Law minister doesn't want any more challenges to state syariah law

 

Law minister Takiyuddin Hassan has said that his party will continue its efforts to harmonise civil law, based on English common law, with Islamic law.

In a statement issued in his capacity as PAS secretary-general, Takiyuddin said following the court ruling that a syariah enactment on unnatural sex was unconstitutional, PAS is urging that no further challenges to state law be mounted.

"Recognising that Malaysia is a country where the majority of the population is of the Islamic faith, PAS will also work to make civil Law (Common Law) in the country in harmony with Syariah Law.”

Takiyuddin said the Federal Court ruling striking down the Selangor enactment should be respected.

He cited that the courts during the British colonial era had upheld the role of syariah law as being part of the law of the land.

"This can be seen in the decision of the case of Ramah binti Ta’at vs Laton binti Malim Sutan decided in 1927 that says ‘the Mohammedan law is not a foreign but local law, that it is the law of the land’.

"Likewise, in the case of Fatimah binti Haris vs Ismail Haji Tahir which was decided in the year 1939, the British Court at the time said ‘that Mohammedan law is a part of the law of Johore’.

"Therefore, PAS calls on all parties to respect this position and not try to take the angle of improper approach by challenging the existing legal aspects of state laws for the purpose of maintaining social, religious and cultural harmony as well as national unity," he added.

He claimed that “if the judiciary decides a case because of public pressure, this will lead to future implications that do not benefit the country”.

A nine-person bench of the Federal Court led by chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat in a unanimous decision on Thursday struck down the provision of the Selangor syariah law that criminalises "unnatural sex".

This was on the grounds that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of federal and not state laws.

The state syariah provision makes it an offence for Muslims in Selangor to perform "sexual intercourse against the order of nature". - Mkini