KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s top court on Friday struck down Shariah-based criminal laws in an opposition-run state, saying they encroached on federal authority. Islamists denounced the decision and said it could undermine religious courts across the Muslim-majority nation.
In an 8-1 ruling, the nine-member Federal Court panel invalidated 16 laws created by the Kelantan state government, which imposed punishments rooted in Islam for offenses that included sodomy, sexual harassment, incest, cross-dressing and destroying or defiling places of worship.
The court said that the state could not make Islamic laws on those topics because they are covered by Malaysian federal law.
Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with both government laws and Shariah — Islamic law based on the Quran and a set of scriptures known as the hadith — covering personal and family matters for Muslims. Ethnic Malays, all of whom are considered Muslim in Malaysian law, make up two-thirds of Malaysia’s 33 million people. The population also includes large Chinese and Indian minorities.
Fuck yeah! Malaysia is awesome, I’d love to see it take a less religious stance with law.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In an 8-1 ruling, the nine-member Federal Court panel invalidated 16 laws created by the Kelantan state government, which imposed punishments rooted in Islam for offenses that included sodomy, sexual harassment, incest, cross-dressing and destroying or defiling places of worship.
Ethnic Malays, all of whom are considered Muslim in Malaysian law, make up two-thirds of Malaysia’s 33 million people.
Hundreds of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party supporters gathered outside the Federal Court calling for the protection of Shariah.
This is a black Friday for Islamic Shariah laws,” PAS Secretary-General Takiyuddin Hassan told reporters.
The party favors tough Islamic legal norms and once sought to implement a criminal code known as “hudud,” which prescribes penalties such as amputations for theft and death by stoning for adultery.
The issue could pose a challenge for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is struggling to win Malay support after taking office following a 2022 general election.
The original article contains 499 words, the summary contains 149 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
“Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with both government laws and Shariah”
Well there’s your problem. No one can progress if you mix religion with the state…
Good. If you want to live your life by some rules out of some book, suit yourself, but don’t force others to follow your lifestyle.
What a shame.
EDIT: Downvoters, would you like to live under Sharia law? Didn’t think so.
Downvoters thought YOU wanted to live under sharia law.
Going by the poll 1:9 people actually feel this way, probably should have added a /s.
You misread the headline. Read it again.
I read it. They invalidated Islam-based laws in favour of the state’s laws.
A lot of the things that would be covered are bad, but religion should be nowhere near a state. It’s up to the government to make secular laws on these things. And of course perfectly okay things (like cross dressing) would have been caught up thanks to religious dogma.
So why do you think this is a “shame” that it was struck down then if you accurately state that it would have been bad if it was allowed to go into effect??
It was sarcasm.
