Former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad has warned that liberal judges were a threat to Malaysia's Islamic values when dispensing justice by adopting Western standards of human rights.

According to Utusan Malaysia , Abdul Hamid said these judges ignore the fact that the Federal Constitution recognises offences under Islamic law.

Abdul Hamid cited the example of the Court of Appeal landmark ruling which declared Section 66 of the Syariah Criminal (Negri Sembilan) Enactment 1992 void and unconstitutional.

Section 66 penalises Muslim males who dress up as women. Three make up artists from Negeri Sembilan had challenged the legality of the law after they were penalised for cross-dressing.

"(The judges) used the principle of 'reasonableness' which was adopted by the Supreme Court of India which allowed judges to declare laws made by Parliament to be invalid on grounds that it was 'unreasonable'.

"The constitution of those countries are not the same as ours. Their constitution does not have provisions regarding Islam, unlike ours.

"Their values are not the same as ours," said Abdul Hamid.

Wide implications

Abdul Hamid said the Court of Appeal judgment in this case had a very wide implication, since Islamic law can now be declared unconstitutional.

This includes laws which allows Muslims to practice polygamy, compel them to make zakat payments, forbid them from drinking alcohol and criminalising adultery, among others.

"When Islamic law can be challenged on grounds of being 'unreasonable' by judges, including non-Muslim judges, then Islamic laws will constantly be exposed to being invalidated.

"In fact, the judgement has opened a path towards allowing same-sex marriages," he said.

Abdul Hamid said this in response to Utusan's request for his comments on the US Supreme Court declaration that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states.