Salbiah Ahmad

Until PAS and its allies make a case for a constitutional democracy that protects basic rights, a 2008 election victory is not within grasp.

Hari HAM was born to commemorate this day in 2001 when some 500 university students staged a peaceful assembly near the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur to protest the Internal Security Act.

Three months after the controversial Jawi raid, it is clear that the cultural component has proven to be the field for major engagement.

In the second of this two-part series, the writer explains why inter-faith matters should not be quickly condemned on the grounds of Muslim sensitivity.

In this first of a two-part series, the writer says that the proposed interfaith commission and Jawi raid have prompted widespread debates, which see the common accusations of 'blasphemy and insulting Islam' now replaced by sophisticated and less argumentative exchanges.

Women should not be expected to be like men and not get pregnant. Thus sacking on ground of pregnancy, is discriminating and it offends the principle of equality.

Every fresh predicament does not require a new response. Cleaning out the clutter in the current framework may provide the answers being sought.

On one hand, we put a humanitarian face to tsunami-hit Aceh and on the other, we are sending Indonesian migrants, many of whom are Acehnese asylum seekers and refugees, packing or face our incarceration and whipping laws as 'illegals'.

Three weeks after the disaster, stories were often interlaced with humour, perhaps an indication that people are moving on, or hiding their sorrow or even trying to forget the nightmare as best they can.

In a multicultural society, we must not be too rigid in claiming our own identities, but be willing to embrace our similarities as well as our differences.

Muslims must be clear on issues of religious freedom, particularly con-compulsion, if they are to propagate peace and understanding.

The best government is served by access to information, free discussion, openness of discourse and the opportunity to disseminate it.

In changing times, Islamic law is not meant to be static, but open to interpretation to ensure Islam remains relevant in modern day society.

When religion is an issue, it is possible for civil courts to consult Islamic law to reach viable decisions, without threatening the jurisdiction of the syariah court.

Discourse on traditional Islamic law demonstrates there is nothing to negate women presiding over syariah courts in Malaysia.

Singapore and Malaysia come under the microscope, as their views of Islam and responses to multi-culturalism are weighed.

Isn't it sad to know that your vote is irrelevant when the partisan balance of the legislature is determined long before elections by the partisan redrawing of constituencies?

Perceptions of what the state constitutes to be 'Islamic dress' - and recent actions over seeming transgressions - are troubling human rights activists.

One has to go back several centuries to understand why there is such a fuss about a 'clergy class' among the ulama in the first place.

Pasir Putih is the first case where the election court hears a petition on the merits set out in the documents filed by parties and confirms the agreement they reached.

Freedom of religion or belief is an important human right in itself and secularism alone is insufficient for political stability.

Traditional Islamic law dating from the 7th century, says SALBIAH AHMAD, does not accord equal rights to dhimmis, the term used to describe non-Muslims.

Politicking, notes SALBIAH AHMAD, did not help the development of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious political community of citizens against the inherited categories of ethnicity and religion.