Roles of the National Council for Malaysian Islamic Affairs and the National Fatwa Committee .

In the Malaysian legal system, the status of fatwa is dissimilar compared to the position of fatwa that is stipulated in the Islamic law. This is due to the fact that according to Section 49 of the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) 2003, it is mentioned that the Islamic court in Malaysia can only implement and put in force a fatwa rule in which it will directly have a mandatory power on all Muslim living in the particular state if only the fatwa is gazetted in media in accordance with the Malaysian legal standpoint. On the 1st of July 1969, the National Council for Islamic Affairs also known as the Majlis Kebangsaan Islam (MKI) was set up and recognized by the Conference of Rulers. The objective and mission of the establishment of the National Council for Islamic Affairs in Malaysia was to ensure an effective management and systematic administration in matters relating to Muslim affairs and Islamic rules among all states within the nation. Among all the states in Malaysia, Kedah and Pahang are the only states, who are not members of the council. Furthermore, one of the main functions of the National Council for Islamic Affairs in Malaysia is to give recommendations and guidance by conferring as well as deliberating on any related subjects that is issued by the State Islamic Religious Council, Conference of Rulers or the members of the National Council for Islamic Affairs. This can be seen in the latest issue where by the National Fatwa Council in Malaysia has played its role by declaring that the yoga practice is prohibited in the religion of Islam based on the deliberation that yoga contains three physical elements which are bodily movements, worshipping and chanting which are clearly banned in Islam.

Besides that, one of the functions of the National Fatwa Committee in Malaysia is to discuss as well as resolve and issue fatwas that are brought up to the council by the Conference of Rulers on any issues associated to the religion of Islam. The duty of the Fatwa Committee is to gather and hand in its opinions and stand regarding the particular matter to the Council. Subsequently, the National Council for Islamic Affairs will submit the opinions and findings of the Fatwa Committee along with appropriate recommendations pertaining to that matter to the Conference of Rulers. In addition, for a fatwa to be lawful in Malaysia, the state Sharia Court has to endorse where the fatwa is gazetted. Due to the fact that, the state Sharia Court has the authority on the enforcement of fatwas in Malaysia, it can be deduced that standardising fatwa rules throughout Malaysia is a difficult and challenging task to be achieved. This is also because the National Council for Malaysian Islamic Affairs has no jurisdiction to say that all the members of the council have to obey and follow the fatwa ruling that has been declared by the council because the state governments has the jurisdiction and power on whether the state would want to apply and enforce any fatwa ruling made by the National Fatwa Council because religious matters come under its range of authority. Evidently, the case where all states acknowledged and gazetted an identical fatwa is very little in number. For example, prominent cases where all states in Malaysia have agreed to comply with and subsequently gazette fatwas that was issued as an outcome of the decision from National Fatwa Committee Conference and certified by the Conference of Rulers would be on the issue of banning the books written by Aurad Muhammadiyah as well as the alArqam group which is an Islamic fundamentalist group. Besides that, one of the roles of the National Fatwa Council can also be seen in the recent case where by the National Fatwa Council has declared that the activity of human cloning or human duplicating is unlawful

according to the Islamic ruling because it goes against the nature of human development as stated in the Holy Quran which is the main source of the Islamic jurisprudence. Moreover, The National Fatwa Council in Malaysia also has voiced out its opinion in matters pertaining to marriages and divorce according to the sharia law that is being practiced in Malaysia. This can be seen clearly as the situation in relation to divorce by using the Short Messaging Service was discussed in the 59th National Council for Malaysian Islamic Affairs where by the National Fatwa Council ruled that any talak that is declared by the husband directly to the wife by using any form of communication such as the short messaging service, voice mail, email or through fax is called as kinayak talak.In relation to that,the Fatwa Council ruled that it can only be valid if the act was done with intention and purpose.It was also mentioned that in order to inaugurate the talak, all divorces must be submitted to the Sharia court. In relation to that, it can be inferred that the National Fatwa Council plays an important role when it comes to matters relating to Islamic law administration in the country. Besides, it is undeniable that the National Fatwa Council preserve fatwa in Malaysia through development and research as well of proper administration of fatwa in various areas such to ensure proper development of social and economic improvement in line with the concept of sharia law that is being practised in Malaysia.