THE Federal Court today granted SIS Forum (Malaysia) leave to appeal against a fatwa issued by the Selangor religious authorities that labelled the company as deviant from the teachings of Islam.

A three-member panel, comprising Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, Chief Judge of Malaya Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Federal Court judge Nallini Pathmanathan, allowed the women’s rights group’s application for leave to appeal with 10 questions of law to be argued.

In the court’s unanimous decision delivered online, Abang Iskandar said SIS Forum had met the threshold requirement under section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 and was therefore given leave to proceed with its appeal.

In civil cases, litigants are required to obtain leave before they can proceed with appeals to the Federal Court.

One of the questions is whether a fatwa, once published in the gazette under section 48(6), Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003, is a form of subsidiary law and/or delegated legislation.

On March 14, the Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 majority decision, dismissed the appeal brought by SIS Forum and one of its co-founders, Zainah Mahfoozah Anwar, to quash the fatwa.

The Court of Appeal held that the fatwa prepared by the Selangor Fatwa Committee was not a final decision and thus cannot be challenged through a judicial review application.

SIS Forum and Zainah had appealed to the Court of Appeal after they were unsuccessful in their legal challenge at the High Court to quash the fatwa. Their judicial review application was dismissed by the High Court on August 27, 2019.

The fatwa, gazetted by the Selangor government on July 31, 2014, has declared that SIS Forum, any individual and groups that adopted the deviant ideologies of liberalism and pluralism are deviating from the teachings of Islam.

The fatwa also directs that any publication containing liberal and plural views of Islam should be banned and confiscated and further directs the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to censor social websites that go against Islamic teaching and laws.

In the notice of motion requesting leave, SIS Forum proposed 10 questions of law.

Lawyer Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar represented SIS Forum while lawyer Aidil Khalid appeared for the Selangor Fatwa Committee, counsel Yusfarizal Yussoff acted for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council and assistant state legal adviser Khairul Nizam Abu Bakar appeared for the Selangor government. – Bernama, August 21, 2023.