Laws contradicting Islam void, says ex-CJ

KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic law is the second most supreme legislation in Malaysia and other laws that are contrary to it are void, said former chief justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim.

In his interpretation, Fairuz said anything that contradicted Islam or went against Islamic laws’ main sources, which are the Quran and Sunnah, was unconstitutional.

He said this was just like laws that contradicted the Federal Constitution, which would be deemed unconstitutional.

“I feel that anything which is in contradiction to Islam is unconstitutional. The Privy Council has ruled in a case in Singapore that a law, to be valid, must conform to the fundamental rules laid down by the English law.

“As Islam is the religion of the federation, surely the fundamental principles of the law should be based not only on the English common law, but on syariah,” he said when delivering a lecture on “Islam as the Law of the Land” here yesterday.

The reason for this opinion, he said, was because the Quran, Sunnah, and the traditions and practices of Prophet Muhammad were the main sources of Islamic laws.

Hence, he said, reading Articles 3 and 4 of the Federal Constitution together meant that any law contradicting Islamic scriptures was void.

Article 3 states that “Islam is the religion of the Federation” while Article 4 states that “Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation” and any law passed after Independence and inconsistent with it shall be void.

When asked on Pas’ private member’s bill dubbed RUU355, Fairuz said since there’s a cap on the punishment, the bill will not lead to the implementation of hudud in Malaysia.