Is Malaysia an Islamic State?

The Malaysian Bar

Is Malaysia an Islamic State?
Thursday, 17 November 2005 05:00PM

IS MALAYSIA AN ISLAMIC STATE?by ©Tommy ThomasA.
INTRODUCTION
- On 29th September 2001, during his Opening Address to the Gerakan Party’s 30th national delegates conference,
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed announced:“UMNO wishes to state loudly that Malaysia is an Islamic country. This is based on the opinion of ulamaks who had clarified what constituted as Islamic country. If Malaysia is not an Islamic country because it does not implement the hudud, then there are no Islamic countries in the world.
If UMNO says that Malaysia is an Islamic country, it is because in an Islamic country non-Muslims have specific rights. This is in line with the teachings of Islam. There is no compulsion in Islam. And Islam does not like chaos that may come about if
Islamic laws are enforced on non-Muslims.1
- The response was immediate and furious. The spiritual leader of PAS and the Menteri Besar of Kelantan, Dato Nik
Aziz replied:“You can talk all you want. You can declare a piece of wood to be gold, or a wheelbarrow as a Mercedez, but in reality, nothing has changed.For us, an Islamic country is one which is governed according to the tenets of the Quran and Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammed). Malaysia is a secular State. If the present Malaysia is already an Islamic state, then what do you call the state ruled by Prophet Muhammed and his friends?2 ” The other major opposition party,
DAP, also criticized the announcement in trenchant terms and sought an urgent debate in Parliament on the whole subject.3 Paradoxically, Dr Mahathir’s unilateral announcement was attacked with equal vigour from both sides of the political divide in Malaysia: PAS, as protector of the Islamic cause, and DAP, as articulating the non-Muslim voice.
- I propose in this paper to consider the issue from a constitutional perspective. How does the supreme law of the land deal with the

Cited: Powered by Joomla! Generated: 28 September, 2012, 16:45 authoritarian state.49 “The Reflowering of Malaysian Islam: Modern Religious Radicals and their Roots” (UBC), 1984, Page 69.50 “Malaysia: State and Civil Society in Transition” (SIRD), 2004, Page 91.51 “The Origins of Malay Nationalism” (Oxford), 1994, Page 67.52 “Indigenous Political Systems of Western Malaya” (London), 1988, Page 139.53 Reproduced in “The Politics of Islam in Contemporary Malaysia” by Kamarulnizam Abdullah (UKM), 2003, Page 141.54 Published in “The Asian Renaissance” (Times), 1996, in a paper entitled “Islam in South-East Asia” – Pages 111-125.55 Ibid – Pages 113114.56 “Islam in Malaysia: From Revivalism to Islamic State”. Page 9357 Ibid. Page 9458 Ibid. Page 9459 Ibid. Page 9560 Ibid Expression and Belief” published in “Human Rights in Malaysia” (DAP), 1985, Page 2365 Harakah, 1st February 1999 and cited in “Malaysia: Mahathirism, Hegemony and the new Opposition” by John Hilley (Zed), 2001, Page 21666 The diversity (Magnus), 1989, Pages 173-174.68 Commemorating the 47th Anniversary of Merdeka on 31st August 2004 and cited in “The Survivor meets the Challenge: Abdullah Badawi and Malaysian Politics” by Chamil Wariya (Times) 2005 Page 1.69 Generated: 28 September, 2012, 16:45