Expert: Jais under sultan, not MB
Published: Jan 3, 2014 4:00 AM | Updated: Jan 3, 2014 7:45 AM
Those urging Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to intervene following the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department’s (Jais) raid on a Christian organisation are barking up the wrong tree, a legal expert said.
Those urging Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to intervene following the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department’s (Jais) raid on a Christian organisation are barking up the wrong tree, a legal expert said.
Constitutional law professor Abdul Aziz Bari said that this is because Jais answers to the Selangor sultan and not to the state government.
As head of Islam in Selangor, both Jais, “which normally runs the routine administration”, and the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais) are part of the “sultan's hierarchy” and “authority”.
“They...must understand that constitutionally, Islam is a matter under the power of the sultan and he can act with or without the MB's advice.
“If the sultan decides not to do anything - which is the case most of the time - the MB or his executive council may do things. However, the moment the sultan puts his foot down, the MB has to step aside,” he said in an email to Malaysiakini.
However, he said this does not necessarily mean that the raid of the Bible Society Malaysia (BSM) itself was legal, and that this is up for further discussion.
Federal gov't behind raid?
Meanwhile, police presence at Thursday's raid also raises “interesting” questions, he added.
“Does that mean that the federal government, which holds jurisdiction over the police, is also behind the raid on the Bible Society premises?” he asked.
Abdul Aziz was responding to Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang, who urged MB Khalid to explain the seizure of 321 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles - Alkitab - from BSM's premises in Damansara yesterday.
BSM chairperson Lee Min Choon (centre) and his office manager Sinclair Wong were arrested in the raid and later released on bail after spending 90 minutes at the Damansara police station.
They are being investigated under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, which prohibits non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’.
Selangor's exco member in charge of Islamic affairs Sallehan Mukhyi told Malaysiakini that the state government was not consulted over the raid.
Critics of the raid are questioning inconsistency of the action with the federal government's 10-point solution on the Alkitab issue, which allows the use of the Bahasa Malaysia Bible by Christians.
Constitutional law professor Abdul Aziz Bari said that this is because Jais answers to the Selangor sultan and not to the state government.
As head of Islam in Selangor, both Jais, “which normally runs the routine administration”, and the Selangor Islamic Affairs Council (Mais) are part of the “sultan's hierarchy” and “authority”.
“They...must understand that constitutionally, Islam is a matter under the power of the sultan and he can act with or without the MB's advice.
“If the sultan decides not to do anything - which is the case most of the time - the MB or his executive council may do things. However, the moment the sultan puts his foot down, the MB has to step aside,” he said in an email to Malaysiakini.
However, he said this does not necessarily mean that the raid of the Bible Society Malaysia (BSM) itself was legal, and that this is up for further discussion.
Federal gov't behind raid?
Meanwhile, police presence at Thursday's raid also raises “interesting” questions, he added.
“Does that mean that the federal government, which holds jurisdiction over the police, is also behind the raid on the Bible Society premises?” he asked.
Abdul Aziz was responding to Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang, who urged MB Khalid to explain the seizure of 321 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles - Alkitab - from BSM's premises in Damansara yesterday.
BSM chairperson Lee Min Choon (centre) and his office manager Sinclair Wong were arrested in the raid and later released on bail after spending 90 minutes at the Damansara police station.They are being investigated under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, which prohibits non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’.
Selangor's exco member in charge of Islamic affairs Sallehan Mukhyi told Malaysiakini that the state government was not consulted over the raid.
Critics of the raid are questioning inconsistency of the action with the federal government's 10-point solution on the Alkitab issue, which allows the use of the Bahasa Malaysia Bible by Christians.
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