The country’s most powerful Islamist political party is calling for a ‘jihad’ on last week’s landmark court judgment in favour of transgender rights, calling the move a threat to Islam’s legitimacy in Malaysia.
The PAS Dewan Ulama (Council of Scholars) said that the Appeals Court’s decision to declare a state Shariah law criminalising cross-dressing unconstitutional is a challenge to the position of Islamic law in the country.
The Malay Mail Online reports that Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, head of the Dewan Ulama, said, “Islam is the official religion of the federation and should not be construed through the glasses of colonial interpreters who believe Islam is just the practice of religious rites alone.”
He added that the Appeals Court judgment pulls into focus the issue of Islam’s sovereignty in Malaysia, as laid out in Article 3 of the Federal Constitution, which declares Islam as the religion of the Federation of Malaysia.
Last Friday, the Appeals Court ruled that Section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Shariah Criminal Enactment 1992, which prohibited Muslim men from dressing in women’s clothing, was unconstitutional.
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Court of Appeal upholds transgender rights in landmark ruling
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