Islamization and Activism in Malaysia

5. Islamist Lawyers' Views

74 5 ISLAMIST฀LAWYERS’฀VIEWS I฀ concentrate฀ in฀ this฀ chapter฀ on฀ the฀ views฀ of฀ some฀ Islamist฀ lawyers฀ on฀ the฀political฀and฀legal฀framework฀of฀Malaysia.฀I฀present฀first฀the฀views฀of฀ Mohamed฀ Ariff฀ Yusof฀ and฀ Haji฀ Sulaiman฀ Abdullah.฀ Their฀ views฀ relate฀ more฀to฀political฀and฀ethnic฀interrelations฀and฀the฀rightful฀place฀of฀Islam฀ in฀Malaysia.฀The฀second฀half฀of฀this฀chapter฀concerns฀the฀more฀narrowly฀ legal฀arguments฀promulgated฀by฀the฀late฀professor฀of฀law฀in฀Singapore฀and฀ Malaysia,฀Ahmad฀Ibrahim.฀Although฀he฀admits฀the฀Constitution฀to฀be฀secular,฀ he฀develops฀a฀sophisticated฀(and฀arguably฀constitutionally฀sound)฀argument฀ by฀which฀Islamic฀law฀could฀be฀given฀primacy฀over฀the฀Constitution฀and฀all฀ other฀laws฀in฀Malaysia.฀The฀views,฀arguments,฀and฀sentiments฀examined฀in฀ here฀are฀of฀the฀kind฀that฀activists฀must฀address฀in฀their฀defence฀of฀freedom฀ of฀religion฀in฀Malaysia.฀Before฀moving฀on฀in฀Chapter฀6฀to฀a฀description฀of฀ one฀ civil฀ society฀ initiative฀ instigated฀ to฀ mount฀ such฀ a฀ defence,฀ I฀ examine฀ Salbiah฀ Ahmad’s฀ response฀ to฀ some฀ of฀ the฀ arguments฀ of฀ Ahmad฀ Ibrahim.฀ ฀ She฀points฀out฀the฀important฀limitations฀of฀wholly฀legal฀challenges.฀ THE฀VIEWS฀OF฀MOHAMED฀ARIFF฀YUSOF฀AND฀฀ HAJI฀SULAIMAN฀ABDULLAH On฀Thursday฀23฀ September฀2004,฀I฀attended฀in฀Kuala฀Lumpur฀a฀Harvard฀ Club฀ colloquium฀ titled฀ “Islam฀Today:฀Themes฀ and฀ Issues”.฀ I฀ understood฀ that฀ many฀ of฀ those฀ in฀ attendance฀ were฀ Harvard฀ graduates,฀ while฀ others฀ 74 06 I&AM.indd 74 4/22/10 9:34:47 AM Islamist฀Lawyers’฀Views฀ 75 had฀received฀invitations.฀I฀belonged฀to฀the฀latter฀group.฀The฀two฀speakers฀ for฀ the฀ evening฀ were฀ both฀ members฀ of฀ the฀ Malaysian฀ Bar฀ and฀ advocates฀ for฀ the฀ replacement฀ of฀ civil฀ law฀ with฀ Syariah฀ law.฀They฀ both฀ spoke฀ with฀ apparent฀ candour฀ and฀ shared฀ their฀ views฀ and฀ opinions฀ on฀ current฀ trends฀ ฀ pertaining฀to฀Islam฀politically,฀socially,฀and฀legally.฀ Mohamed฀Ariff฀Yusof The฀ first฀ speaker฀ at฀ the฀ colloquium,฀ Mohamed,฀ was฀ keen฀ to฀ stress฀ to฀ his฀ largely฀non-Muslim฀audience฀that฀Islam’s฀image฀as฀a฀religion฀of฀terrorism฀ did฀not฀reflect฀Islam฀as฀it฀really฀was.฀No฀Muslim฀would฀condone฀the฀attacks฀ on฀the฀Twin฀Towers฀in฀New฀York฀nor฀any฀attacks฀on฀innocent฀people.฀He฀ deplored฀ the฀ biased฀ portrayal฀ of฀ Islam฀ in฀ the฀ American฀ media฀ which฀ he฀ described฀as฀full฀of฀fear฀and฀hate฀and฀he฀assured฀his฀audience฀that฀“there฀is฀ nothing฀to฀fear฀from฀Islam”.฀He฀asked฀his฀audience฀to฀keep฀an฀open฀mind฀to฀ the฀ideas฀coming฀from฀what฀he฀described฀as฀the฀“Islamist฀movement”. Mohamed฀ complained฀ that,฀ owing฀ to฀ outcry฀ from฀ non-Muslims฀ in฀ Malaysia,฀Islamists฀were฀not฀being฀given฀the฀opportunity฀to฀discuss฀issues฀ such฀as฀Malaysia฀as฀an฀Islamic฀state,฀Hudud฀laws,฀or฀apostasy.฀He฀claimed฀ Malaysia฀was฀not฀straightforwardly฀secular฀because฀Islam฀as฀the฀religion฀of฀ the฀federation฀as฀stated฀in฀Article฀3฀must฀be฀regarded฀as฀having฀ramifications.฀ Judges฀over฀the฀years฀have฀recognized฀the฀important฀place฀that฀Islam฀has฀in฀ Malaysia.฀He฀cited฀a฀decision฀which฀deemed฀it฀unconstitutional฀to฀prohibit฀ male฀ students฀ from฀ wearing฀ the฀ Muslim฀ turban.฀ “True,฀ the฀ Constitution฀ as฀ it฀ stands฀ is฀ a฀ secular฀ Constitution.฀ But฀ adjustments฀ were฀ made฀ in฀ the฀ process฀of฀Constitution฀making.฀When฀the฀Reid฀Commission฀first฀drafted฀ the฀Constitution฀they฀omitted฀all฀reference฀to฀Islam.”฀It฀was฀because฀of฀the฀ protests฀of฀the฀Sultans฀and฀opposition฀parties฀that฀Islam฀is฀the฀religion฀of฀ the฀federation฀“and฀the฀repercussions฀are฀still฀felt฀today”.฀ Mohamed฀went฀on฀to฀say,฀ We’ve฀ always฀ argued฀ as฀ part฀ of฀ the฀ Islamic฀ movement฀ that฀ it฀ is฀ part฀ of฀ the฀freedom฀of฀religion฀provision฀in฀the฀Constitution฀that฀muftis฀should฀ be฀ allowed฀ to฀ articulate฀ [their฀ views]฀ and฀ if฀ they฀ get฀ command฀ of฀ the฀ majority฀of฀support฀through฀democratic฀means,฀to฀implement฀what฀they฀ are฀arguing฀for฀as฀Muslims.฀ Later,฀in฀response฀to฀a฀question,฀he฀went฀on฀to฀say฀that฀Muslims฀refer฀ to฀ Islam฀ as฀ “adeen,฀ as฀ a฀ way฀ of฀ life”,฀ and฀ that฀ to฀ live฀ as฀ Muslims฀ do฀ in฀ other฀countries฀where฀they฀are฀minorities฀is฀unacceptable฀in฀Malaysia฀where฀ Muslims฀ are฀ a฀ sizeable฀ majority.฀ “It฀ is฀ simply฀ unIslamic.฀ …฀ To฀ a฀ lot฀ of฀ 06 I&AM.indd 75 4/22/10 9:34:47 AM 76฀ Islamization฀and฀Activism฀in฀Malaysia Muslims฀this฀cannot฀be฀the฀case.฀We฀cannot฀be฀subjected฀to฀an฀overriding฀ civil฀court฀jurisdiction,฀particularly฀in฀Malaysia.”฀ Haji฀Sulaiman฀Abdullah The฀ second฀ speaker฀ was฀ Sulaiman฀ who฀ represented฀ the฀ counsel฀ for฀ the฀ Majlis฀Agama฀Islam฀Wilayah฀Persekutuan฀in฀Lina฀Joy’s฀appeal฀(see฀Chapter ฀4).฀He฀began฀by฀pointing...