KUALA TERENGGANU: The 45 followers of the banned Sky Kingdom charged with violating a state fatwa are apparently facing problems getting syariah lawyers to defend them.
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She [ Kamariah Ali, 51] was charged under the Syariah Criminal Offence Enactment (Takzir) Terengganu 2001 for humiliating Islam by claiming she was not a Muslim on July 20.
No counsel for Sky followers, By K. Suthakar, 8/5/05 [emphasis added].
See our earlier post on this story.
So what we have in Malaysia is a tradition of legal representation that has lawyers fearful of representing clients because of a possible backlash, that . . . wait for it . . . "might create a misunderstanding among the public.” What's next from the out-of-control citizenry -- letters to the editor?
The best that can be said about this is that Malaysia has a feeble legal system and a bar that is a bunch of pussies.
Then you have the problem of two separate legal systems with one lot of lawyers, the regular ones (I know), not knowing anything about the sharia side of the law, although the sharia is sort of engrafted onto the Malaysian statutes. One assumes these were enacted by the legislature, not a conclave of califhs.
Then we have the usual painfully obvious Muslim religious insecurity evidenced by the criminal code punishing conduct that humiliates Islam. Considering that the authorities are doing a terrific job of doing just that themselves, one wonders what the fuss is over this poor woman.
Then you have the means of humiliating Islam, namely, claiming you are not a Muslim. The source doesn't say she was a Muslim before, so presumably the Colonel could be taken into custody upon arrival in Malaysia for saying the same thing:
Malaysian Immigration official: "Are you a Muslim, Colonel?"
The Colonel: "Uh, no, I'm not. Why do you ask?"
Malaysian Immigration official: "Spread 'em, Colonel. You're going downtown for humiliating Islam."
The Colonel: "I demand to call a lawyer!"
Malaysian Immigration official: "It's no use, Kufr Kolonel. It will only create a misunderstanding."
That is one pathetic country.
Oh, and there's a "state fatwa declaring the Sky Kingdom teachings as deviant."
Yup, look to Malaysis for the next wave of scientific discoveries.
2 comments:
Kamariah Ali is now out of jail. Ironic that she should have been charged for humiliating islam. Locking up this old woman is more humilitiation than she would have ever produced.
Just a quick comment though, just as Robertson, Falwell et al don't necessarily represent the US, these black robed monk(ey)s don't represent Malaysia.
Thank you for your update on Kamariah Ali. I am glad that the monk(ey)s don't represent Malaysia.
It amazes me always that there is so much sensitivity on the part of Muslims to any kind of religious deviation. So much energy goes into discouraging and punishing apostasy and so little goes into refining and rationalizing Islam.
For the life of me I cannot understand the appeal of this religion though I confess my study of it is shallow at best. The dominant impression I get at this point is of an extreme desire to control every small detail of daily life and to keep power in the hands of the priests who are unaccountable to each other or any central authority.
That's a fair description of the England of Henry II. It's not like the West hasn't experienced the same problems. Somehow it was possible for brave people to move the debate forward (if you will). The gradual assertion of parliamentary authority as superior to the king's did not happen overnight.
In the case of Islam, it seems there is a highly effective mechanism to silence any kind of criticism, reform, or deviation.
Certainly the West can be justly accused of tolerating more "deviancy" than is good for it. Modern American culture can be empty, lonely and without satisfying spiritual content. There's no denying that.
But somewhere there's a happy medium and I think it's closer to the Western ideal than the Islamic one.
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