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5 August 2017
Islam encroaches on rule of law in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR • Last week, the Malaysian administration’s actions revealed not just a growing religious conservatism, but a will to ignore the rule of (secular) law in order to pursue it.
In a space of 24 hours, two agencies under the Home Ministry made clear that the government will impose its strict version of Islam on the country, despite advocating a modern, moderate approach to an international audience. Breaking The Silence: Voices Of Moderation – Islam In A Constitutional Democracy, a book written by the country’s prominent Muslim intellectuals, was banned last Thursday – despite being on the shelves for more than a year – for being “prejudicial to public order”. The next day, the National Registration Department (NRD) said it would ignore a court order allowing Muslim children conceived out of wedlock to take their biological father’s name, preferring instead to adhere to religious edicts – that say all such children should be surnamed “bin or binti Abdullah” – issued by the National Fatwa Committee in 1981 and 2003.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi backed the NRD’s stance, deepening concerns over the influence of Islamic conservatism on the government.
“Muslims must unite and agree that Islam must be respected and that we do not want any decisions made by the National Fatwa Committee to be challenged by anyone, whether an individual or a different legal system outside of the fatwa committee,” said Datuk Seri Zahid, who is also Home Minister.
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The NRD’s decision is the most blatant among government agencies that seem increasingly empowered to ignore legal imperatives on the grounds of religion. It may be that they are encouraged by the importance the government places on its Islamic Development Department, which…should be given more than its current annual budget of RM800 million (S$254 million) to protect Islam from “extremist ideology” such as liberalism, pluralism, and the threat of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lifestyle.
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In this context, the book ban drips with irony, as the 21 essays in it by esteemed intellectuals – including Prof Shad – and former premier Abdullah Badawi’s foreword, examine the reach of Islam in government. It was Tun Abdullah, prime minister from 2003 to 2009, who got the ball rolling on moderate Islam, and his successor Datuk Seri Najib Razak picked it up and ran with it, gaining international praise for his Global Movement of Moderates platform to combat religious extremism.
Critics are calling the ban an attack on free speech that suppresses discussion on an Islamised bureaucracy. Such a discussion is essential in a multiracial country that is governed by both secular and religious law. And it is a discussion that has become even more crucial with the NRD’s decision to disregard a court order.
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Instead, it would appear that rule of law in Malaysia is bound by political expediency.
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http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/islam-encroaches-on-rule-of-law-in-malaysia
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weehingthong 