Constitution is nothing if not secular, says Umno man

(Malay Mail Online) – The Federal Constitution in its current form cannot be interpreted as Islamic, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said last night, amid recent bids to expand the authority of Shariah law.

The former deputy minister said it is a problem when Muslim leaders try to rewrite the country’s supreme law “through backdoor channels” in a bid to asset an Islamic interpretation of what is essentially a secular document.

“As a Muslims, I would like to say the constitution is Islamic. But how do I spin the argument to say that it is something that it is not?” he said at a public forum in conjunction with Human Rights Day 2014.

“As it is, the constitution is secular, and it is supreme. I am not saying it cannot be amended, only the Quran cannot be amended… (but) you cannot look at the constitution and expect it to do something it is not supposed to do.

“We really need to look at the constitution in that perspective, and then debate it. Don’t go labelling people as ‘liberal’ or whatnots, that is not how adults behave,” he added.

Religious tension has been at a constant simmer over the past few years, with a string of cases challenging the legal limits of Islamic jurisprudence in the country.

The most recent was a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal on November 7 that found Section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Shariah Criminal Enactment 1992, which prohibits Muslim men from cross-dressing, to be unconstitutional and void.

The case prompted the minister in charge of Islamic Affairs, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, to claim that Muslim transgenders, among others, were colluding with Islam’s enemies to put its religious institutions on trial in a secular court, and that Muslims must defend their faith from liberal ideologies “by any method”.

It also prompted Islamic authorities to confirm plans to create a Shariah equivalent of the Federal Court that would prevent the civil courts from ruling on matters concerning Islam.

Islamic authorities have also been gradually widening their enforcement beyond Muslims, and in January, Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) confiscated over 300 Malay— and Iban-language Bibles from the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM).

Though the holy books — which were bound for Sarawak — were eventually released last week, Christians in the country’s largest state were livid after discovering that the Bibles were stamped with a warning that they were not to be printed or distributed in Selangor or to Muslims.

Saifuddin last night stressed that Muslim leaders, especially those in government, must go back to the basic tenets of their faith and follow the example of Prophet Muhammad who had no issues with allowing non-Muslims to practice their faith.

“The Prophet did not go around seizing Bibles. Just be a good Muslim, and be a good Malay as outlined in Article 153 (of the Federal Constitution),” he said.

Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) chairman Datuk Khutubul Zaman Bukhari noted that there is already a clear precedent in the Federal Court set by former Lord President Tun Salleh Abas, who ruled in a case that the Federal Constitution is secular and not Islamic.

“To me, Malaysia has a secular constitution, and it is not an Islamic country… and I am the chairman of the Bar Council Shariah Law Committee,” he said for emphasis.

Former Bar Council President Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said a secular constitution trumps an apex law that is based on any religion, as it guarantees protection for all regardless of creed.

She said India is the best example of this, as its secular constitution ensures the rights of minority religious groups even if the majority are Hindu, including current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Secular is good, because it protects everybody,” she said.