Federal Territories (FT) mufti Wan Zahidi Wan Teh stood by his decision to ban motivational courses conducted by ESQ Leadership Centre Sdn Bhd as he claimed that they contained 10 items which contravened Muslims’ faith.

He said the matter should be viewed in two contexts, namely hukum syarak (Islamic law) and the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 or Act 505.

A fatwa (religious ruling) against ESQ Leadership Centre on June 14 was made through ijtihad mufti (mufti consensus) and it was compulsory for muftis to uphold a decision made through consensus, he said in a statement.

Wan Zahidi said under the power bestowed on a mufti under Article 33 of Act 505, there was no provision in the law stating that he had to wait for a decision from any quarter.

He said further explanations on the 10 items in the ESQ modules would be posted on the Federal Territories mufti’s website.

On lack of coordination in fatwa between states, he said many decisions made by the National Fatwa Council were not coordinated at the state level although the decisions were made through consensus.

- Bernama