MalayMail-Sept 9
PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has called for the abolition of laws he described as colonial legacies, alleging that these were obstacles to the unfettered implementation of Syariah law in Malaysia. In the statement, titled “Merdeka: Hapus Undang-Undang Penjajah Yang Sekat Pelaksanaan Islam” (”Independence: Abolish Colonial Laws That Obstruct the Implementation of Islam”), the Marang MP argued that true independence cannot be realized while laws inherited from British rule continue to limit Islam’s position above man-made legislation. “In particular, laws that prevent Islam from occupying its noble position above man-made laws not sanctioned by Allah SWT, due to their many weaknesses that spread wrongdoing, must be removed.” Hadi singled out several statutes for criticism, chief among them the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355), which caps Syariah court sentencing at three years’ jail, a RM5,000 fine and six strokes of whipping — a limit known as the “3:5:6” formula introduced in a 1984 amendment. He also referenced the Civil Law Act 1956 and the division of powers under the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution, which restricts state legislatures to enacting only religious offences under the State List while criminal law generally falls under the Federal List.
The PAS president argued these constraints prevent state Syariah courts from imposing punishments he described as consistent with Islamic legal tradition, and that overlapping jurisdiction between state and federal criminal law has repeatedly led to state Islamic enactments being challenged in court. To bolster his argument, Hadi invoked the late Islamic law scholar Ahmad Ibrahim, citing his call for Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution to be interpreted broadly — encompassing law, politics and economics as al-din, or a complete way of life, rather than a narrow, ritual-bound “religion of the Federation.”
Hadi said this position was shared by several former judicial figures, including ex-Chief Justice Tun Salleh Abas and Tun Ahmad Fairuz. The statement also traced the historical debate over Islam’s constitutional status back to the 1956 Reid Commission, which drafted Malaysia’s independence constitution. Read more at:
