The Star (17.4.2012) reports as such:
“Future fatwa by Kedah mufti or fatwa committee
cannot be challenged in court
ALOR SETAR: Future fatwa issued
by the Kedah mufti or Fatwa Committee cannot be challenged in court under an
amendment to the Mufti and Fatwa (Kedah Darul Aman) Enactment 2008 passed by
the Kedah State Assembly on Tuesday.
A new section - Section 22A - inserted in the enactment states
that a fatwa decided by the mufti or Fatwa Committee, whether gazetted or not,
cannot be challenged, appealed, reviewed, denied or questioned in any civil
court or syariah court.
The insertion was among the amendments passed unanimously by the
House on Tuesday.
In tabling the bill for the amendments, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said it was to clarify the membership
of the Fatwa Committee and to give conclusiveness to any fatwa decided by
either the mufti or Fatwa Committee”.
If the above
report is accurate, with one stroke of the pen, the PAS Government of Kedah has
made the future fatwas of the Mufti or the Majlis Fatwa absolute.
A few men,
namely the Assemblymen of Kedah has decided for all the Muslims in Kedah that
the fatwas (or legal opinions) of the Mufti or a group of people in the Majlis
Fatwa is absolute and cannot be challenged by anyone.
There is no
questioning the opinions or the legal reasoning of those paid to be in the
religious authority in Kedah. It cannot
even be reviewed.
Fatwas in this
sense carries a religious connotation and hence, it now becomes part of the
Syariah Law of Kedah. Please note how
the Syariah Laws expands as a result of human handiwork.
Now let me ask
if the Prime Minister, the most powerful man in the country can be questioned
on his actions? Every constitutional and criminal law student will tell you that in certain occasions,
he can not only be questioned but be charged in court if he had acted, for
example, unconstitutionally or criminally in office.
Under administrative
laws, you can challenge, appeal and review the decision of any civil servant in
the Courts of Law in Malaysia. This is through a process called judicial
review. This process is allowed because the law recognises that civil servants,
even with the best of intentions may make mistakes or err in their judgement. Some
may be influenced by irrelevant factors in making a decision or arriving at an
opinion (fatwa!).
But obviously,
the Kedah Assemblymen are confident that neither the Mufti nor the members of
the Fatwa Committee can err in their judgement or make mistakes. They are held to be infallible.
The Muslim in
Kedah, therefore has no choice in the matter. He has to dispense with his
conscience and his reasoning and simply follow the fatwa which now has the
power of “Syariah” Law.
A Muslim who
knows the Quran, may want to ask where the following verse figures in this
episode:
068.036 What is the
matter with you? How judge you?
068.037 Or have you a
book through which you learn-
068.038 That you shall
have, through it whatever ye choose?
068.039 Or have you
Covenants with Us to oath, reaching to the Day of Judgment,
(providing) that you shall have whatever you shall demand?
068.040 Ask you of
them, which of them will stand surety (guarantee) for that!
068.041 Or have they
some "Partners" (in Godhead)? Then let them produce their
"partners", if they are truthful!
Since no Malays
in Kedah have protested against the Bill, it must mean that they are happy with
it.
Peace.
