Role of Shariah In Malaysia Increasingly Questioned

In Malaysia, criticism is growing of Islamic fundamentalists who control the government's Islamic Affairs Department that administers Shariah law. Two events have prompted calls for change: (1) the passage last December of a new Islamic family law that makes divorce and polygamy easy and allows a husband to claim his wife's properties, and (2) the the forced Islamic burial last week of Mt. Everest climber, M. Moorthy, over his Hindu wife's objections. Western-educated Muslim feminists criticize the Islamic Affairs Department's strict interpretation of the Quran. The main opposition Democratic Action Party has called for a major review of Article 121(1A) of the Malaysian constitution, added in 1988, that strips civil courts of jurisdiction over "any matter" within the jurisdiction of the Shariah courts. A long background report on the situation today by Spero News says these developments have led to a questioning of "the role of an increasingly puritanical Islam in a multi-ethnic society that prides itself on tolerance and an easygoing, modern way of life".