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Chief Justice: There's a misconception about Islam among the public

KUALA LUMPUR: There are widespread misconceptions about Islamic teachings among people in the country, said Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.

In a sharing session of 'Live to Lead: The Journey of the Chief Justice' today, the outgoing chief justice said misunderstandings of Islam have often clouded public perception and influenced reactions to high-profile cases.

"I have mentioned this to many people. Generally, the public perception of Islam among us Malaysians is sometimes distorted. We sometimes see things not in the proper perspective.

"When we speak about Islam, it is all about justice. It (the religion) does not teach us to look at the colour or the religion of someone. Social justice is paramount in Islam," she said during the session organised by Universiti Malaya.

Present were Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor and former women, family and community development minister Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Tengku Maimun cited the case of Indira Gandhi, a custody battle arising from the unilateral conversion of her children by her ex-husband to Islam, as one of the most impactful cases of her career.

She added that, despite the civil court granting custody to the mother, conflicting orders issued by the Shariah court complicated the process.

"When you contract a civil marriage, whatever issues arise out of that civil marriage must be resolved in the civil court.

"That is a clear principle, there is no argument about that.

"So we had two so-called conflicting custody orders. When faced with these conflicting orders, the wife went to the civil court to seek a recovery order, filing for a judicial review for mandamus, asking the police to search for the children to be returned to the mother.

"To me, there was no basis or justification in Islam, as I understand it, to deprive a child of her mother or a mother of her child.

"(But) I was then questioned by an individual, who told me that when I decided on cases, I did not uphold Islamic principles or protect Islam.

"However, when I asked which principles of Islam we must uphold, I received no reply.

"My conclusion is that this has nothing to do with Islamic principles. It is a plain principle of justice that a mother should not be deprived of her children, and vice versa."

Following this, she added that there is a need to protect Islam against the misconception.

She also addressed criticism stemming from the Iki Putra and Nik Elin Zurina cases, which dealt with legislative powers rather than Islamic principles.

"People mistakenly thought these cases were about upholding Shariah law. In reality, they were about the demarcation of legislative powers between the state and federal governments.

"These two cases were only about the demarcation of legislative powers, nothing more.

"It was really hurtful to have people question your faith, saying that you have not realised that your faith is now at stake.

"Hence, I think it is important, even in Islam, that if you do not understand something, you adhere to the concept of 'tabayyun', which is the principle of verifying and checking first before making any remarks," she said.

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