PETALING JAYA: Mosque sermons during Aidilfitri should be about uniting Muslims, instead of being a platform to insult others, say Sisters in Islam (SIS).
The Muslim NGO was commenting on the Selangor Islamic Religious Department’s (Jais) sermon last Wednesday, saying that Muslims “must be grateful that the High Court had rejected the request by SIS to challenge the state Fatwa Council over the issue of liberalism in Selangor”.
“Surely there are more constructive messages that can be made to unite the Muslims in this holy month,” SIS Executive Director Rozana Isa told FMT.
She was alluding to the sermon which touched on SIS’ failure to challenge a 2014 Selangor fatwa declaring the group as “deviant”.
The NGO subsequently filed a judicial review on October 31, the same year to challenge the fatwa.
The High Court had last month ruled that civil courts have no power to hear cases pertaining to religious matters such as “fatwa” (edict).
However, she was quick to point out that SIS has already filed an application to appeal the decision, at the Appeals Court last Monday.
“The High Court decided that it has no jurisdiction over this matter. It did not however, rule if the fatwa was legitimate based on the legal and constitutional aspects.”
Turning the other cheek, Rozana said SIS has no capacity to stop Jais from making such remarks as the religious body possessed higher authority.
“It’s their (Jais) choice to make such sermons.”
The sermon on the first day of Syawal also saw Jais lauding the Private Member’s Bill tabled by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang as a victory for Muslims.