After SIS’s fatwa challenge, Isma presses government to enshrine Islam in law

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — Putrajaya must move to ensure Islam and its laws are beyond dispute, conservative Muslim group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) said today, after non-governmental organisation Sisters in Islam (SIS) won leave for a judicial review against a fatwa.

Commenting on the development, Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman urged the federal government to pay heed and review the current “confusion” and contradiction between the civil and Shariah legal systems.

“This is related to the stability of the country,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted today, saying failure to address the issue could jeopardise Malaysia’s stability and ambitions to become a developed nation.

“The government must find a strong loophole to ensure that Islam’s position, as the religion of the federation, is applied to the country’s legal system.”

Explaining the jurisdictional clash was unhealthy for Malaysia, Abdullah said the apparent “dualism” in the two legal systems would cause continued anxiety and dissatisfaction.

“On the one hand, there is Shariah law...and on the other hand, there is space to challenge through the civil courts,” he said, referring to the example of SIS’s judicial review bid against a fatwa in the civil courts.

Saying that Malaysia is an Islamic country, Abdullah insisted that nobody should be allowed to contest the position of Islam and, by extension, its laws.

Earlier today, the High Court here granted SIS leave for a judicial review of a gazetted fatwa in Selangor labelling the organisation as “deviants” in Islam.

SIS named the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais), its fatwa committee, and the Selangor government as respondents.

The fatwa by Mais, gazetted on July 31, 2014, singled out SIS by name, in addition to “any individuals, organisations or institutions” that professes “liberalism or religious pluralism” as “deviants”.

It also deemed any publications with elements of liberalism and religious pluralism as haram, or prohibited, and can be seized by religious authorities.

Fatwas are religious edicts issued by Islamic clerics on a multitude of issues. Although these are advisory in nature, Malaysia occasionally gazettes some into law.

In addition, the fatwa urged local Internet regulator, the Malaysian Commission of Multimedia and Communications (MCMC), to block “any social websites” opposed to Islamic teachings and laws.