KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Now that Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISBH) has been declared deviant in about half of the states in Malaysia, what will the legal consequences be?

Here’s a quick summary by Malay Mail, based on public information including existing state Islamic laws, publications by local Islamic authorities and news reports:

1. What is a fatwa?

A fatwa is a religious opinion typically issued by a mufti (a Muslim legal expert or qualified Islamic legal scholar) on Islamic law. In Malaysia, muftis sit in committees that carry out discussions before fatwas are issued.

In Selangor, the typical process is that the mufti may ask for a matter to be researched and studied, and the state fatwa committee (which includes the mufti) then discusses a fatwa, and the proposed fatwa is then presented to the state Islamic religious council, and the state Islamic council may then recommend it to the Selangor ruler for his royal assent or approval for the fatwa to be published in a gazette.

The process is generally and broadly similar in the other states in Malaysia.

For states without state rulers, the fatwa is to be recommended to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for royal assent to be gazetted. This is because the sultans are the head of Islam in their respective states, while the Agong is the head of Islam for four states and the federal territories.

2. When does a fatwa become legally binding?

A fatwa must be gazetted by the relevant state governments or federal territories to be enforceable as law in Malaysia.

If the fatwa is not gazetted, it remains a religious opinion that is not legally binding and serves only as a reference.

For example, let’s look at Selangor’s state Islamic law.

In the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003, Section 49 states that a gazetted fatwa is binding on every Muslim in Selangor and must be followed.

Section 49 also says the fatwa is recognised by all courts in Selangor.

3. Who enforces a fatwa that has been gazetted?

According to the Selangor Islamic Religious Council’s (Mais) 2015 booklet on "ajaran sesat” or deviant teachings, the mufti or the state mufti department has no power to enforce a gazetted fatwa.

Instead, the Mais booklet states that the state Islamic religious councils prosecute those who contravene fatwas in Shariah courts.

The state Islamic religious councils can also enforce fatwas by prosecuting any Muslims who break laws on Shariah offences.

The state Islamic religious councils can seek the police’s cooperation in enforcing laws if there are criminal elements or if the offences relate to existing laws, the booklet states.

4. What happens if a Muslim goes against a gazetted fatwa?

You could be breaking state laws on Shariah offences and may be charged in Shariah courts.

Depending on the offence, you may be jailed or fined if found guilty.

For example, in Selangor, those involved in deviant teachings could be charged under the state’s laws — the Syariah Criminal Offences (Selangor) Enactment 1995 and the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003.

Based on Mais’ November 1, 2022 article on deviant teachings, these possible offences in Selangor would be Sections 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16 in the 1995 law and Section 119 in the 2003 law.

For example, Section 7 covers the offence of teaching doctrines against fatwas in force in Selangor.

Section 12 covers the offence of acting in contempt of Selangor’s religious authorities or defying, disobeying, or disputing a mufti’s orders expressed in a fatwa, while Section 13 covers the offence of giving or spreading opinions that go against fatwas in force in Selangor.

Generally, other states and the federal territories also have similar laws on Shariah offences and the administration of Islam, so breaching gazetted fatwas there could result in similar legal consequences.

5. Are there real-life examples of individuals being charged in Shariah courts over deviant beliefs?

Yes. There are news reports of such cases, including of Abdul Kahar Ahmad, who had proclaimed himself to be "Rasul Melayu” and had been sentenced in 2009 to 10 years’ jail, RM16,500 fine and six strokes of the cane after being convicted in Selangor of Shariah offences over deviant teaching.

More recent examples include 14 individuals suspected to be followers of deviant sect Millah Abraham being charged in August this year in a Shariah court in Johor over the state’s Shariah offences of disobeying religious authorities and possessing religious publications contrary to Islamic law.

Also in August this year, a street musician was sentenced in a Shariah court in Negeri Sembilan to three months’ imprisonment for teaching Millah Abraham teachings to his son as it goes against Islamic law. This was on top of his earlier sentence of a RM2,000 fine and one-month jail term for teaching Millah Abraham teachings to his wife.

The Millah Abraham teachings had been declared deviant or contrary to Islamic teachings in gazetted fatwas in several states, including in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

6. So what states in Malaysia have already issued fatwas against GISBH?

To date, six states have issued fatwas to declare GISBH and its teachings, practices or beliefs as deviant. The first to issue such a fatwa was Perlis, followed by Selangor, Pahang, Melaka, Sabah and Penang.

Out of the six states, Selangor is the only one that is known to have already gazetted its fatwa. This means the fatwa can be enforced as law in Selangor now.

7. What does Selangor’s fatwa say?

Let’s take a look at the gazetted Selangor fatwa.

The Selangor fatwa says GISBH leaders, followers, members or workers continue to practise the beliefs of the Darul Arqam group — a group Selangor declared as deviant in the state’s 1993 gazetted fatwa.

The fatwa also says any new beliefs, teachings, or practices partially or fully similar to GISBH’s are deviant and against true Islamic teachings.

The Selangor fatwa said any Muslims who have joined or practised or held on to GISBH’s beliefs or practices must immediately repent and seek forgiveness from Allah, and that the relevant parties must rehabilitate them.

8. What’s next?

The National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs’s (MKI) muzakarah committee or its fatwa committee — which includes the muftis of each state — had in late September decided on its opinion regarding GISBH.

MKI chairman Sultan Nazrin Shah has approved these views, and these views were presented to the Conference of Rulers during its two-day meeting on October 23 and 24.

If the Conference of Rulers gives its consent or approval to the MKI’s opinion, the respective states’ fatwa committee can then adopt these views and issue it as a fatwa. It would be also up to the respective states on whether to gazette the fatwas.

Some of the states have previously said they would wait for the MKI’s decision first before making any move to consider issuing a fatwa on GISBH.