Don: Syariah favours the rich and politically powerful

Syariah laws in the country discriminate against women and “favour the rich and powerful”, said a panellist at a women’s forum on the subject.

National University of Singapore Professor Maznah Mohamad dropped the bombshell at yesterday’s open forum entitled ‘Equality in the Muslim Marriage: Challenges and Possibilities’ organised by Muslim NGO Sisters in Islam (SIS).

While explaining that women faced difficulties in obtaining compensation after divorce under the syariah law, Maznah said this is particularly true for former spouses of the powerful.

To back her claims, she cited three cases where syariah “did not fulfill the end of the bargain” that included cases involving ex-wife of Sarawak chief minister’s son Mahmud Abu Bekir, Shanaz A Majid, and Kinabatangan MP Bung Mokhtar .

Shanaz has claimed RM100 million in compensation and RM300 million in division of assets when Bekir divorced her in May 11, 2011. She has yet to receive compensation.

BN parliamentarian Bung Mokhtar on the other hand, took on a second wife [without notifying] the syariah court. He was fined RM1,000, sentenced to jail for one-month and eventually the marriage was declared valid.

The third case Maznah described as similar to Shanaz’s was reported in Singapore’s Straits Times in 1998, and she believed it was not reported in Malaysia. 

However, she declined to name the Malaysian minister involved, saying the details could be found in the papers.

“They (syariah court) are not showing themselves as credible as an institution for justice,” she exclaimed.

Institution for justice falls short
 
Of the two other panellists who spoke at the forum, Iranian legal anthropologist Ziba Mir-Hosseini drew on the Quran to help the audience understand that the concept of men being protectors does not equate male dominance over women in marriage.

Her interpretation set the forum’s tone and context on which her fellow panellists based their presentations.

SIS executive director Ratna Osman, the third speaker, elaborated on how the amendments to Malaysia’s Islamic Family Law in 1984 had simultaneously eroded the sanctity of marriage and women’s rights.

The Islamic Family Law, once regarded as one of the most progressive family laws in the Muslim world, now allows men to seek polygamy and divorce easily.

Ratna’s spirited presentation sparked gasps of horror or laughter at appropriate intervals as she provided illustrations to underscore her points.

Thunderous applause marked the end of the forum with the audience taking a while to digest the information before posing questions during the question-and-answer session.

Many in the audience, comprising NGO representatives, students and Muslims from abroad, were interested in knowing more about SIS’s efforts and the challenges it faces in educating Muslim women on their rights.