SIS files judicial review on fatwa

PETALING JAYA: Sisters in Islam (SIS) has filed for a judicial review on a gazetted fatwa (edict) in Selangor that declared the Muslim women's rights group as deviating from Islam as they are subscribing to "religious liberalism and pluralism".
"We view with grave concern the allegations made against us and question the basis for this fatwa," SIS said in a statement today.
The fatwa allows for any publication deemed "liberal and plural" to be banned and seized. In addition it calls for any form of social media that go against the "ajaran Islam dan hukum Syarak" to be blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC).
In 2002, the former Director General of JAKIM, the late Shahir Abdullah, asserted that SIS work was in fact a form of "dakwah". SIS claims they only came to know about the fatwa by chance while surfing JAKIM's e-fatwa website recently.
"It is disturbing that SIS was neither informed nor called in to explain our work before the fatwa committee pronounced SIS as deviant. Neither does the fatwa contain any justification for its pronouncement," it said.
It also does not explain what the terms "liberalism", "pluralism" mean and what constitutes going against the "teachings of Islam and hukum Syarak", the statement stated.
Since 2003, SIS has served close to 10,000 Muslim women who turned to them for legal help to seek redress to their marital problems. They have also trained over 4,000 women on their legal rights through popular legal literacy workshops. More than 90 per cent of them stated that the knowledge provided by SIS has empowered them to know their rights in Islam.
The statement claimed that a fatwa is merely an advisory opinion to guide Muslims to lead a life according to the teachings of Islam.
It is not legally binding and it is optional for the individual to follow it, or seek another fatwa, said SIS.
"Sisters in Islam restate its position that if Islam is used as a source of law and public policy, then everyone has a right to engage in a debate on these matters. Public law and policy must be open to public debate. The objective of Islamic law is to ensure that justice is done and the public interest is served and this can only be achieved through consultations and taking into consideration different points of view," the statement read.