The Maldives and its Judiciary
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wahabis or habis are changing the religion and inventing their own haraam and halaal brickwall
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The whahabis or salafis seem to know everything!
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Dear brothers & sisters
This article is about the Judiciary of the Republic of Maldives. But before proceeding on the subject, here are some brief details about the country
The Maldives ( /mldavz/ (help?info) or /mldivz/), (Dhivehi ެ or Maldive Islands, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls stretching south of India's Lakshadweep islands between Minicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago, and about seven hundred kilometres (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhabited.
The inhabitants were Buddhist, probably since Ashoka's period, in the 3rd century BC and possibly Hindu before that. Islam was introduced in 1153. The Maldives then came under the influence of the Portuguese (155 and the Dutch (1654) seaborne empires. In 1887 it became a British protectorate. In 1965, the Maldives obtained independence from Britain (originally under the name "Maldive Islands", and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a Republic.
The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of both population and area; it is the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. With two meters from sea level, it is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world.
For more info here is the link http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives
Judiciary
As a Republic the Constitution came into force in 1968 by a (and amended in 1970, 1972, and 1975) has been repealed and replaced by a another Constitution assented to by the President Gayoom on 27 November 1997. This Constitution came into force on 1 January 1998. All stated that the president was the Head of State, Head of Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Police of the Maldives. Under Intense pressure from the opposition a new Constitution was Ratified, dated 7 August 2008, whereby the power of judiciary was separated from the head of state.
According to the constitution of Maldives, "The judges are independent, and subject only to the constitution and the law. When deciding matters on which the Constitution or the law is silent, judges must consider Islamic Shari?ah."
The independent Judicial Services Commission is the core of the judiciary, who oversee the appointment and dismissal of judges, and act as a 'watchdog' to ensure that Judges uphold their own codes of conduct. Currently in an interim stage, one is appointed by the president, other member from the Civil Service Commission, parliament, the public, high court judge, lower court judge and a supreme court member. Contradiction in the commission?s makeup, which requires a Supreme Court member to be present on the commission, even though the Supreme Court must be composed with the advice of the commission.
There has been raised concerns over the independence of the commission, given that of eight interim members, the President appoints one and all current judges were appointed by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (ed note he was defeated in the last presidential elections held on 28th October 2008 by the opposition party, MDP; a new president was sworn in office on 11th Nov 200 under the previous constitution, of them two were appointed to the commission.
The Supreme Court of Maldives is headed by a Chief Justice, who is the head of judiciary. Right now at a interim stage the President appointed 5 judges, who was approved by the Parliament. The interim court will sit until a new permanent Supreme Court is nominated under the constitution. Underneath the Supreme Court a High Court and a Trial court. The constitution requires an uneven number rulings in the High Court of Maldives, therefore three justice is appointed. Any verdict there must be reached by a majority, but must also include a 'minority report'.
As part of the newly independent judiciary a Prosecutor General is appointed, who is responsible for initiating court proceedings on behalf of the government, will oversee how investigations are being conducted and have a say in criminal prosecutions, duties previously held by the Attorney General. Also has the power to order investigations, monitor detentions, lodge appeals and review existing cases. The Prosecutor General of Maldives is appointed by the President and has to be approved by the Parliament.
The Maldives have, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), undertaken to write the world's first Muslim criminal code. This project would formalize the proceedings of criminal justice in this tiny nation to one of the most comprehensive modern criminal codes in the world. The code has been written and awaits action by the parliament.
Meanwhile, Islam remains the only official religion of The Maldives with popular support of the people of the Republic. The open practice of all other religions are forbidden and such actions are liable to prosecution under the law of the country. According to the revised constitution, in article two, it says that the republic "is based on the principles of Islam." Article nine says that "a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives"; number ten says that "no law contrary to any principle of Islam can be applied in the Maldives." Article nineteen states that "citizens are free to participate in or carry out any activity that is not expressly prohibited by sharia or by the law."
Peace!
Munzir
Im maldivian , hows it like back there, i havent been there in ages...
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Salam Munzir,
I had a look at the constitution (quite lengthy at nearly 190 pages!). Anyway, the 3 main items that caught my attention were.
- Islam is identified as the law of the land, yet, nowhere in the constitution is "islam" defined leaving it a meaningless concept;
- the reference to "sunni islam" in all the parts of the constitution (for what qualifies a person to be a president or majlis member or minister, etc.) negates the entire constitution as being sectarien in nature and therefore unilsamic.
- the powers of the president are too strong. The way the constitution is written makes him the all in all and he is even more powerful than the majlis (their laws need to be ratified by him, he can declare war at will, etc..).
P.S. How strong is the God Alone movement in the Maldives. I am thinking that we focus our efforts to advertise there.
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Salam Layth,
It's nice to receive your comments on the Constitution of the Maldives. In point form I will address the three points highlighted
1-I think the definition of Islam is not given in the constitution because all Maldivians adhere to the Shafi school and hence Sunna is given priority along with the Quran. All textbooks are compiled accordingly to accomodate Quran & Sunna. I don't think there are Maldivians who follow any religion other than Islam but I hear they also exist now but even if this is true they would be few in number.
2-Quite true. Since most scholars here have studied from either Azhar or Medina University, KSA, they preach what they have been taught by them. The curriculum incorporates both Quran & Sunna and the emphasize seems more on the Sunna. It's just the same as any other islamic country!
3- Very good point. Actually what has haappened is maldives for the past 30 years was ruled by a scholar from Azhar by the name of Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom who controlled the country as a dictator. Besides being the president he was the Finance minister, Defence minister, Governer of central bank. Due to the immense pressure he faced from opponents within and from abroad, Maumoon had to come up with a reform agenda calling for democratic change and good governence. Political parties were allowed to be formed for the first time. Maumoon miscalculated the outcome of the presidential election held last year. He thought he would win the election. Most members of the Peoples Majlis (parliament) were there as rubber stamps. So naturally he tried his best to keep all the power in his hands.
The current president Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) who ousted maumoon's 30 year old autocratic rule has already addressed this issue by himself to the members of the Majlis and the public stating that the powers given to the president by the constitution should have been narrowed, and that he was disheartened by it.
The God Alone movement should be introduced to the Maldives as well. To my knowledge there may be about a hundred persons. All Maldivians are indoctrinated with hadith/sunna from the very beginning. Very lately Bilal Philips came over here and gave lectures. He was very particular about what he referred to as the Quranites and warned the audience on live tv coverage to be cautious of this movement which he says is kufr.
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Salam Munzir,
It is an encouraging approach, but my personal view is that if the law written out in the constitution is not dedicated to God alone then it is no different fron any other place/system - might as well just copy the US constitution since it has been tested and proven.
On th God alone movement in the Maldeves, the reason I ask is because I noticed lots of trafic to FM comes from there (for example, last month it was ranked # 9 with nearly 22,000 hits) - if there is an underground silent movement, which I believe is confirmed by the warning Bilal Philips gave, then such a groups should be targetting through print/media.
Would we be able to run an ad in local newspaper or magazine advertising FM?
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Would we be able to run an ad in local newspaper or magazine advertising FM?
It would be dangerious. We could get arrested.
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You need to study politics first, don?t favors free minds but you can advertise against free mind to attract attention. !
I don't need to study politics to understand the constitution.
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Salam Munzir,
On th God alone movement in the Maldeves, the reason I ask is because I noticed lots of trafic to FM comes from there (for example, last month it was ranked # 9 with nearly 22,000 hits) - if there is an underground silent movement, which I believe is confirmed by the warning Bilal Philips gave, then such a groups should be targetting through print/media.
Would we be able to run an ad in local newspaper or magazine advertising FM?
I would say that 22000 hits is quite catchy. So we should start the movement out in the open just as a local sunna promoting Association by the name of SALAFI have started by bringing scholars such as Bilal Philips to lecture the public. However, I would say that this would be a difficult task since freedom of rights granted by the constitution states that the constitution guarantees fundamental rights and freedom to all persons, in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam. Now we are faced with the dilemma of tackling the actual issue we are addressing. How Islam should be defined, whether we have to base our belief on the Quran alone or whether we have to incorporate additional hadith/sunna etc. When the constitution talks about rights being granted if they are not contrary to any tenet of Islam and promotes sectarian beliefs as pointed out earlier by you, the path we have to tread would definitely be rough and tough.
I suggest Free-Minds members to give their opinions on how we should plan to move ahead in our effort to introduce the God Alone movement in the Maldives on a large scale since Maldives is a 100% Muslim country so far to my knowledge. I am prepared to take the lead over here. We need your support and help to counter the growing extremism over here as stated by the Human Rights Commissioner of the Maldives, parts of his press release given below for members atention
Quote/
"I don't think we can afford conflicts of opinion on religion in a small community like ours, or get into a situation such as in big countries like Pakistan or Afghanistan," he said, adding the HRCM was bringing the matter to public attention because it was a human rights issue as well."Among these issues, not sending girls to school is a very serious problem," he continued. "We are not just saying these things. We are saying this with proof and evidence. Not giving vaccinations to children is also a reality. Also, forcing girls to marry at a young age, this too is a reality. We have evidence of this."
At the press conference, Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Kareem, a member of the commission, said the rise of extremism was causing ?strife and social division?.
Kareem attributed the upsurge in extremism on the islands to an increase in the number of religious sermons by certain licensed preachers and religious scholars. Referring to Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed, he said the Islamic ministry believed the preacher had a ?dangerous? mentality.
?They believe that the former government was right to take action against him. He is still giving religious lectures on various islands. He does not accept anything the ministry says,? said Kareem.
He added the ministry had not taken any action against independent prayer groups such as the one that congregated at Dharumavanthu mosque on Fridays.
Although the mosque was authorised to hold Friday prayers, said Kareem, the independent prayer group would take the imam?s microphone from him.
But, speaking to Minivan News earlier this week, Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed, state minster of Islamic affairs, said the ministry had drafted a set of regulations to combat extremism in the country.
Shaheem said the regulations will come under the Religious Unity Act and will be enforced after about a month after consultation with the president.
The regulations will empower police to break up independent prayer groups.
The state minister said he had recently returned from a SAARC seminar on extremism. ?We are working an an international level as well as the national level to get rid of extremism, radicalism and terrorism,? he said.
He added the ministry had sought advice from professionals in counter-terrorism and there was international consensus now that military confrontations did not solve the problem.
?Look at what happened at Himandhoo. The former government went and attacked them and it did not solve anything,? he said, stressing that the ministry's policy was advising, counselling and disseminating accurate information about Islam.
In 2007, locals armed with home-made weapons clashed with police in riot gear searching for two suspects in the Sultan Park bombing. The same year footage shot in an illegal mosque on the island was found posted on an al-Qaeda website.
Shaheem said the ministry?s new approach involved talking to those with extremist religious views peacefully and resolving disputes through debate and negotiation. He added the strategy had already yielded results.
?Right now, apart from only four people, everyone else on Himandhoo prays at the island mosque,? he said. ?We want the Maldivian people to hate terrorism.?
But, said Kareem today, despite the ministry counselling and advising extremists, there have not been any signs of improvement. /Unquote
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salam Munzir,
I would say that 22000 hits is quite catchy. So we should start the movement out in the open just as a local sunna promoting Association by the name of SALAFI have started by bringing scholars such as Bilal Philips to lecture the public. However, I would say that this would be a difficult task since freedom of rights granted by the constitution states that the constitution guarantees fundamental rights and freedom to all persons, in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam. Now we are faced with the dilemma of tackling the actual issue we are addressing. How Islam should be defined, whether we have to base our belief on the Quran alone or whether we have to incorporate additional hadith/sunna etc. When the constitution talks about rights being granted if they are not contrary to any tenet of Islam and promotes sectarian beliefs as pointed out earlier by you, the path we have to tread would definitely be rough and tough.
I suggest Free-Minds members to give their opinions on how we should plan to move ahead in our effort to introduce the God Alone movement in the Maldives on a large scale since Maldives is a 100% Muslim country so far to my knowledge. I am prepared to take the lead over here. We need your support and help to counter the growing extremism over here as stated by the Human Rights Commissioner of the Maldives, parts of his press release given below for members atention
You pose an interesting point that, as you pointed out, ends up with the question of the constitution and the contradiction it holds.
I do not know where to begin with this, but my gut feel is that it be confined to an underground movement at the start until it picks up such momentum that it can be made public.
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So if a Christian or Jew wished to move there, they wouldn't be allowed to stay?
Yeah of course. But you won't get citizenship.
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So if a Christian or Jew wished to move there, they wouldn't be allowed to stay?
Hi Rev, I see that my son is an ardent fan of yours, he speaks a lot about you and once saw him quite disappointed saying that you were not very happy with the forum.
You would be allowed to stay but you cannot practise any religion openly other than sunni Islam. Besides, as MUNZIR ALI said, to be a citizen you have to be a Muslim and even if the person is born from Maldivian parents, once you leave Islam you are no longer considered a Maldivian as per the constitution.
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salam Munzir,
You pose an interesting point that, as you pointed out, ends up with the question of the constitution and the contradiction it holds.
I do not know where to begin with this, but my gut feel is that it be confined to an underground movement at the start until it picks up such momentum that it can be made public.
No matter what the constitition says we should start a movement. I have been speaking to my friends for very long. Some agree, some are scared, some say that 'sunna' is the legal ways of the prophet - and I hardly understand whether the prophet issued any legal injunctions on his own. Others say without sunna/hadith we wouldn't know the manasiks given to followers of Muhammad. It is the same set of questions we see everywhere. How do you do salat, zakat etc.
But I am sure that this movement is on the rise here in the Maldives. We have to make the site publicly known. I have been recommending the site to my friends for a long time now but all this is done in a secret manner. I do not know whether they follow the site or not but now that you've mentioned the hit count it's obvious that there is a large number visiting. Please let me know if the count increases so that we will know when to come out into the open.
Actually, I landed in free-minds once I started probing the Submission.org site.
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once you leave Islam you are no longer considered a Maldivian as per the constitution.
The constitution sucks big time. brickwall
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Hi Rev, I see that my son is an ardent fan of yours, he speaks a lot about you and once saw him quite disappointed saying that you were not very happy with the forum.
You would be allowed to stay but you cannot practise any religion openly other than sunni Islam. Besides, as MUNZIR ALI said, to be a citizen you have to be a Muslim and even if the person is born from Maldivian parents, once you leave Islam you are no longer considered a Maldivian as per the constitution.
Thank you for that. You have a very intelligent son.
So even a citizen can lose his citizenship? Interesting.
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You have a very intelligent son.
Thanks ;D
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Peace
Be warned that you might be stepping on thin ice and any movement can be harmful as you will be the minority. Things do not change over night and may take a long time. I am just recalling from memory the Egyptian Quranist that have been arrested for simular reasons. But God willing you may warn the people in the best possible way of their contradictions to the Quran's teachings.
Also consider this, if the government feel Free-Minds a problem to their states interest then it could be banned in that country.Peace
Hope
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Peace
Also consider this, if the government feel Free-Minds a problem to their states interest then it could be banned in that country.
Peace
Hope
Good point!
