KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — A senior member of the Shariah court system has revealed that Shariah court judges are paid no more than mid-level civil servants, despite bearing the burden of having to dispense justice in matters of Islamic family law.

Selangor Shariah Chief Judge Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar said there is a wide disparity between the salaries paid to judges who deal with Islamic jurisprudence compared and civil court judges who handle similar cases.

“A Shariah High Court judge is ranked at Grade LS48, which means they earn at most between RM6,000 and RM7,000. A High Court judge in the civil family court can earn RM40,000,” he told Malay Mail Online when met at his office recently.

Na’im, who assumed his post in November last year, argued that the functions carried out by Shariah High Court judges are no different from those performed by their civil High Court counterparts who preside over cases dealing with family law.

He pointed out that the civil system is structured in a way that High Court judges specialise in specific fields of law, just as how Shariah High Court judges specialise in the field of family law for Muslims.

“Judges in the (civil) matrimonial courts don’t deal with commercial cases, administration or constitutional law because they are specialised.

“I’m not talking about jurisdiction here, I’m talking about workload. They deal with matrimonial issues, divorce, custody... we do the same jobs,” said Na’im, who built his experience as a civil litigation expert before shifting his focus to Shariah law in 1998.

The senior judge acknowledged that no one is forcing Shariah court judges to stay in their jobs if they are unhappy with their pay, but stressed that it should not mean that their salaries remain as they are.

“I firmly believe that if you don’t like it, you should leave the job. If you choose to stay, then it becomes your responsibility to do your job to the best of your ability regardless of the salary.

“But you cannot come and tell us that you pay us less because we do less... I’m not saying pay us such a big amount.

“All we are asking for is a fair wage and at least narrow the (salary) gap,” he said, adding that salaries of all Shariah and civil court judges are paid for by Putrajaya.