Islamic cases should be heard in Syariah courts - Jamil Khir

He said every court had been given specific jurisdiction and if there was any doubt over legal and court matters, it should thus be referred to the Federal Constitution.

"We also disagree that cases involving Islam be heard in the civil courts as there has already been division of power and understanding (between the syariah and civil courts) since the country's independence," he told a news conference after opening the International Waqaf Seminar 2014, here, Monday.

Jamil Khir was responding to an open letter in the media yesterday from 25 former high-ranking Malay officials which, among others, stated that he had dragged the Islamic institution to be tried in the civil court.

The group includes former Home Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Din, former Foreign Ministry's secretary-general Tan Sri Ahmad Kamil Jaafar and a number of former ambassadors.

In the open letter, they also urged that the Syarah Criminal Law be reviewed as the long-standing existence of plural legal system in the country had given rise to conflicts and overlapping of power between the syariah and civil laws.

The letter said laws which made various "personal sins" a crime had also caused confusion and conflict from the substantive and implementation aspects.

Jamil Khir, however, said questioning the jurisdiction of each court was an attempt to seek justice for oneself.

On another matter, he said any organisation that supported the struggle and ideology of the Islamic State (IS) militant group was going against true Islamic teachings.

He said the stand was in line with the decision of the National Fatwa Council made in October.

The fatwa council ruled the call for jihad or martyrdom by IS as conflicting with Islam as their actions could not be categorised as defending the religion or country and its sovereignty.

A Malay language newspaper on Monday reported that there were a least 15 militant groups in the world supporting the IS struggle, including three suspected to have infiltrated Malaysia.

The group is also believed to have renamed their movement to deceive the authorities and to make it easier for them to recruit members.