PUTRAJAYA, July 5 — The Federal Court today granted leave to Islamic clerics Fathul Bari Mat Jahya and Nik Amirul Faiz Yusof to challenge the Negri Sembilan Islamic authorities and state laws that require permits for teaching Islam.
Their application was allowed by Judge Tan Sri Alaudin Shariff who sat with Datuk Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin and Datuk Seri James Foong.
No hearing date has been set.
Fathul and Nik Amirul were arrested in Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan last March during a religious class at a private Islamic institute and were charged under Negri Sembilan’s Syariah Criminal Enactment for teaching without a permit.
The duo were now seeking for Section 53 (1) of the enactment to be declared null and void, claiming that it violates the Federal Constitution.
The Negri Sembilan Islamic Council, and the state and federal governments were named as respondents in the application.
“The state assembly does not have the competence under the Federal Constitution to pass the law,” Fathul’s lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, told reporters after the hearing.
He claimed that even if the section were valid, the Negri Sembilan Islamic authority had applied the law wrongly.
“Teaching without tauliah (permit) is not an offence against the precepts of Islam,” said Kamarul.
Earlier, the Negri Sembilan legal advisor Datuk Ishak Sahari pointed out that Fathul has made a similar application to the High Court in Seremban, and asked the cleric to choose only one venue to hear his application.
Both parties later agreed to seek a stay from the High Court pending the disposal of the case by the Federal Court.
If convicted by the Negri Sembilan Syariah Court, Fathul could be fined up to RM3,000 or imprisoned for up to two years.
Fathul, who is the son of former Perlis Mufti Mat Jahya Hussin, is said to represent Wahhabism, the term often used to describe those who advocate purging Islam of practices that did not exist during the time of Prophet Mohamad.
But its followers prefer to call themselves Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, or people of the tradition of the Prophet.
Critics argue that Wahhabi scholars’ puritanical interpretation of certain Islamic rituals often go against local practices.
Fathul joined Umno late last month with a group of clerics belonging to the same school of thought, a move that has caused uneasiness among traditional ulamas who maintain control over state religious authorities except for Perlis, the only state that officially names Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah as the accepted Islamic doctrine in its constitution.
Another Perlis cleric, former state mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin was also arrested in Selangor late last year while teaching at a private home.