SHAH ALAM, Feb 17 — The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) will follow to decree of His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj who asked all parties to respect the decision of the Federal Court as the main law of the country.
Mais chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the religious council was committed to facilitating and assisting with the review of the competence of the State Legislative Assembly to analyse and interpret existing legal provisions.
“Mais is committed to helping the committee brainstorm ideas and making it easier for the committee to analyse and propose the best way to expand the competence of the state legislature.
“In addition to enacting Syariah criminal laws within the framework set by the Federal Constitution as desired by His Roya; Highness the Sultan of Selangor,” he said in a statement.
Yesterday, Sultan Sharafuddin who presided over the 71st National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs (MKI) meeting spoke about the importance of finding a way to overcome the issue by studying methods of expanding the competence of the state legislative assembly to enact Syariah criminal laws within the framework set by the Federal Constitution.
His Highness said this when commenting on the decision of the Federal Court on February 9 that declared 16 Syariah criminal offenses in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment as null and void.
Following that, His Majesty called on all parties, especially Muslims, to remain calm and not cause any commotion while waiting for the recommendations from the special committee.
Abdul Aziz also welcomed the desire of the Sultan of Selangor to strengthen Islamic education in Selangor, especially the importance of mastering Arabic by tahfiz students in order to understand the true meaning of Quranic verses.
According to him, Mais has established a Selangor Islamic Education and Tahfiz Committee to ensure the implementation of the Islamic education programme in the state is carried out effectively.
“Mais called for all Muslims in Selangor not to abuse religion for personal gain to maintain harmony and consensus in the country.
“In addition, Islamic scholars are called upon to celebrate differences of opinion and resolve those differences scientifically, prudently and through the right channels,” he said.
