Vilified as un-Islamic, CJ reminds critics of Allah's judgment

Summary

• Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat reminds critics who labelled her un-Islamic that Allah is the sole judge.

• She defends her landmark Federal Court ruling last year, which struck down 16 Kelantan state syariah laws, as it was based on existing provisions and the Constitution.

• Tengku Maimun tells naysayers to reflect if they are qualified to question others' faith.

Outgoing Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat has reminded those who labelled her as un-Islamic that “Allah is the sole judge”.

“As Chief Justice, I have been criticised, vilified, and labelled un-Islamic or an enemy of Islam, my husband (unfairly so) has been used against me in some applications to not only have me recused but more generally, to embarrass me and my colleagues.

“None of them have or ever will pass the test of my conscience, and praise be to Allah, I have not once lost sleep over these comments,” she said during a speech at the Opening of Legal Year 2025 at Putrajaya International Convention Centre today.

Tengku Maimun was referring to the reactions to her landmark Federal Court ruling last year, where 16 Kelantan syariah state laws were struck down for being unconstitutional.

The chief justice said she delivered her judgment based on the law and the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

“That was all it was. Yet, you would invariably have seen that some parties spun those decisions to appear as if the judiciary or some judges within it, including me, are anti-Islam. Some even questioned my faith as a Muslim.

“I wake up every day praying and hoping that the most beneficent and most merciful Allah will accept my ‘ibadah’ and deeds. It is not for me to question the faith of others because, in the first place, I will never know, until the Day of Reckoning, whether Allah has accepted my own,” she added.

Turning the tables on her critics, Tengku Maimun, who asserted that she would not stoop to their level of baseless attacks, suggested they instead engage in divine contemplation.

“My only response to them is this one rhetorical question: for those of you who have the time to question the faith of others, are you confident enough that Allah as the sole judge, has accepted your own ‘ibadah’ and deeds such that you have now been ordained the standing to question mine and of others,” she added.

In February last year, Tengku Maimun, who led a nine-member panel of judges, delivered the majority verdict of 8-1 in the constitutional challenge filed by lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid Nik Elin and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Abdul Rahman.

Tengku Maimun’s full speech can be read here.

CJ confident PM will uphold judicial independence, refers to past remarks

Judge fairly even if faced by executive request: CJ

CJ calls for ethical conduct in legal fraternity to safeguard justice system