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Kelantan PAS lawmakers pass amendments to expand sharia offences law
The amendments in Malaysia’s Kelantan state seek to avoid constitutional barriers identified by the apex court in 2024, when parts of earlier sharia law changes were ruled unconstitutional.
Malaysia’s Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS, has advanced a renewed push to expand the reach of sharia law after the Kelantan state assembly passed amendments to the Kelantan Syariah Offences Enactment Bill unanimously on Wednesday, according to the South China Morning Post.
The changes are intended to work around constitutional limits that have blocked the criminalisation of some acts under Islamic law. In 2024, Malaysia’s apex court ruled that 16 provisions in an earlier set of amendments were unconstitutional because offences described under sharia overlapped with common law, which takes precedence in criminal cases.
The latest amendments revise how certain sexual acts are described. For example, they replace specific terminology such as sodomy with broader wording that Muslims are prohibited from using their limbs or intimate parts for sexual purposes that run contrary to Islamic law.
Analysts cited by SCMP said the immediate implementation of the new amendments is less important than the political message, with PAS signaling it has “strived to broaden sharia law” ahead of the next general election. The outlet also noted political analyst Mazlan Ali’s view that sharia law cannot be implemented at the state level without amending the Malaysian constitution.