Prominent lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla said a High Court judgment this year on the Nik Elin Nik Abdul Rashid case showed that “limited allowance has been made in the Federal Constitution for the legislation and application of Islamic law”.
Earlier today, the interfaith group Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism had cited the 1988 Che Omar Che Soh case in its objection towards the placement of Jakim officers in government departments.
The council asserted that such a move may be unconstitutional as it could affect the fundamental rights of non-Muslim Malaysians as guaranteed by the constitution.
In its argument, the council had relied upon the Che Omar judgment as authority for the proposal that Islam, as used in the constitution, has a limited definition.
However, Haniff said its reliance on the Che Omar case was inaccurate and “at the very least incomplete”.
He said that in the Nik Elin case this year, the Chief Justice, Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, said the legal system “leans more towards secularity without being purely secular” because limited allowance had been made in the Federal Constitution for the legislation and application of Islamic law.
Haniff said a government policy was not ultra vires the Federal Constitution simply because it was in line with Islamic principles.
He cited a Court of Appeal judgment last year that, as Islam is the religion of the federation, there was a “certain obligation on the powers that be to promote and defend Islam as well as protect its sanctity.”
“Based on this judgment, the federation has the obligation to protect, defend, promote Islam and to give effect by appropriate state action, to the injunction of Islam,” said Haniff.
The interfaith council had also cited three Federal Court decisions as having adopted the interpretation of a limited definition of Islam in the constitution.
The other cases were: Indira Gandhi v Perak Islamic religious council (2018), Iki Putra Bin Mubarak v Selangor state government (2021) and Nik Elin Zurina Binti Nik Abdul Rashid v Kelantan state government (2024).