SHAH ALAM, Jan 25 — The Shariah High Court today allowed three Islamic entities to file preliminary objections to Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia’s (HTM) application for judicial review of a Selangor Fatwa.
The three are Selangor Mufti Datuk Seri Mohd Tamyes Abd Wahid, Selangor Fatwa committee and the state’s Islamic Religious Department (Jais) were represented by lawyer Wan Aiza Wan Abdullah.
The pro-Caliphate movement’s spokesman, Abdul Hakim Othman, said one of the grounds raised by the respondents is the court has no power to hear the case.
“Among other reasons are Mufti doesn’t have locus standi and Fatwa Committee has no legal entity, so both cannot be the respondents for this case,” he said.
Last month, another respondent, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) also sought to set aside the application by claiming that Abdul Hakim has no legal standing to file the action as a representative of an unregistered group.
Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, who represented Mais, said while the Shah Alam Shariah High Court has jurisdiction, it cannot hear and decide the judicial review because the fatwa that declared Hizbut Tahrir as “deviant” was decreed before the amendment of the Administration of Islamic Law Enactment.
The court fixed February 24 for all respondents to file the preliminary objection, and March 24 for Hizbut Tahrir to respond.
Hizbut Tahrir had filed the judicial review last year, seeking for the fatwa to be retracted, among others.
The group also sought for the Selangor Mufti and Selangor Fatwa Committee to publish a public apology to the group in the country's main newspapers and other publications that had published the edict, which was gazetted on September 17, 2015.
