Although Islam is the religion of the federation in Malaysia as defined under Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution, it is subject to the limitations of the fundamental liberties of a person, ruled the Court of Appeal.
In his 46-page written judgment with regard to a case involving transgenders, Justice Mohd Hishamudin Yunus noted that Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution declares the constitution as the supreme law and any laws running contrary to the constitution shall be considered void.
He further quoted former lord president Salleh Abbas’ judgment in the case of Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor, where the judge said the word Islam in Article 3(1) should be given a restrictive meaning based on Article 3(4) that states nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of the constitution.
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