Sisters in Islam (SIS) has hit back at PAS Youth deputy chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi who had slammed the movement’s application for a judicial review against a fatwa.

SIS founder Zainah Anwar ( left ) countered that Muhammad Khalil’s father, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, had challenged a fatwa before as well.

Muhammad Khalil had previously slammed the application for the judicial review as ‘insolent’ and supposedly a challenge against the royalty and the constitution.

SIS refers to a speech made by the PAS leader in 1981, where he branded Umno and its supporters as kafir (infidels) for separating religion from politics.

“There is a gazetted fatwa in Malacca against Ustaz Haji Hadi, and Hadi challenged the National Fatwa Council because Malacca said they gazetted it on the instruction of the National Fatwa Council.

“Since Ustaz Hadi challenged the National Fatwa Council, is Hadi insolent like his son who says we are insolent?” said Zainah, slamming it as double standards.

The 2002 fatwa from Melaka had stated that a message of Hadi ( right ), known as ‘Amanat Haji Hadi’ (Haji Hadi’s Decree) is un-Islamic.

Hadi then had challenged the National Fatwa Council to issue him an official letter on his message which the council had decided was contrary to the interests of Muslims, the sanctity of the religion and the principles of Islamic propagation.

Zainah added that fatwa councils had reviewed past fatwas before in interest of justice, even though it had been approved by the sultan.

Exercising rights to challenge

Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) CEO Saifuddin Abdullah had earlier said that SIS was merely exercising its rights and had no intention to challenge any authority with its judicial review.

He said this after hosting a dialogue between several PAS lawmakers and SIS, which has been declared ‘deviant’ in a Selangor fatwa (religious edict) and has filed a judicial review against it.

“They are just applying for a judicial review because they have been named in the fatwa. We should understand that position,” Saifuddin said.

SIS board member Marina Mahathir ( right ) added that the group had no choice because the three-month window of opportunity to file a judicial review was closing, and Selangor religious authorities were not responding to their queries about the fatwa.

Marina also pointed out they were merely challenging the process in which the fatwa was gazetted, and not the fatwa itself.

She said SIS was not informed of the fatwa and found it only by chance, even though contravening it would be a crime.

“How would we know we were contravening it if we didn’t know about it? It so happened that we found our out about it (the fatwa) by chance, only 10 days before the deadline for a judicial review.

“We did write to ask and so far we have not yet received any response. So we had no choice (but) by the deadline, to file a judicial review. All we are asking now is the opportunity to defend ourselves,” Marina told the press conference.

Fine up to RM3,000

The fatwa was gazetted on July 31 whereas SIS had filed for its judicial review on Oct 31, three months later.

Contravening a fatwa that has been gazetted in Selangor is an offence under Section 13 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995, and is punishable by a fine up to RM3,000, up to two years imprisonment, or both.

Following the application, and without mentioning SIS, Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah urged Muslims not to criticise fatwa before understanding it, because it had been prepared by a knowledgeable fatwa committee.

“Muslims should be confident with full sincerity and be united in thinking to understand the teachings of Islam, regardless of differences in ideologies and political interests,” he said.

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