Amanah leader welcomes FT mufti bill to prevent Malaysia ‘from going the way of Indonesia’
The stance contrasts with the views of some Muslim scholars and rights groups, who consider the bill to be sectarian and unconstitutional.
(MalaysiaNow) – The top adviser of Pakatan Harapan’s component Amanah has backed a controversial bill that would grant unprecedented powers to the Federal Territories mufti, a stand likely to pit the ruling party against Muslim scholars, religious groups and rights lawyers who have spoken out against the proposed law.
Ahmad Awang also defended one of the main contentious points in the Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill 2024, which stipulates that only a person belonging to certain streams within the Sunni school of thought can hold the office of the FT mufti, a position that comes with sweeping powers that will be binding on all Muslims if the bill is passed.
Ahmad, a former PAS leader who quit the party to form Amanah months after he was defeated in the 2015 presidential race, said the bill would prevent Malaysia from becoming like Indonesia, where according to him Muslims are divided into many sects.
“In fact, it has come to a point in Indonesia where Friday prayers have to be held twice (for two different sects),” the former PAS vice-president said in a recent interview with MalaysiaNow.
Ahmad then recalled that the same practice was done in Perlis before it was stopped by the state government.
His reference to Perlis is not surprising as the state’s mufti is currently one of the fiercest critics of the bill.
Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who is known to hold views that are not in line with the Shafi’i school of thought that is predominant in the country, recently challenged Mohd Na’im Mokhtar, the Islamic affairs minister who is the main proponent of the bill, to debate the bill.
Asri also questioned whether Na’im himself had any knowledge of the theological schools mentioned in the bill.
“Currently only one mufti is not in favour, what if there are three or four in the future?”
“If he is honest, he should first prove that he also understands them before forcing them on the public,” Asri said recently.
The bill touches on the role of the FT mufti, the structure of the fatwa committee as well as committees on astronomy, the sighting of the moon to determine the Islamic calendar and the direction of prayer (qiblah), among others.
At the centre of the criticism is the provision that a mufti may only be appointed from the ranks of the Ash’ari and Maturidi, two theological schools that are generally regarded as representative of mainstream Sunni Islam.
Ahmad called on state muftis to stop voicing disagreement over the bill, adding that the bill was necessary to avoid such differences of opinions.
“Therefore, the FT mufti bill is necessary to prevent the schism from spreading. Currently only one mufti is not in favour, what if there are three or four in the future?”
