SISTERS in Islam (SIS) has helped more than 8,400 Malaysian Muslims since its inception in 2003, the Muslim women’s rights groups tells PAS, which said it was not deserving of a government grant it recently received for its activities.

Those who have received aid from SIS include people from PAS-led Kelantan, said its legal officer Nik Shazarina Bakti.   

In recent years, SIS has been a favourite target of PAS, who had objected to the group being accorded a RM20,000 allocation.

PAS does not realise that SIS ,which runs a legal aid clinic called Telenisa, has helped 8,400 Muslims receive justice in the problematic shariah family court system, said Nik Shazarina

Half of these people earn below RM2,500 monthly, and include Muslims from Kelantan, which has been governed by PAS since 1990.

Telenisa has helped thousands of Muslim men and women navigate the intricacies of the shariah family court system which has been criticised for its inconsistent standards, said Nik Shazarina.

SIS advocacy, legal services and research manager Shareena Sheriff  told The Malaysian Insight that although there was a general guideline on how to implement shariah law, the administration of each court is up to individual states.

Most of the women who seek their help are not aware of their rights under shariah law in cases of divorce, alimony and polygamy, she said.

This is despite the fact that all Muslims have to attend a pre-marriage course before they tie the knot, they said.

Unlike the civil family law system, there is no legal aid office for shariah family law and Muslim women and men are on their own, said Shareena.

“There are issues of access and awareness for Muslim women… There is a gap that is not being met and we are filling that gap,” said Shareena, on Telenisa’s role.

Telenisa’s contribution was recently recognised by the Pakatan Harapan federal government which awarded the legal aid clinic a one-off RM20,000 grant to enable the collection of data to serve as the basis for the drafting of better policies for women.

Telenisa has always run on public donations, said SIS communications manager Majidah Hashim.

PAS leaders, however, have denounced SIS for causing “discord among Muslims.”

Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh defended the allocation to SIS, hitting back with the statement that it is far nobler to defend the rights of the marginalised than to share a platform with criminals.

Free advice

Open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Telenisa centre and its hotline are run by one full-time officer and about half a dozen chambering law students. The students from the Bar Council are rotated every 14 weeks.

The centre provides advice on shariah family law and laws on punishable offenses, said Nik Shazarina, adding that it also provides a list of shariah lawyers who offer reasonable rates and who are trustworthy.

The advice is free but legal fees are negotiated between the client and lawyers we recommend, she said. Some shariah lawyers will give big discounts while some will serve pro bono depending on the income of the clients.

“In the civil system, there is a standard rate for services but not in the shariah system. They charge whatever they want. There are lawyers who will charge RM3,000 to RM5,000 just to look at your file, without even going to court yet,” said Nik Shazarina.

Telenisa received several complaints last year of shariah lawyers who did not do their jobs after being paid.

“And unlike lawyers in the civil law system who are regulated by the Bar Council, there is no way to penalise shariah lawyers.”

It is not compulsory to hire a shariah lawyer, said Nik Shazarina, but in complicated cases, the shariah judge will advise people to get one.

The top three types of inquiries Telenisa usually deals with are divorce, nafkah (alimony and child support payments) and issues related to polygamy.

“Usually, women don’t know their rights in shariah family law until something happens in the marriage,” said Shareena.

“Many domestic abuse victims don’t know what the procedures are for filing for divorce, such as that they have to get a report from government hospitals showing their injuries.”

Others do not realise that they can put in clauses in their taqliq (prenuptial agreements) specifying that the marriage can be dissolved if the husband gets addicted to drugs or alcohol, said Shareena.

“Before they come to us, our clients usually go to the religious affairs department for advice. But they still come to us when they doubt whether that advice is trustworthy.

“We are unique in that we are proponents of women’s rights and we understand how they can get discriminated in court.” – March 14, 2019.