KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Dr Zulkifli Hasan has clarified news reports which stated that he had met with non-Muslim organisations to discuss the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Amendment) Bill, known as RUU 355.
In a Facebook post, Zulkifli said what he meant was that he will engage, and not has engaged with the groups on the RUU 355.
"The Special Committee Studying Issues Related to the Competence of the State Legislative Assemblies to Enact Islamic Laws remains open to initiating engagements with several non-Islamic organisations that I mentioned yesterday.
"Regarding the meeting with non-Islamic organisations, the correct term is 'will be', not 'has been', about the engagement with several non-Islamic NGOs that I previously noted. However, official invitations have already been sent to all the non-Islamic organisations," he said.
Yesterday, the New Straits Times reported that the engagement sessions for RUU355 also included non-Muslims.
Zulkifli in the Dewan Rakyat said these sessions involved non-Muslim organisations such as the Christian Federation of Malaysia, the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia, the Taoism Association of Malaysia, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the Religious Affairs unit of the Sarawak Premier's Department and several other bodies.
However, today, the Christian Federation of Malaysia said they were not consulted in regard to the amendments to RUU355. Its chairman, Cor Episcopa Philip Thomas, said neither the federation nor any of its component bodies had been consulted in the matter.
"The Christian Federation of Malaysia would like to clarify that no such consultation or engagement had taken place with The Christian Federation of Malaysia, or any of our component bodies, in regard to the reviewing of the state assemblies' competency to enact Islamic laws," he said.
Zulkifli said they had consistently expressed their openness and willingness to hold meetings and engagements with various parties, including non-Islamic organisations.
"The Syariah laws being strengthened are only applicable to those who profess the Islamic faith. In fact, the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 does not apply to non-Muslims, as the Act clearly states that it only involves Muslims," he said.