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The Role and Position of fatwa in Malaysian Court

Asuhaimi, F. A., Pauzai, N. A., Makhtar, M. and Asari, K.

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 25, Issue S, March 2017

Keywords: Binding, cases, fatwa, fatwa Committee, gazette, judges, juristic opinion, Sharia Court

Published on: 25 September 2017

The institution of fatwa in Malaysia has been regarded as an important institution in dealing with any matters on Islamic Law. The Administration of Islamic Law Enactments in the Federal Territories and other states in Malaysia has provided for the establishment of fatwa institutions in order to issue binding fatwa and regulate Islamic verdicts in Malaysia. Once fatwa is gazetted by the fatwa Committee, it becomes binding on all Muslims in a particular state. The issue arose as to whether the fatwa given is also binding on the courts in making their judgement. In reaction to the above issue, this paper attempts to examine the practice of judges in dealing with fatwa issued by the fatwa Committee or Mufti in a state on any particular issue. The authors adopted the qualitative research method to gather data for writing this paper. It was found that there was inconsistency by the courts in accepting fatwa as a source of law in Malaysia as some of judges accepted the fatwa ruling but some refused. Thus, the authors recommend that there should be a codified fatwa system for all Malaysian states so as to make it binding upon courts to consider a fatwa in their decision making.

ISSN 1511-3701

e-ISSN 2231-8542

Article ID

JSSH-S0411-2016

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