KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Former minister Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa today urged the Anwar administration to bring back a committee formed six years ago that aimed to address the overlaps and contradictions between Shariah and civil laws.

The Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy president said the committee, initiated in 2018, will be able to formulate a standard law that can become the reference for states to amend their respective Shariah enactments so it does not contradict federal laws, Sinar Harian reported today.

"I look at the issue of the Shariah law not only from the Shariah law perspective but it should also be viewed widely, in that the state legislative assemblies and Parliament must take the initiative to ensure contradictions do not arise,” he was quoted as saying.

He said the gaps between the sets of laws should be closed so no one will question them again.

He said that the Islamic affairs minister should take the initiative in this respect.

"As far as I remember, there is a timeline between 2018 and 2023 for us to come up with standard laws, in which the states will follow this standard and there will no longer be an issue of contradictions with the federal laws, and this includes streamlining criminal laws but with different punishments,” he was quoted as saying.

He said the process was taken to Parliament and each state was to bring it to their respective legislative assemblies to be amended, but added that this was not done due to the political instability at that time.

Mujahid had been appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs when Pakatan Harapan (PH) came to power in Election 2018 under the leadership of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, until it was ousted in February 2020.

The Amanah poltician said contradictions between both laws needed to be studied closely by legal experts in both civil and Shariah laws.

Mujahid, who is also Perak PH chairman, said the combination of experiences in both aspects of the laws in the committee will ensure that any gaps can be identified and resolved.

"However, we cannot avoid the political perception on this. Unfortunately, issues like this will be used by politicians to gain sympathy and to gain political mileage,” he was quoted as saying.

He said this was how the narrative that Islamic laws are being challenged and the Shariah courts are being challenged came to be when there was no such thing.

"This narrative is often played as it is easy to instigate anger among the people and ultimately condemn the leadership of PH,” he was quoted as saying.