Kedah's amendment to fatwa status 'undemocratic'

Former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin described the Kedah government’s decision to pass legal amendments to protect fatwa from being challenged in court as “an undemocratic practice that kills intellectualism”.

The amendments to Mufti and Fatwa (Kedah Darul Aman) Enactment 2008 passed by the Kedah state assembly on Tuesday also made him “doubtful about Pakatan Rakyat’s promise on democracy”.

“This is an indication that democracy is not strong in the thoughts of some leaders including those in Pakatan,” said Asri (left) in a statement to Malaysiakini last night.

The prominent religious scholar and former visiting fellow of Oxford University explained that fatwa is mostly related to opinion and subject to other factors, including politics and the palace.

“If fatwa is equal to in Quran and sunnah until it cannot be questioned, then the intellectualism of the people would be murdered,” he commented.

Asri elaborated that unless the fatwa involves fundamentals of Islam, it is only a guidance to the people and does not enjoy the status of Al-Quran and hadis.

'Most fatwa are human creation'

“Most fatwa are human creation in the framework of ijtihad (the making of a decision in Islamic law by personal effort).

“They may be right, they may also be wrong.

“In this world, they are various kinds of fatwa from different countries, schools and streams.

"If all practice the undemocratic policy of Kedah, the intellectualism of the followers would die,” he added.

However, supporting the move was Malaysian Syariah Lawyers' Association (PPSM) president Musa Awang (right), who said the Kedah government "is not wrong" and does not contravene the state constitution.

This was because the mufti's fatwa is considered a reference for judges when making decisions in syariah cases, Musa said.

“A fatwa from any state mufti department is something that  binds the courts... a fatwa is considered a reference for any syariah law.”

Nevertheless, Musa stressed, only a fatwa that has been gazetted as law cannot be challenged in court, while others can be reviewed by the syariah court.