Syariah Lawyers Want Mais To Explain.

The Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association has urged the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) to come up with strong grounds why it decided to withdraw the claim over the remains of A. Rayappan.

The association's secretary-general Musa Awang said Mais' decision to drop the case was inappropriate after the Syariah High Court ruled that it would hear the case.

"Mais was inconsistent in its decisions and this could erode the confidence of Muslims in the country in the effectiveness of Mais to function as a bastion for Muslims," he told reporters, here Tuesday.

Rayappan, 71, a former van driver, embraced Islam in 1990 and assumed the name of Muhammad Rayappan Abdullah.

After he died at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital on Nov 29 of diabetes complications, Mais applied to the Syariah High Court to have Rayappan body buried according to Islamic rites, but his family objected on the grounds that the deceased had renounced the religion.

About a week later, Mais withdrew its application even though the Syariah Court of Appeal had decided that the Syariah High Court had the jurisdiction and had not erred in its decision on Rayappan's status as a Muslim on Dec 1.

As Mais had decided to drop the case, Kuala Lumpur Hospital released Rayappan's body to his family on Dec 7 for cremation the next day.

Musa said Mais should have obtained strong evidence before submitting its application to the court to claim Rayappan's body and thoroughly looked into the case again before withdrawing the claim.

He said the association was very disappointed because it had not been informed of the proceeding in the Syariah High Court last Friday afternoon when Mais was allowed to drop the case.

"We also have the right to know why Mais was allowed to withdraw the claim," he said.

Earlier in the morning, the same court dismissed Mais' application to withdraw the case and ruled that the case must proceed according to the Syariah Court of Appeal's order the day before. -- BERNAMA
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