I refer to your interview with the former chief judge of Malaya, Anuar Zainal Abidin.

It is irresponsible on the part of the former chief judge to comment on a subject of which he has absolutely no knowledge of. The public expects a judge to express his views based on facts and learning and to be precise in his language. Given this public expectation, Anuar should have been more careful in his comments on apostasy and not make baseless and misleading statements.

He claims that the punishment for those renouncing Islam is death and there is no alternative as confirmed by some ulama he consulted. If he had merely perused some books on Islamic law, he would have discovered that there have been different views among the ulama on apostasy.

The great Muslim ulama, Ibn Taymiyyah (590-652 A.H), was of the view that apostasy is a sin which may be punished as a 'ta'zir' offence and not by death. According to the late Shaykh of Al Azhar, Mahmud Shalut, apostasy carries no temporal punishment since the Quran speaks of punishment for it only in the Hereafter.

A modern Islamic jurist, S Mahmassani, has clarified that the punishment was not meant to apply for a simple change of faith but to punish such acts as treason, joining forces with the enemy, and sedition.

In view of these views by eminent jurists, it is absurd to assert that the punishment for apostasy is death. However, the procedure that an apostate should adhere to has to be complied with.

Anuar is unhappy with Islamic influence in judgments, apparently in reference to the recent apostasy cases. He does not explain what he means. The Federal Court, in a number of apostasy cases, has consistently held that the High Court has no jurisdiction in respect of such cases in view of Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution.

The decisions of the Federal Court are based on sound reasons and if Anuar disagrees with them he should point out the errors there and not blame Islamic influence .

We feel that if Muslim judges internalise the values taught by the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, it would contribute greatly to the emergence of an independent judiciary committed to justice based on law. There will be no place for any sort of corruption, be it in the form of fear of the executive, career advancement, material benefits or sexual favours.

This is the type influence that should pervade our judiciary, which Anuar seems to take exception to.