were Muslim or non-Muslim, would be guided by the written law.
Datuk Wira Abu Samah Nordin, who had chaired the three-judge panel in the Court of Appeal, was reported to have said that section 59 (1) of the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 clearly stated that “any person” with sufficient knowledge in Islamic law may be appointed as a syariah law practitioner.
“If the intention is to prohibit non-Muslims from appearing in a syariah court, it should be expressly stated in the legislation,” the judge was quoted as saying by daily New Straits Times in delivering the decision.
Minister in charge of Islamic affairs Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom has however voiced uneasiness over the ruling, saying that having non-Muslim syarie lawyers could pose complications.
“The reality is, if there is contempt of court, it will lead to difficult implications because the syariah court cannot discuss cases involving non-Muslims,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said on July 1.
The Court of Appeal has allowed a stay of execution of its ruling pending the Federal Territories Religious Council’s bid to challenge its decision in the Federal Court.
Victoria had filed a judicial review application in 2010 and sought an order to compel the council to allow her to practise syariah law here.
