Pe r da n a d i sco u r s e s e r i e s 19
“I think that the misunderstanding of Islam is not so much in terms of ideas and
principles. It is that Islam is not being practised the way that it is taught.”
Mr. Mohd Nazim Ganti Shaari |
Lecturer of Law, UiTM
“For a Muslim Malaysian, the Syariah
may be your highest legal authority. But
for other people, Muslim or non-Muslim,
the Federal Constitution is their highest
legal authority. How do you reconcile
these two (systems)? This is what is
called “Legal Pluralism”. This pluralism
is because the British changed our laws
such that Islamic law only applies to family matters. But there is one question
that we need to ask: before the British
came to Malaya, were the Malay Sultans practicing Islamic laws one hundred
percent? The answer is no. Along with
Islamic interpretations of the law, they
were also elements of Malay adat, Hindu
customs, and even perhaps Buddhist
traditions. So, there was no absolute
Islamic legal order even during those
days. Was there an intention to create
an Islamic State before the British came?
The answer is also no…Most of the argu26 | P e r d a n a M a g a z in e 2 0 1 5
ments on Islam today centres on Article
3 of the Federal Constitution. But Article
3 is not so special that you can disregard
the other provisions of the Constitution.
Article 3 also does not mention any intention to create an Islamic state.”