Malaysia has once again been thrown into a political vortex and the credit this time goes to Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) who have expressed their intention to table a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to provide for the enactment of a Shariah Criminal Offences (hudud) Enactment in Kelantan.
Before we go into the legality of the proposed Hudud Enactment, it is prudent for the position of Islam, vis-à-vis the Federal Constitution (FC) to be clarified and elucidated.
The Malaysian Constitution and the position of Islam
Malaysia is neither a theocratic state nor it is a fully secular state like Turkey or India. I say this because the FC states that Islam is the religion of the Federation (Article 3) and also prohibits the propagation of non-Islamic doctrines amongst Muslims in Malaysia (Article 11(4)). Hence, Islam enjoys a protection within our constitutional framework that other religious groups do not, but it does not in any way place Islam above any other religion because Article 3 provides for an incontrovertible guarantee that “other religions (besides Islam) may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation”.
Our Constitution is secular and the best description of our governance model is one that is secular based. A good example of a theocratic state would be Iran, and the Iranian Constitution of 1979 unambiguously reinforces this. Article 1 of the Iranian Constitution of 1979 states that: “The form of government of Iran is that of an Islamic Republic” while Article 2 explains this to mean, among other things, “the necessity of submission [to Allah]" and the “fundamental role” of “divine revelation” in “setting forth the laws.” Meanwhile, article 56 states that “absolute sovereignty over the world and man belongs to God".
A further example of an Islamic theocratic state is Maldives; in 2008, Maldives adopted a new constitution that states, inter alia, in order to be a citizen of Maldives, one has to profess the religion of Islam (Article 9(d)) and all laws have to be based on Islam and any law that is contrary to any tenet of Islam cannot be enacted in Maldives (Article 10(b)).
Malaysia’s constitution does not have such provisions, hence I am baffled by the attempts of certain quarters who maintain that Malaysia is an Islamic state. A year after Independence, on 1 May 1958, then–Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman clarified this in the Legislative Council, saying, “I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood. We merely provide that Islam shall be the official religion of the state.”
Again on his 80th Birthday, the Tunku reiterated that “the country has a multi-racial population with various beliefs. Malaysia must continue as a secular state with Islam as the official religion”.
Malaysia is a fully functional secular-based constitutional monarchy with Islam as the religion of the Federation. In coming to this assertion, I am aided by the decision of the Supreme Court of Malaysia in the case of Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor (1988), that the term “Islam” in Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution meant “only such acts as relate to rituals and ceremonies… the law in this country is… secular law”.
Secular laws for a multi-religious country
Malaysia enjoys a sterling tradition as a multi-religious country. For centuries Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and others have lived in peace and harmony. However, disputes over the usage of the term “Allah” by Christians to refer to God in the Bahasa Malaysia version of their Bibles and the confiscation of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles in Selangor have indeed put a strain on the strong and durable relationships between the various religious groups in Malaysia.
Our criminal laws and criminal justice system is secular and must remain secular because any attempt to change this would be tantamount to dismembering the basic structure of our constitution. The doctrine of basic structure finds its origins in the Indian Supreme Court decision in the case of Keshvanand Bharti v State of Kerala (1973). The Indian Supreme Court “struck a bridle path by holding that in the exercise of the power conferred by Art 368 (the article that lays down the procedure for amending the Indian Constitution), the Parliament cannot amend the Constitution so as to damage or destroy the basic structure of the Constitution”. Employing the sagacious logic of the Indian Supreme Court, I would argue that the Federal parliament or any State Legislature cannot pass any law that will alter the basic structure of our FC. The Federal Court must also be ready to exercise its powers as the defender of the FC and unwind any attempt to alter the basic structure of our country.
The administration of the criminal justice system and the powers to enactment criminal laws is clearly the purview of the Federal Government (List I, 9th Schedule of the FC). Part 4 (e)(ii) of List 1, 9th Schedule states that:
“Civil and criminal law and procedure and the administration of justice, including –
(e) subject to paragraph (ii), the following:
(i) contract; partnership, agency and other special contracts; master and servant; inns and inn-keepers; actionable wrongs; property and its transfer and hypothecation, except land; bona vacantia; equity and trusts; marriage, divorce and legitimacy; married women’s property and status; interpretation of federal law; negotiable instruments; statutory declarations; arbitration; mercantile law; registration of businesses and business names; age of majority; infants and minors; adoption; succession, testate and intestate; probate and letters of administration; bankruptcy and insolvency; oaths and affirmations; limitation; reciprocal enforcement of judgments and orders; the law of evidence;
(ii) the matters mentioned in paragraph (i) do not include Islamic personal law relating to marriage, divorce, guardianship, maintenance, adoption, legitimacy, family law, gifts or succession, testate and intestate.”
Hence no state can pass any criminal laws because the constitution does not allow it even if it is a set of Islamic criminal laws and there must always be uniformity of laws. Article 75 of the FC unambiguously states that in the event there is any conflict between a federal and state law, federal law will prevail.
Hudud is also inconstant with Article 8 of the FC, the equality article, because we cannot have Muslims subjected to one form of punishment and non-Muslims subject to another form of punishment. In the case of hudud, those convicted of theft will have their limbs amputated but under our present, secular, criminal justice system, those convicted of theft will have to serve a custodial sentence.
Furthermore, how will the authorities seek to investigate and charge a suspect when there are two sets of criminal laws when the assailant is a Muslim and the victim a non-Muslim or vice versa? Non-Muslims by law do not have to appear before any Shariah court because it has no jurisdictions over non-Muslims. These sticky jurisdictional issues must be also factored into consideration to avoid a repeat the legal imbroglio that has followed the amendment to Article 121 of the FC.
While some have argued that hudud an entity of Islam and should hence come under the State’s List (List II, 9th Schedule), it is important to note that the State’s List grants powers to State Legislatures to enact laws: “1. Except with respect to the Federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Islamic law and personal and family law of persons professing the religion of Islam, including the Islamic law relating to succession, testate and intestate, betrothal, marriage, divorce, dower, maintenance, adoption, legitimacy, guardianship, gifts, partitions and non-charitable trusts; wakafs and the definition and regulation of charitable and religious trusts, the appointment of trustees and the incorporation of persons in respect of Islamic religious and charitable endowments, institutions, trusts, charities and charitable institutions operating wholly within the State; Malay customs; Zakat, Fitrah and Baitulmal or similar Islamic religious revenue; mosques or any Islamic public place of worship, creation and punishment of offences by persons professing the religion of Islam against precepts of that religion, except in regard to matters included in the Federal List; the constitution, organisation and procedure of Syariah courts, which shall have jurisdiction only over persons professing the religion of Islam and in respect only of any of the matters included in this paragraph, but shall not have jurisdiction in respect of offences except in so far as conferred by federal law; the control of propagating doctrines and beliefs among persons professing the religion of Islam; the determination of matters of Islamic law and doctrine and Malay custom.” Hence, there is no provision for any enactment of criminal laws, whether Islamic or otherwise, by any state legislature because the administration of the criminal justice system is part of the Federal List.
Conclusion
I have no intention of wading into the beliefs of any religion – every religion possess its own system of laws in varying degrees – but as a matter of principle and to safeguard the supremacy and integrity of the Federal Constitution, we must strive to defend our secular nature.
Any form of theocratic criminal law is anathema to our long-standing tradition of religious harmony given the significant number of issues that already seek to divide us, and to further divide us on the basis of religion will be the most painful of all. I would dare say that an unbridled push for hudud may even lead to the balkanisation of Malaysia on the basis of religious lines.
All politicians must think and act as Malaysians, with the welfare of all Malaysians on their mind and oppose any attempt to enact hudud laws. I am proud that my party has made a clear and unequivocal stand on the matter. We are not opposed to any religion but we are compelled to defend the integrity of the Federal Constitution and our diverse way of life. It also does not augur well for the resounding minority in this country if the majority imposes their way on life on them, whether directly or indirectly. – April 30, 2014.
* Ivanpal Singh Grewal is the executive director of SEDAR Institute and a member of the Youth Central Committee, Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
Before we go into the legality of the proposed Hudud Enactment, it is prudent for the position of Islam, vis-à-vis the Federal Constitution (FC) to be clarified and elucidated.
The Malaysian Constitution and the position of Islam
Malaysia is neither a theocratic state nor it is a fully secular state like Turkey or India. I say this because the FC states that Islam is the religion of the Federation (Article 3) and also prohibits the propagation of non-Islamic doctrines amongst Muslims in Malaysia (Article 11(4)). Hence, Islam enjoys a protection within our constitutional framework that other religious groups do not, but it does not in any way place Islam above any other religion because Article 3 provides for an incontrovertible guarantee that “other religions (besides Islam) may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation”.
Our Constitution is secular and the best description of our governance model is one that is secular based. A good example of a theocratic state would be Iran, and the Iranian Constitution of 1979 unambiguously reinforces this. Article 1 of the Iranian Constitution of 1979 states that: “The form of government of Iran is that of an Islamic Republic” while Article 2 explains this to mean, among other things, “the necessity of submission [to Allah]" and the “fundamental role” of “divine revelation” in “setting forth the laws.” Meanwhile, article 56 states that “absolute sovereignty over the world and man belongs to God".
A further example of an Islamic theocratic state is Maldives; in 2008, Maldives adopted a new constitution that states, inter alia, in order to be a citizen of Maldives, one has to profess the religion of Islam (Article 9(d)) and all laws have to be based on Islam and any law that is contrary to any tenet of Islam cannot be enacted in Maldives (Article 10(b)).
Malaysia’s constitution does not have such provisions, hence I am baffled by the attempts of certain quarters who maintain that Malaysia is an Islamic state. A year after Independence, on 1 May 1958, then–Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman clarified this in the Legislative Council, saying, “I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood. We merely provide that Islam shall be the official religion of the state.”
Again on his 80th Birthday, the Tunku reiterated that “the country has a multi-racial population with various beliefs. Malaysia must continue as a secular state with Islam as the official religion”.
Malaysia is a fully functional secular-based constitutional monarchy with Islam as the religion of the Federation. In coming to this assertion, I am aided by the decision of the Supreme Court of Malaysia in the case of Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor (1988), that the term “Islam” in Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution meant “only such acts as relate to rituals and ceremonies… the law in this country is… secular law”.
Secular laws for a multi-religious country
Malaysia enjoys a sterling tradition as a multi-religious country. For centuries Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and others have lived in peace and harmony. However, disputes over the usage of the term “Allah” by Christians to refer to God in the Bahasa Malaysia version of their Bibles and the confiscation of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles in Selangor have indeed put a strain on the strong and durable relationships between the various religious groups in Malaysia.
Our criminal laws and criminal justice system is secular and must remain secular because any attempt to change this would be tantamount to dismembering the basic structure of our constitution. The doctrine of basic structure finds its origins in the Indian Supreme Court decision in the case of Keshvanand Bharti v State of Kerala (1973). The Indian Supreme Court “struck a bridle path by holding that in the exercise of the power conferred by Art 368 (the article that lays down the procedure for amending the Indian Constitution), the Parliament cannot amend the Constitution so as to damage or destroy the basic structure of the Constitution”. Employing the sagacious logic of the Indian Supreme Court, I would argue that the Federal parliament or any State Legislature cannot pass any law that will alter the basic structure of our FC. The Federal Court must also be ready to exercise its powers as the defender of the FC and unwind any attempt to alter the basic structure of our country.
The administration of the criminal justice system and the powers to enactment criminal laws is clearly the purview of the Federal Government (List I, 9th Schedule of the FC). Part 4 (e)(ii) of List 1, 9th Schedule states that:
“Civil and criminal law and procedure and the administration of justice, including –
(e) subject to paragraph (ii), the following:
(i) contract; partnership, agency and other special contracts; master and servant; inns and inn-keepers; actionable wrongs; property and its transfer and hypothecation, except land; bona vacantia; equity and trusts; marriage, divorce and legitimacy; married women’s property and status; interpretation of federal law; negotiable instruments; statutory declarations; arbitration; mercantile law; registration of businesses and business names; age of majority; infants and minors; adoption; succession, testate and intestate; probate and letters of administration; bankruptcy and insolvency; oaths and affirmations; limitation; reciprocal enforcement of judgments and orders; the law of evidence;
(ii) the matters mentioned in paragraph (i) do not include Islamic personal law relating to marriage, divorce, guardianship, maintenance, adoption, legitimacy, family law, gifts or succession, testate and intestate.”
Hence no state can pass any criminal laws because the constitution does not allow it even if it is a set of Islamic criminal laws and there must always be uniformity of laws. Article 75 of the FC unambiguously states that in the event there is any conflict between a federal and state law, federal law will prevail.
Hudud is also inconstant with Article 8 of the FC, the equality article, because we cannot have Muslims subjected to one form of punishment and non-Muslims subject to another form of punishment. In the case of hudud, those convicted of theft will have their limbs amputated but under our present, secular, criminal justice system, those convicted of theft will have to serve a custodial sentence.
Furthermore, how will the authorities seek to investigate and charge a suspect when there are two sets of criminal laws when the assailant is a Muslim and the victim a non-Muslim or vice versa? Non-Muslims by law do not have to appear before any Shariah court because it has no jurisdictions over non-Muslims. These sticky jurisdictional issues must be also factored into consideration to avoid a repeat the legal imbroglio that has followed the amendment to Article 121 of the FC.
While some have argued that hudud an entity of Islam and should hence come under the State’s List (List II, 9th Schedule), it is important to note that the State’s List grants powers to State Legislatures to enact laws: “1. Except with respect to the Federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Islamic law and personal and family law of persons professing the religion of Islam, including the Islamic law relating to succession, testate and intestate, betrothal, marriage, divorce, dower, maintenance, adoption, legitimacy, guardianship, gifts, partitions and non-charitable trusts; wakafs and the definition and regulation of charitable and religious trusts, the appointment of trustees and the incorporation of persons in respect of Islamic religious and charitable endowments, institutions, trusts, charities and charitable institutions operating wholly within the State; Malay customs; Zakat, Fitrah and Baitulmal or similar Islamic religious revenue; mosques or any Islamic public place of worship, creation and punishment of offences by persons professing the religion of Islam against precepts of that religion, except in regard to matters included in the Federal List; the constitution, organisation and procedure of Syariah courts, which shall have jurisdiction only over persons professing the religion of Islam and in respect only of any of the matters included in this paragraph, but shall not have jurisdiction in respect of offences except in so far as conferred by federal law; the control of propagating doctrines and beliefs among persons professing the religion of Islam; the determination of matters of Islamic law and doctrine and Malay custom.” Hence, there is no provision for any enactment of criminal laws, whether Islamic or otherwise, by any state legislature because the administration of the criminal justice system is part of the Federal List.
Conclusion
I have no intention of wading into the beliefs of any religion – every religion possess its own system of laws in varying degrees – but as a matter of principle and to safeguard the supremacy and integrity of the Federal Constitution, we must strive to defend our secular nature.
Any form of theocratic criminal law is anathema to our long-standing tradition of religious harmony given the significant number of issues that already seek to divide us, and to further divide us on the basis of religion will be the most painful of all. I would dare say that an unbridled push for hudud may even lead to the balkanisation of Malaysia on the basis of religious lines.
All politicians must think and act as Malaysians, with the welfare of all Malaysians on their mind and oppose any attempt to enact hudud laws. I am proud that my party has made a clear and unequivocal stand on the matter. We are not opposed to any religion but we are compelled to defend the integrity of the Federal Constitution and our diverse way of life. It also does not augur well for the resounding minority in this country if the majority imposes their way on life on them, whether directly or indirectly. – April 30, 2014.
* Ivanpal Singh Grewal is the executive director of SEDAR Institute and a member of the Youth Central Committee, Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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