00:00Women's rights group Sisters in Islam has succeeded in its appeal to the federal court to quash a 2014 fatwa issued against it by the Selangor religious authorities.
00:12In a majority decision, the panel led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mutt held that the case warranted judicial intervention.
00:21The group had sought to quash the 2014 fatwa by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council that the NGO had deviated from the teachings of Islam by purportedly subscribing to liberalism and religious pluralism but failed in its previous challenge of the fatwa in the lower courts between 2019 and 2023.
00:40Tengku Maimun said the panel decision today concerns only whether the fatwa is applicable to an organization, adding that a fatwa cannot be imposed on an organization like SIS as it cannot profess a religion.
00:53She further explained that the phrase persons professing the religion of Islam in the federal constitution refers exclusively to natural persons, not to entities such as companies or organizations.
01:05She said a company being an artificial entity lacks the capacity to repent as contemplated by the fatwa.
01:12However, she said action may still be taken against SIS office bearers who breached the fatwa.
