Zulqarnain Lukman said his client had accepted the Shariah High Court ruling to maintain the conviction and variation in sentence.

“I received no instruction from him as the deadline to file the appeal expired last Friday,” he told FMT.

However, Zulqarnain was unsure whether the state shariah prosecutor had filed an appeal to reinstate the fine imposed by the lower court.

Any aggrieved party must obtain leave of the court before the person’s appeal can be heard.

In a previous interview with FMT, the lawyer said Khalid, who is also Amanah communications director, needed time to consider several factors before making a decision as Islam was a state matter and the ruler is the head of the religion.

Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) chairman Ahmad Farouk Musa and lawyer Rosli Dahlan had urged Khalid to appeal his conviction instead of accepting the reduced fine imposed by the Selangor Shariah High Court on Nov 24.

Both Farouk and Rosli said that Khalid’s decision to accept the fine instead of trying to set aside the conviction suggested that he had accepted the definition of “teaching without a permit”, as stipulated in the Selangor Islamic Administration Enactment.

Selangor Shariah High Court judge Salehan Yatim reduced the amount of the fine from RM2,900 imposed by the lower Shariah Court in Klang to RM1,900, which means that Khalid will be eligible to contest in the coming general election.

The Federal Constitution disqualifies an MP from duty if he is convicted of an offence and sentenced to a jail term of not less than one year or a fine of not less than RM2,000.

Earlier this year, the lower Shariah Court in Klang found Khalid guilty of teaching Islam without valid credentials when he delivered a talk at a surau in Taman Seri Sementa, Klang, in 2011.

He was fined RM2,900, which put him at risk of not being able to contest in the next general election.

Khalid claimed he had been invited to the surau to speak about his trip to Palestine, not to give a religious lecture.