Syariah Court rules it has jurisdiction in Asri’s case

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani - The Malaysian Insider

SHAH ALAM, Jan 25 – The Syariah High Court ruled today that the country’s Islamic courts had jurisdiction to hear the case involving Dr Asri Zainul Abdin (pic), in a decision which was criticised by the popular former Perlis Mufti for being “selective.”

Asri’s lawyers had argued previously that the requirement to have a tauliah, or certification from state religious authorities to preach Islam, contradicted his constitutional right of freedom of religion.

They had also argued that his alleged offence of conducting a religious lecture without official certification in Selangor, was not an offence in Islam and that therefore the Syariah Court had no jurisdiction over the matter because it did not involve the “precepts of Islam.”

But the Syariah Court today dismissed Asri’s preliminary objection to the prosecution’s application to review a lower court’s decision rejecting the case from being heard by the Syariah High Court.

Asri, 38, was charged on Nov 18 last year at the Gombak Timur Lower Syariah Court with teaching matters related to Islam without certification by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) under Section 119(1) of the Selangor Islamic Religious Administration Enactment 2003.

The prosecution then applied to have the case transferred to the Syariah High Court, but was rejected, after which it filed a revision application at the Syariah High Court here.

Syarie Judge Mohammed Adib Husain said today that there was no specific legal definition for “precepts” and the court must base its decision on previous rulings.

Mohammed Adib said Section 119(1) of the Selangor Islamic Religious Administration Enactment 2003 was part of the Rukun Islam, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Selangor Syariah Court. He said the provision was also consistent with the Hukum Syarak Islam and did not contradict the Federal Constitution which guaranteed freedom of speech and choice of religion.

“In this case, matters involving Muslims and matters under MAIS have to be discussed within the forum of Islam; the Syariah Court was set up for such purposes,” he said.

“A virtuous akhlaq (moral conduct) is the main objective in Islam. A Muslim will not be able to reach the objective of life without akhlaq. That is why Allah asks Muslims to have good akhlaq.

“Therefore a person who teaches Islam must have a certificate which is not against the Syariah but it was formulated by the authorities to control contradictory teachings from entering and breaking the Muslim community,” Muhammed said.

Mohammed ruled that the case still dealt with Islam even though it was an administrative offence.

“In this case, the issue of teaching without certificate is related to Muslims and those teaching Islam is related to Muslims. Therefore the case must be heard in a forum that deals with issues on Islam,” he said.

Mohammed added that since there are no provisions for section 119 to be heard in a civil court, the case must be held in a Syariah court.

A disappointed Dr Asri later blasted the court’s ruling.

“This is a new interpretation of precept in Islam which was decided by the court. That means that every alleged wrongdoing by a Muslim or Muslim cases must be heard in Syariah court.

“This is because a person who drives through a red light ... it is a question of akhlaq. If a person litters, it is also a question of akhlaq. This means that everything must be discussed in the Syariah court.

“This is a very selective interpretation made,” he told reporters outside the court room here.

He also questioned why other cases were not based on this interpretation of the precepts of Islam. “Littering is a matter of ethics. It must be discussed here (Syariah court). Why is it being heard in a civil court?,” he argued.

The case will continue on March 9.