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Malaysia Assures
Muslims Over Sharia`h Courts
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2006-01/15/article03.shtml
Any change in the way the courts handle cases involving
Muslims and non- Muslims will take into account the interests of both
parties, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
It will not erode the status or affect the administration of Syariah in
the country.
"Our principle, in future cases, is to give redress to all parties
involved," he said after opening a course for Umno division secretaries
in Ulu Klang.
"The Prime Minister’s Department is looking into this and we are doing
something that can satisfy all and which does not threaten the
administration of Islamic law."
Najib was commenting on a joint statement by eight Muslim organisations
on Thursday which urged the Government not to amend or repeal Article
121(1A) of the Federal Constitution which deals with the powers of the
civil and Syariah courts.
The organisations, such as the Malaysian Muslim Scholars Association and
the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement, were opposed to amending that
article as it would allow the civil courts to hear cases involving
Syariah. An alternative, they said, was to amend the Constitution to
allow non-Muslims access to the Syariah Court.
Their statement follows several proposals from non-Muslim associations
seeking changes to the article as they claimed it deprived non- Muslims
of their legal rights.
NGOs such as the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism and Sikh- ism, said the Article prevented
non-Muslims embroiled in cases involving Islamic affairs from seeking
legal redress.
This was seen in the tussle between S. Kaliammal and the Federal
Territory Islamic Affairs Council over the religious status of her late
husband M. Moorthy.
The council said Moorthy, a former army commando, had converted to Islam
while Kaliammal sought a declaration that he had remained a practising
Hindu.
The Syariah Court ruled in favour of the council and the widow’s efforts
to obtain relief from the High Court failed when it ruled that civil
courts had no jurisdiction on matters pertaining to Islam
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