Amanah leader welcomes FT mufti bill to prevent Malaysia 'from going the way of Indonesia'

The top adviser of Pakatan Harapan's component Amanah has backed a controversial bill that would grant unprecedented powers to the Federal Territories mufti, a stand likely to pit the ruling party against Muslim scholars, religious groups  and rights lawyers who have spoken out against the proposed law.

Ahmad Awang also defended one of the main contentious points in the Mufti (Federal Territories) Bill 2024, which stipulates that only a person belonging to certain streams within the Sunni school of thought can hold the office of the FT mufti, a position that comes with sweeping powers that will be binding on all Muslims if the bill is passed.

Ahmad, a former PAS leader who quit the party to form Amanah months after he was defeated in the 2015 presidential race, said the bill would prevent Malaysia from becoming like Indonesia, where according to him Muslims are divided into many sects.

"In fact, it has come to a point in Indonesia where Friday prayers have to be held twice (for two different sects)," the former PAS vice-president said in a recent interview with MalaysiaNow.

Ahmad then recalled that the same practice was done in Perlis before it was stopped by the state government.

His reference to Perlis is not surprising as the state's mufti is currently one of the fiercest critics of the bill.

Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who is known to hold views that are not in line with the Shafi'i school of thought that is predominant in the country, recently challenged Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, the Islamic affairs minister who is the main proponent of the bill, to debate the bill.

Asri also questioned whether Na'im himself had any knowledge of the theological schools mentioned in the bill.

"Currently only one mufti is not in favour, what if there are three or four in the future?"

"If he is honest, he should first prove that he also understands them before forcing them on the public," Asri said recently.

The bill touches on the role of the FT mufti, the structure of the fatwa committee as well as committees on astronomy, the sighting of the moon to determine the Islamic calendar and the direction of prayer (qiblah), among others.

At the centre of the criticism is the provision that a mufti may only be appointed from the ranks of the Ash'ari and Maturidi, two theological schools that are generally regarded as representative of mainstream Sunni Islam.

Ahmad called on state muftis to stop voicing disagreement over the bill, adding that the bill was necessary to avoid such differences of opinions.

"Therefore, the FT mufti bill is necessary to prevent the schism from spreading. Currently only one mufti is not in favour, what if there are three or four in the future?"

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang also called for the bill to be reviewed, saying the founders of the various Islamic schools of thought had never intended their teachings to be declared as the official version of Islam.

However, Ahmad said that today's situation is different from the era of Muslim jurists who founded the various Islamic schools of thought.

"After their death, the door of ijtihad was declared closed," he said, referring to a method of interpreting Islamic law to meet contemporary needs.

"As a result, everyone wanted to issue their own fatwas, which led to conflicts, disputes and debates."

He said this was the reason why Islamic jurisprudence was canonised by previous Muslim rulers, including the Ottomans.

Ahmad then challenged Hadi's criticism of the bill, saying PAS leaders had never questioned the fact that Muslim family laws in Malaysia were based on the teachings of a particular school of thought.

'Amanah leaders' reservations about Asri'

Ahmad's views in support of the bill are likely to be backed by his party president Mohamad Sabu, who himself has been accused of following Shia Islam, the school of thought diametrically opposed to the views of Asri, who is labelled a follower of Salafism.

In 2013, Mohamad threatened to sue none other than his current ally in the government, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, after the Umno president accused him of being a threat to national security for adhering to Shia doctrines.

Religious authorities in Malaysia regard Shia Muslims as “heretics” with a ban on it enforced through a 1996 ruling by the National Fatwa Council and crackdowns on Shia events such as the annual Ashura ceremonies commemorating Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

An Amanah source who spoke to MalaysiaNow said the party's support for the mufti bill was not surprising as many of its top leaders "have never been comfortable with the Perlis mufti's Islamic doctrine".

"They see this as a way to curb Salafi Islam," said the source, a veteran politician who was involved in the party's formation in 2016.

Ahmad, meanwhile, recalled his conversation with Muhammad Natsir, the late Indonesian Islamic scholar who was the country's fifth prime minister during the Sukarno administration.

"He told me that Malaysia was lucky because it still had the Malay rulers who played the symbolic role as the head of religion. In Indonesia, the monarchy no longer exists, so society is free to follow all thoughts and currents," he said.

Two major Islamic groups in Indonesia are the Muhammadiyah, which is closer to Salafi Islam, and the Nahdlatul Ulama, which subscribes to the traditional Sunni school that is in line with Malaysia's official Islam.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has largely refused to comment on the bill, saying instead that Na'im would clear the air on the criticism.

Apart from the theological aspects, the bill has also been criticised for its constitutionality.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya said the bill "derogates from the position of the Agong as the head of Islam in Malaysia", citing in Articles 3(5) and 34(1) of the constitution.

"The mufti is appointed upon advice of the minister, and therefore the federal government will obtain wide power and authority over every aspect of the religious practices of Muslims in this country once the Bill is law.

"This is not the role envisaged for the federal government under our constitution. It is against the basic structure of our constitution and thus unconstitutional," said the former chief of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Meanwhile, former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin warned that the bill risked isolating Muslims who did not belong to a particular school of thought.

"When we institutionalise the religion, do we come to a point where we restrict the Islamic faith or the definition of Sunni Islam?

"What if a person who does not fully adhere to it, would he be considered a Muslim in Malaysia or in the Federal Territories?" he had said.